Students may be required to have specific equipment, software, internet access or digital literacy skills in order to be successful in their coursework. Click the buttons below to learn about each area of technology that may be required. Check your course syllabus or contact your instructor about any specific requirements for your course.
Equipment
Required
Computer
Speakers/Headphones
Possibly Required
Webcam
Microphone
See computer requirements and recommendations specific to your College/School.
Internet Access
Internet Speed
A high-speed internet connection is recommended to ensure that you can access all of the course materials and resources, particularly large file sizes as with streaming video.
A minimum of 512 Kbps (Kilobytes per second) is required to navigate Canvas.
If other technologies are utilized such as streaming video or video conferencing (Zoom, Teams, etc.) 1.5 Mbps (Megabytes per second) or greater is required.
25 Mbps or greater is recommended for for HD video streaming, web browsing, and collaboration.
Web Browsers
It is highly recommended that Google Chrome or Firefox is used to access Canvas and other technologies.
Academic Technology
The technologies listed below are the most common technologies that may be used in your course. Clicking on an academic technology card will open a webpage containing tutorials, technical support information, and accessibility and privacy statements.
For information and guides on more of UAB's academic technologies, visit UAB eLearning's Academic Technology page.
Minimum Technical and Digital Literacy Skills
To be successful in this online course, students should be able to perform the following tasks.
Technical Skills
- Use a keyboard and mouse
- Save, open, edit and locate various file types on your computer (docx, pdf, excel, etc.)
- Open, create, send, and reply to Blazer email using Inbox in Canvas
- Attach/Upload and download various files (docx, pdf, excel, etc.)
- Click on and open hyperlinks
- Navigate the Internet
- Navigate the Canvas course environment
- Download and utilize software and/or plug-ins as specified by your instructor
Digital Literacy Skills
- Use UAB's online library and database resources to conduct research
- Use Microsoft Office 365 to store and retrieve files
- Conduct online searches to locate specific information for academic use
- Properly cite sources
- Communicate research findings in online environments