Before you begin work in your first online course here at Mercy College, all of us here at the College want to make sure each of our students is fully capable of accessing the online course and all associated materials. One of the necessities prior to involvement in an online course is that each student has the essential hardware and software to allow for full and active participation within an online course. Mercy College continuously strives to keep every member of the student population informed about all course or program related expectations. With that in mind, it is highly recommended that you review the list of technical requirements assembled by Mercy College.

There are two ways to check your computer system to verify whether or not it is capable of meeting the necessary system requirements. The first option is to simply review the system self-check requirements listed below. Second, if you have access to the internet at your home, you may run a computer system test by CLICKING HERE to verify whether your PC meets the necessary system requirements. After you click on the link above, a browser window will automatically open allowing you to see which requirements have or have not been met. Disregard the fact that a login prompt is displayed in the left hand corner. The system check does not require any sort of login. Carefully review the information that is displayed, making sure that each item is marked with a green checkmark. If a requirement has not been met refer to the "Other Notes" section at the bottom of the page for a complete list of necessary actions that will need to be taken to get your PC updated

Note: The following recommendations are only for PC users. There are certain functions within the eCollege platform (the system that will be used to make online courses available to students) that would make certain course related material inaccessible to Macintosh users.

To take full advantage of the interactivity of the courses, the following minimum system profiles are REQUIRED:

1. Windows 2000 or XP
2. 128 MB RAM
3. High Speed Cable or DSL (contact information for service providers listed below)
4. SoundCard & Speakers
5. Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Access)
   • NOT Microsoft Works

You will need Internet access to take your courses. Mercy College recommends that all online students subscribe to high speed internet access. Such technology will assist in creating the rich online learning environment that can only be provided by Mercy College.

1. Time Warner Cable
2. Buckeye Cable System
3. AT&T Communications (AT&T Customers Only.)

There are a number of acceptable browsers that may be used to access your online courses. Below is a list of the browsers both recommended and supported for use with the eCollege platform. Use only browsers that are listed as recommended.

	Windows 2000	Windows XP
Internet Explorer 6	Recommended	Recommended
Internet Explorer 5.5	Supported	Supported
Netscape 7.1	Recommended	Recommended
Firefox 1.3 - 1.5	Recommended	Recommended

Components:

1. Sun's Java 2 JRE (Java 1.3.1) - allows for live communication with instructor
2. Windows Media Player 9 - required by students if live audio is used

Supported Browser Plugins:

1. Real One Player 2
2. Acrobat 8 Reader
3. Macromedia Flash Player
4. Macromedia Shockwave Player

If there are any questions or concerns regarding the following list please feel free to contact Garrick Ducat through email at garrick.ducat@mercycollege.edu or via phone at 419-251-1380.

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