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Hardware and Software
LTU Online recommends appropriate hardware and software for all students to use in LTU Online courses. We recommend that all students have a laptop or desktop computer dedicated to their personal use during LTU Online courses. Laptops or desktops should be minimally equipped as follows:
- A personal computer with at least a Pentium IV CPU, Windows 2000 or XP, and 512 MB RAM and a 40 GB Hard Disk, or a Macintosh G-3 or greater with 512 MB RAM and a 40 GB Hard Disk. The personal computer should be able to read and write CDs and should be able to play DVDs.
- High-speed Internet access (cable modem, DSL, satellite, wireless or other broadband service) is required for all LTU Online courses. This requires either an Ethernet 10/100 card or 802.11b wireless card.
- A USB headset and microphone is needed for participation in Internet conference calling and web collaboration.
- The Adobe Flash Plug-In, QuickTime Player, and Java Runtime Engine to enable playing Impatica and Captivate presentations, and to participate in Horizon Wimba collaboration sessions.
- A graphics tablet or graphics pen if you plan to enroll in a mathematics or statistics course requiring demonstration of mathematical equations.
- Your computer should be protected with anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Please see the software list below for suggested products.
- You should develop a plan to regulary back up your course files onto a CD or DVD, an external hard drive, a flash drive, magnetic tape, a network drive, or other backup media. Please note that Lawrence Tech's Blackboard environment is backed up on a nightly basis.
Software Inventory
Access to the Blackboard™ course management system and Banner™ registration system is provided upon registering for a class or being scheduled to teach with LTU Online. LTU provides extensive instructions on using the Blackboard™ and Banner™ systems.
Student laptops and desktops should be configured with current versions of web browsers and free multimedia software. Check your personal technology software environment here. Interpret your results below:
Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware Tools
You may wish to make use of these free or open source anti-virus, anti-spyware, or browser tools on your laptop or desktop computers.
Open Source and Free Software
The Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access) or the comparable Open Office suites of productivity tools are required for viewing course materials and preparing assignments. You may wish to use many of these free software tools during your LTU Online courses to prepare materials and communicate with your colleagues. Be sure to check with your instructor regarding the use of these free tools for submitting assignments.
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Category and Product
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Description
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Communication and Collaboration
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Writeboard
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Collaborative writing software allowing groups to write, share, revise, and compare documents.
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Google Groups
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Group file sharing and listserv service via Google. Requires use of GMail accounts.
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Google Docs and Spreadsheets
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Collaborative document development environment and format conversion utility.
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PBWiki
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Hosted Wiki environment, free for small users.
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Wikispaces
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Hosted Wiki environment, free for small users.
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JotSpot
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Hosted Wiki environment, free for small users and low cost for groups.
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Skype
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No-cost VOIP service. Can add premium services such as calling-out and voice-mail.
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| Vox |
No-cost blogging service. |
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Vyew
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No-cost web collaboration service. Whiteboarding, screen sharing, and desktop sharing for up to 20 participants.
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Wink
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Freeware tool for preparing Flash "tours" of software or Web processes.
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Office/Productivity Software
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| MS Office Tutorials |
Set of Microsoft Office tutorials developed by Microsoft and Lynchburg College. |
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OpenOffice
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Open source alternative to MS Office. Allows you to save any document in PDF format.
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Picasa
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Google's free photo organizer service.
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PDFCreator
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Creates a printer on your system that generates PDF files. You still need the free Acrobat Reader to read PDF files.
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Project Management
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dotproject
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Open source project and task management software
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GanttProject
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General purpose project management tool
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Open Workbench
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Open Source Project Management and Project Scheduling for Windows
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Process Mapping, Statistics, and Knowledge Management
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FreeMind
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Free concept mapping software.
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UMLet
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Open source UML and modeling in Java.
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Synthis Process Modeler
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Fully functional process modeling software for individuals, low cost for enterprises.
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Free Statistical Software
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"The Impoverished Social Scientist's Guide to Free Statistical Software and Resources"
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| Visio Tutorials |
Free tutorials and documentation for learning to use Visio. |
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Protege
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Free open-source ontology editor and knowledge-base framework from Stanford University.
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19-Mar-2007
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