Internet Connectivity:
Consistent and reliable access to a high-speed (i.e. cable/DSL/fiber) Internet connection with a minimum of 1.5Mbps up/down is strongly recommended, particularly for distance, hybrid, and heavily computer-mediated courses. Dial-up connections have insufficient bandwidth and are not supported. Satellite connections may provide enough bandwidth but often suffer from excessive latency and may not work well for real-time applications such as Zoom meetings.
Computer Hardware / Operating System:
Mac or Windows PC
PC Operating System - Windows 10 recommended; minimum Windows 8
Mac Operating System - MacOS 10.14 recommended; minimum Mac OS 10.12
Dual-core processor or better
8GB of RAM recommended; minimum 4GB
Hard drive capacity 250GB or higher
Ethernet or WiFi card/adapter
Computer speakers or headphones, microphone, and a webcam. Our friends at Zoom have some suggested options here: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362023-System-Requirements-for-PC-Mac-and-Linux
Additional suggested hardware includes a printer/scanner, USB flash drive, and an external hard drive or cloud storage subscription for backup.
Older operating systems and computers with less memory (RAM) and processing power may function and meet your basic needs for computing. However, they may not be adequate to access Antioch’s online resources.
Most handheld and tablet devices (i.e. Samsung Galaxy, Apple iPad) capable of displaying web pages will allow you to view the content of AU websites. Capabilities of these devices vary widely; particularly in their ability to interface with some AU content.
Office Productivity Software:
Antioch requires a word processing program that saves and opens text files in multiple file formats (DOCX is recommended). We suggest an office suite that includes word processing, presentation, spreadsheet, and other useful software. Some new computer purchases have this software already installed. Microsoft Office suites are currently used at AU campuses.
Here are a few options:
Google Apps: online document creation capabilities which also allows you to create, store, and share a variety of file types is available by clicking ‘Drive’ icon in AUDirect, or by clicking the ‘Google Apps’ icon near the top of page of your Antioch Email account.
Open Office 4: The free and open productivity suite, available at: http://www.openoffice.org
LibreOffice: Another free and open productivity suite, available at: http://www.libreoffice.org
Apple Pages, Numbers, and Keynote (Free, also available online at www.icloud.com)
Internet Browsers:
Most of Antioch University’s technologies are accessible through a web browser, so having a supported browser on your home computing system is critical. Antioch supports the following browsers:
Firefox 65.0 or higher
Google Chrome Version 70 or higher
Safari 8.0 or higher
Microsoft Edge 44.1 or higher
Opera 60.0 or higher
Note that the best browser for your needs may change over time. If is recommended therefore that you have two different browsers installed on your system.
Browser Plugins / Players:
There are many freely-available adjunct programs that enhance the home computing environment, especially when using the Internet for academic work. It is important that you keep these programs up to a current level in order to view material that faculty and students may be producing this year. Some free software you may want to install:
Adobe Acrobat: For viewing PDF documents, and available for free download on the internet at: http://get.adobe.com/reader/
VLC media player https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
Anti-Malware / Computer Protection:
AU urges you to take steps to prevent viruses and other malware from infecting your educational home computing environment. It is critical that you keep your anti-malware software up to date. Free programs provide basic protection but may fall short against more advanced attacks. Paid programs have more robust protection at different price tiers, with the more expensive packages offering options that go beyond traditional malware detection. Examples of these features include blocking websites known to host malware, phishing alerts, spam filtering, password management, and more. AU recommends reading current reviews to help find the best program for your needs. Here are a few that we have read good things about:
Free
BitDefender Free Antivirus https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html
Avast! Free Antivirus https://www.avast.com/en-us/free-antivirus-download
Kaspersky Free https://usa.kaspersky.com/free-antivirus
Panda Free Antivirus https://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/free-antivirus/
Sophos Home Free https://home.sophos.com/download-antivirus-pc
Windows Defender is included for free with Windows 8 & 10
Paid
Bitdefender https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/
Norton by Symantec https://us.norton.com/student-discount