Computer Hardware & Software Guidelines

College of Information Sciences & Technology

Computer Skills

Students must have proficiency in the skills described here to take classes at the iSchool.

Computer Hardware

Students must have access to a Windows PC with the following minimum configuration:

Computers without a MS Windows operating system are not supported by the iSchool, and students must have access to a Windows PC as a backup.

Computer Software

The following software packages are required:

• MS Office 2000 or later
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 SP1 or Netscape Navigator 7.1 or higher.

Other software may be required for particular courses.

Computer Skills Prerequisite

All incoming graduate students must have the following computer skills prior to taking any courses in the College of Information Science and Technology: Windows; MS Office including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and basic Access (table creation, queries on a single table): e-mail; Internet; Visio (or any drawing tool); telnet; and ftp.

The information that follows is intended as a guide to assist students who need to acquire any or all of the skills listed above. Please note that fulfilling this prerequisite is the responsibility of the student. To acquire these skills, students can take courses at a community college, a university, or a computer training center. For example, Drexel Information Resources and Technology Center offers workshops and support through their website.

In order to determine if you have these skills, you should be able to perform the following:

1. Log-on and shut down a computer system
2. Use a mouse pointing device
3. Use a virus checking program
4. Create an appropriate hierarchy of folders/files
5. Rename, delete, or move a folder/file
6. Attach/receive a document file to/with an e-mail message
7. View a homepage on the Internet
8. Use a word processor to write a paper
9. Save documents in various formats
10. Create a simple spreadsheet with formulas
11. Create a simple chart using a spreadsheet
12. Create a simple database, such as an address book, using software such as Access
13. Create a simple diagram using a drawing program such as Visio
14. Create a simple title, bulleted list, table, and graphics slides using presentation software such
    as PowerPoint

Additional Skills Needed for Online Students

In order to participate fully and successfully in our online graduate program, you will be expected to know how to perform the additional tasks:

1. Use File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to download a file
2. Create a web page using any HTML editor
3. Use a Telnet client
4. Use an FTP client
5. Set up an Internet connection
6. Unpack and create a .zip file