> Kwantlen Polytechnic University > Information & Educational Technology > Student Computer Skills

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Student Computer Skills

In order to be successful at Kwantlen, it is recommended that students have some basic computer skills and hardware resources. Many courses have online components which require students to create documents and upload them for an instructor to review and grade.

Computer Hardware

Desktop computer or laptop running Windows XP or Windows 7.
Apple MAC computer running a recent operating system.

Computer Software

Web Browser

Firefox recommended - available at http://www.mozilla.com
Internet Explorer 8 - available at http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=43
- in each browser, disable pop-up blockers for Kwantlen webpages

Office Software

Microsoft Office 2010 or 2007 is recommended. Registered Kwantlen students can purchase it here.
Microsoft Office 2003 may work, but an add-in to read 2010 files will be required. http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=3
Open Office is a free alternative - available at http://www.openoffice.org/

*Handy hint: several hardware vendors are currently selling new laptops with Microsoft Office Starter Edition preloaded. This includes licensed copies of Word 2010 for creating/editing documents and Excel 2010 for creating/editing spreadsheets. Each program has the basice functionality already working.

Other Software

Adobe Acrobat Reader - to open pdf files. Download Acrobat Reader
Adobe Flash Player - for viewing animated web content. Download Flash Player
IrfanView - a free viewer and basic editor for image files. Download IrfanView
FLV Player - for viewing multimedia files. Download FLV Player
Windows Media Player - for viewing multimedia files. Download Media Player
QuickTime Player - for viewing multimedia files. Download Quicktime

Antivirus

Use at least one antivirus program with your Windows Firewall turned on.

McAfee antivirus (may be preloaded on a new computer) Download McAfee.
AVG antivirus (free one-month trial) Download AVG
MalwareBytes - used to remove malware. Download Malwarebytes
Microsoft Security Essentials - used along with an antivirus program. Download Security Essentials

Computing Skills

Students studying at Kwantlen should be able to perform the following tasks:

• Start up and shut down a computer correctly.
• Login to Kwantlen resources online.
• Perform an effective web search using Google or other search service.
• Create and edit office documents.
• Do basic editing of image files.
• Insert an image file into a document or PowerPoint presentation.
• Attach a file to an email.
• Save an attachment from email and open it for reading or editing.
• Copy or move files between a computer and a USB memory or storage device.
• Configure their network adaptor to connect to Kwantlen wireless (this is usually automatic).

Help on Campus

The Kwantlen Learning Centers are available on each campus to assist students with their assignments, computer skills and study skills. They can be contacted here.