Required Material and Software

Required Texts:

• Most of our readings this semester will come from a variety of free sources and these readings will be available as either urls or .pdfs within the weekly modules. 
• Hidden Figures film: rental links provided in unit 3
• The Other Wes Moore

Required Technology

Teaching and learning online is dependent on technology. The following sections provide basic guidelines for determining if you have the right equipment to support online learning and teaching, but we'd also like to caution that technology is dynamic, and needs may change dependent upon tools and resources you use.

If you're super comfortable troubleshooting technology, go for it! If, however, technology is not your passion, identify the campus instructional technology people that can help you, and keep their number handy. 

Internet Connection

Although Canvas has been carefully crafted to accommodate low bandwidth environments (Minimum of 512kbps), we recommend a Broadband/DSL connection to most effectively view online videos and participate in video conversations, which may be included in this course.

Computer 

In addition to an adequate internet connection, you will need a fairly recent Mac or PC (preferably not more than three years-old) with a current operating system to complete the course activities. Because it's built using web standards, Canvas runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, or any other device with an up-to-date web browser. To ensure your computer is up-to-date, please run the OEI Computer readiness test. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Canvas also provides minimum requirements for your computer:

• What are the basic computer specifications for Canvas?  (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• Which browsers does Canvas support? (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Webcam or Smartphone

We will be interacting with video in this class. You will need access to a computer with a webcam or a smartphone/tablet connected to WiFi. Please check your computer to ensure both work and to familiarize yourself with the settings. If you need assistance, please message me through the Canvas Inbox. 

Digital Tools for Humanizing

Experimentation is a big part of this class. To reach the course objectives, you will need to have the following:

• A free personal YouTube account/channel (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
• A free Adobe Spark account or an Adobe ID (if you use other Adobe products). If you have an iPad, you may want to to download the free Adobe Spark Video app. For the rest of you, you will be using Adobe Spark Video on your computer to create a video.

Adobe Reader

Some material in this course may be presented in PDFs. To view these materials, you will need the most current version of Adobe Reader (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..