Due to the nature of online learning, almost all of your participation in these courses will be conducted via technology. At a minimum, you should feel comfortable with the following basic skills in order to be successful:
Here are some tips from Jeffrey Phillipe, an online student:
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All email correspondence involving your coursework and academic record must occur through your USF Email account. You should check your email on a daily basis for important information and communications from your Professors.
All students are given Microsoft Outlook mail accounts. The email address assigned will start with your NetID and end with @usf.edu.
Access your email through my.usf.edu.
Most, if not all, of your courses, will require you to submit your written work using an electronic document. The preferred program to type your papers is Microsoft Word.
You can download the entire Microsoft Office suite to your computer for free or access the program through the USF Application Gateway from any computer.
Canvas is the learning management system used by the University of South Florida and is where you can access all of your online courses. Each of your courses may make use of different features within Canvas, but at the minimum, you should become familiar with the items below in order to participate fully in all of your courses.
The following tips and links provide you with specific information and tutorials, but you can also explore the Canvas Student Guide or the Canvas Student Video Guides further to learn more.
Announcements - Check your course announcements regularly. Your Professors may use this to communicate important information about your classes.
Calendar - The calendar will display due dates for assignments that your Professor has created within the course. You can also use the calendar as your personal planning tool.
Modules - This page is typically where Professors organize the course content. This may be organized by content topic or week.
Assignments - This page will list off your course assignments in order by their due date.
Discussions - This page allows you to see all of the course discussions. This tool is used to engage with other students as if you were having a discussion in class.
Grades - Check this page for assignment scores, feedback from your Professor, and course grades.
Access Canvas through my.usf.edu or at usflearn.instructure.com.
In order to take courses online at USF St. Petersburg campus, you will need to have access to a computer that meets these basic system requirements.
Screen Resolution
A minimum of 1024x600
Operating Systems
Windows XP SP3 and newer
Mac OSX 10.6 and newer
Linux - chromeOS
Mobile OS Native App Support
iOS 7 and newer
Android 2.3 and newer
Computer Speed and Processor
A computer less than five years old
1GB of RAM
2GHz processor
Internet Speed
Minimum of 512kbps
Web Browsers
The preferred internet browser to use with Canvas is Google Chrome. Visit this page to download Google Chrome to your computer.
Additional Technologies
Certain courses may also require you to use additional technology. For example, courses that use Blackboard Collaborate Ultra may require you to have access to a web camera and/or microphone. Be sure to review the technology requirements for your specific course.