Students studying with us have varying IT experience and skills. We aim to support all students to achieve the outcomes of their programme assuming basic IT skills are in place. During the course you will have multiple opportunities and assistance to develop IT skills which are necessary for future employment. All applicants will need to engage with IT throughout their studies.
All lectures are recorded and uploaded to the student website. In order to be able to access lectures, online tutorials and other learning activities and resources, you will require a PC or MAC computer with good broadband internet connection. It is important that your computer meets the minimum specification, and that you maintain the minimum specification throughout your studies at CNELM.
Minimum Requirements
To fully access the CNELM e-learning facilities, you must use the criteria below. Please note that full access to e-learning sessions may not be possible from a Smart Phone or Tablet and will require access to a computer e.g. download and printing of handouts/documents.
PC (Windows 7, 8 or 10) OR Apple Mac (OS 10.7 (Lion) or above):
- Internet Browser: Google Chrome (v58.0 or later). Although you can use other web broswers such as Firefox of Safari it is better to use Chrome as CNELM student email accounts are hosted by Google (Gmail) and so integrates better
This browser is available free of charge at www.google.com/chrome
iPAD (iOSS or later):
- Internet Browser: Safari.
This browser is an integral part of iOSS and should stay automatically up-to-date. To check, go to Settings/General/Software Update – this triggers your iPad to check for software and update itself.
You may also need:
- Microsoft Word – 2007 or later (PC) or 2008 or later (Mac). Educational versions are available at significantly reduced prices. Please visit: www.software4students.co.uk for further details.
- Adobe Reader for PDF access. Available for free at http://get.adobe.com/reader/. Please note that there is a compatibility issue between Adobe Reader and other PDF readers. CNELM therefore strongly recommends that you use Adobe Reader for your e-learning PDF viewing.
- A good quality microphone and headset is required for adequate sound quality, as some lectures are delivered as webinars and some assessments are conducted using web-conferencing software. Tutorials are also delivered online.
- You may also find publishing software e.g. Microsoft Publisher useful, since some learning activities and assignments may require production of leaflets and fact sheets, although these can be produced in Word.
- Broadband access: you will need a good connection speed (4 megabits per second (Mbps) or above) with ‘true’ unlimited/unrestricted download. You can check your current connection speed at the following website: www.speedtest.net
Other software you will be introduced to during your studies:
- VLC video player for watching streamed or download video lectures on PC’s and Mac’s
- Zoom conferencing doe joining online group tutorials and case discussions
- Encryption software such as 7zip, WinRaR and Smart-zipper when sending and receiving sensitive client documents & data.
Applicants living in locations where Broadband connection is slow are recommended to download recordings overnight to their own computer rather than live-stream.
Applicants can request further details regarding IT Essentials and Requirements.
Please note that it is the responsibility of students to ensure they are able to upgrade and maintain their IT resources that are outside of the minimum specification as CNELM is unable to offer technical support for browser/operating system combinations other than those specified. For these reasons you are strongly advised to maintain the specified browsers and operating systems for the purpose of accessing e-learning sessions for the duration of your course.