Minimum technology requirements for students

Last updated: July 2023

The University of Victoria has established minimum technical requirements for students to participate in online learning environments.  Your faculty, program, or course may have course-specific requirements that supercede these minimum requirements.  Please consult your course outline for course-specific information.

The following are published, faculty-specific requirements:

Computer hardware or tablet

At least one of the following devices is recommended to participate in online learning environments, participate in meetings, compose documents, and/or access learning management systems:

  • A desktop or laptop computer running Windows 10+ or MacOS 11 (Big Sur)+
    • Intel Core i3 processor, AMD Ryzen 3, or greater
    • 4 GB of RAM
    • 20 GB of free disk space
  • Android tablet running Android 10.0 or greater
  • iPad running iPad/iOS 15 or greater

Peripherals

  • Webcam - may be integrated into your laptop or tablet
  • Microphone - may be integrated into your laptop, tablet, or headset
  • Speakers or heaphones - may be integrated into your device

Internet access

  • High speed Internet connection with a minimum download speed of 5Mbps
  • Wired Internet connection if possible or a wireless connection in close-proximity with strong wireless signal from your wireless router

For on-campus wireless, your device must be able to connect to a WPA2 Enterprise network. See the wireless support section for more information.

Software

  • Modern, standards-compliant browser such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge Chromium

Microsoft 365 including access to OneDrive storage and Microsoft Office applications is available to all students.  Information about Microsoft 365 and instructions to sign up can be found on our Microsoft 365 site.

Help and support

The Computer Help Desk is available to answer any questions about technology at UVic, including the minimum technical requirements for students.  Please note that support for devices that do not meet the minimum technical requirements is on a best-efforts basis only and we may be unable to support a given device in an online learning environment.

For more information and resources to help you engage with online learning, please visit Learn Anywhere.