CGS Online Learning
Technical Information
There is a lot of information on this page, so please be sure to read all the way to the bottom.
What you'll need:
First of all, you should make sure that you have your textbooks and a headset in time for the first class session.
Since the headsets are available from Amazon.com, you may want to order everything at the same time.
Information about the textbook(s) required for your course is available on the Course Information Page.
You will need to be able to hear the audio from your computer and you will need to speak into a microphone so your classmates can hear you. We recommend a headset that combines headphones and a boom microphone. If you don't already have one of these, we have had good results with the two models listed below. Both also offer volume adjustment and muting using a control that is right on the wire, which is convenient if you are using the headset in an office environment where you may be interrupted.
For people using Windows PCs, this USB headset will be fine:
But please note that people using an Intel Mac computer (which includes most laptops purchased in the past several years) may experience problems using USB audio. For use with an Intel Mac, we have had better results with this headset, which uses 3.5mm audio connections.
But if you have an Intel Mac laptop that does NOT have an audio input jack, you have two choices
- Just use the inexpensive headset above for the headphones, and use the laptop's built-in microphone
- Or, if you are concerned that background noise might be a problem when you use the built-in microphone, you may want to add the following device, which lets you use the headset above via the USB connection, and which eliminates many of the problems with USB audio on Intel Macs:
To take advantage of the latest technology used in your course, and to minimize the need for additional plug-in downloads, we recommend using Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher on a PC, and Safari 1.2 or higher for Mac OS X.
Pop-up blocker programs may hinder your ability to view course features. For best results, we suggest you disable your pop-up blocker prior to viewing your course.
Beyond that, any recent computer is likely to be just fine for participating in your course. If you are missing any plug-ins along the way, you will be prompted to install them, which you can do quickly and easily. If you have an older computer or are having trouble getting started, please refer to the detailed system requirements or contact the Help Desk, where people are available 24/7 to assist you.
All CGS Online classes include live web conferencing with Class Live Pro, eCollege’s version of Elluminate software that allows students to view multimedia lectures as well as exchange audio and text messages with their classmates and instructors. Instructions for how to access the tool will appear on the course site, but if you are curious to learn more about this tool, please read through:
A day or two before your course begins, you will get an e-mail with your User ID and Password for logging in to your course site, which uses the eCollege course management system. Once you have your UserID and Password, you can click here to log in. You'll probably want to bookmark that page for future reference.
After you log in, you should review the "Student Orientation Tutorial", which will help you understand how you will interact in your course. After you look at the Tutorial, you should exit that site (using the "Exit Course" button in the bottom left corner of the window) and then click on your actual course site and look around there.
Need help? E-mail helpdesk@advance.upenn.edu or call (303) 873-0005, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
This is for anything relating to the technical aspects of your course, and covers just about everything except the course content and due dates, for which you should contact the instructor or TA.