During your time at DMU, communication and collaboration will be very important. The DMU Connected Learning Initiative enhances your learning experience by connecting you both on and off campus and providing you with more options for communicating with peers, faculty and staff.
Technology and Equipment
You are required to own a laptop computer for your coursework by the first day of orientation. Although DMU doesn’t require any specific model or brand of computer, below are the minimum specifications you will need. Please note these are minimum specs, not recommended specs and that you can use either the Windows or Mac platform.
Minimum Specifications
- Operating System: Windows 10 or higher or Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra or higher
- Memory: Minimum of 8GB RAM
- Processor Speed: Minimum of Intel Core i3 or equivalent (i5 is recommended). Windows devices using ARM processors are not supported.
- Hard Drive/SSD: 256 GB or larger
- Wireless: Any card that supports 802.11 ac protocols and WPA2 Enterprise
- Active Anti-virus software: Windows Defender, Norton, McAfee, AVG, Kaspersky, or comparable
Recommended/Optional Peripherals
- External USB Hard Drive - An external USB hard drive is useful for data backups and transferring files between computers. We recommend regularly backing up your data so your important personal files will remain intact in case of hard drive failure in the computer. The backup process is different for Apple and Windows systems.
- USB or Built-In Ethernet Adapter - Since wireless network access is now more widely available, some laptop manufacturers have stopped installing ethernet cards for network cable access in certain models of laptops. If you purchase a laptop without an ethernet card, we recommend having a USB ethernet adapter as a backup method of accessing the Internet should wireless not be available.
Not Approved
- Chromebooks, tablets (iOS & Android) or devices running Windows RT or 10 S
These are great devices, but they are not sufficient to use as your primary computer. You will likely encounter issues running the software needed for your coursework. - Smart devices like Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Smart Watches, etc.
Our networks require more security and control than a home network and these devices are designed for home networks. {Any device utilizing the DMU student wireless network will require device enrollment in our Mobile Device Management system. These devices are not capable of enrolling in this system.}
Internet Access
DMU’s wireless campus will give you the freedom to be connected and learn in the classroom, within the buildings, common area and even outdoors.
Information Access
- Pulse, the University’s portal website is the gateway to all student web-based services. Students can view their grades, schedule, email inbox and a variety of other content and service information all within a few individually customizable pages.
- Brightspace (D2L), a popular higher education web-based system, provides students with access to timely course content, discussion lists and other collaborative services.
- Audio from lectures can be streamed and automatically indexed for playback within your notes taken in Microsoft OneNote.
- A library community within the portal is available with subscriptions to online journals, books and articles as well as resource links and services.