Please read this page carefully. It will help you ensure your device meets the minimum requirements for displaying and interacting with your OLI course. For further assistance, please email OLI Help.

Devices that meet these requirements can display the vast majority of OLI content, and your interactive exercises will operate as designed. The few exceptions to system requirements can be found farther down the page.

OLI materials are available only on internet-connected devices with modern browsers.

OLI courses are so effective partly due to the interactive exercises such as Learn By Doing, and the immediate feedback given in real-time. This immediate feedback and the student-interaction data we provide to instructors necessitates an internet connection for OLI functionality and effectiveness. This is the reason OLI cannot be printed or used offline — the immediate feedback and student data enable OLI to provide the most effective learning environment possible.

OLI courses are delivered online in your browser, so the only technical requirement of your device’s operating system is the capability of supporting the latest release of major browsers.

• Laptop and desktop computers: Windows | Mac OS | Linux
• Mobile: iOS | Android
• NOTE: If your operating system is out of date and incapable of supporting the latest browser releases, you must update your operating system or try a different device to ensure your browser is up-to-date.

Your browser must be up to date, and should be one of the five major options:

• Chrome (update computer | update mobile)
• Firefox (update computer | update Android | update iOS)
• Safari (update computer | update mobile)
• Internet Explorer (update computer)
• Microsoft Edge (update computer)

Cookies are required in order to create an account and sign in to the OLI website. If you were able to sign in successfully, cookies are already enabled in your web browser. Follow the link corresponding to your browser for instructions on enabling cookies.

• Chrome (computer | mobile)
• Firefox (computer | Android | iOS, which employs Safari settings)
• Safari (computer | iOS)
• Internet Explorer (computer)
• Microsoft Edge (computer)

Pop-ups must be enabled in your browser.

• Chrome (computer | mobile)
• Firefox (computer | Android: N/A | iOS)
• Safari (computer | iOS)
• Internet Explorer (computer)
• Microsoft Edge (computer)

As OLI continues to migrate toward HTML5 and away from Java and Flash, a few courses still contain labs and other interactive activities that employ these technologies.

Courses with Java activities include:

• Argument Diagramming
• Biochemistry
• Chemistry (Introduction to Stoichiometry, Chemistry II Video Course, Virtual Lab Course, Chemical Equilibrium and Acid-base Chemistry)
• Causal and Statistical Reasoning
• Educational Research Methods
• Logic & Proofs (older releases; releases starting in September 2017 contain no Java)
• Media Programming
• Modern Biology
• Principles of Economics

To load Java content you’ll need Internet Explorer or Edge in Windows, or Safari in Mac OS. The latest releases of Chrome and Firefox no longer support Java. Java is not mobile-compatible, so users must access this content on a computer.

• Java for Internet Explorer or Edge for Windows PC (download | install | verify version | enable on Windows PC*| enable in Internet Explorer | enable in Edge)
• Java for Safari on Mac (download | install | verify version | enable on Mac* | enable in Safari**)

* If you disable Java for all websites, you can override that setting by placing OLI on Java’s Exception Site List in the Java Control Panel (Windows | Mac). Add an exception for https://oli.cmu.edu and/or https://community.oli.cmu.edu depending on which site is hosting your OLI course.
** Step 3 in Java’s instructions for Safari directs the user to click Manage Website Settings on the Security tab. This is incorrect; the user must click Plug-in Settings on the Settings tab.

Some OLI courses have a limited number of interactive exercises or videos that require Flash. The Flash player plugin is not mobile-compatible, so users must access this content on a computer. A user will encounter an alert when Flash content appears on your OLI course page.

• Flash on your computer: (download, install, enable, troubleshoot)

Statistics (Concepts of Statistics, Probability & Statistics, Statistical Reasoning)

Many of the exercises in this course require you to use statistical analysis software outside the OLI environment, such as Excel, or an account with an online software tool. Instructions are provided in the OLI activities for all of the following software packages. The software you use is determined by your instructor or program of study, and in some cases the decision is left up to the student, so consult your class syllabus or your instructor for information about which piece of software you’ll need.

Your OLI course includes data sets and instructions for using the data sets to complete learning exercises with your statistical analysis software. The statistical analysis software itself is not included with your OLI course, and neither is an account with any online software tools other than OLI.

Statcrunch

StatCrunch is a web-based statistics package. It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. It does not require users to download or install any software. Students can acquire a 6- or 12-month license. Instructors can request a free license. For license information: http://www.statcrunch.com/register.php Note that you may first need to set up a Pearson account in order to get a StatCrunch license.

R

R is an open source statistics package that can be downloaded and used for free. R is available for both Windows and Mac OS, and can be downloaded using the following links:

Windows | R for Windows FAQ
Mac OS X | R for Mac OS X FAQ

Minitab

Minitab is available for Windows only, and can be purchased from http://www.minitab.com/

Excel

Microsoft offers Office 365 for Education subscriptions free to students and teachers. Microsoft Excel is supported by OLI Support for Windows only. If Office 365 for Education is not an option for you, visit the Microsoft Excel product page for information on a subscription or purchase. (While Excel for Windows is recommended and supported, students may be able to convert the Windows instructions to Excel for Mac 2016. Explicit Mac instructions are not provided by OLI.).

Note that in addition to the standard installation, the Analysis ToolPak may need to be loaded. Find instructions here: Load the Analysis Toolpak.

TI Calculator

Several versions of the TI Calculator can be used to complete most of the activities in the course. Supported versions include:

TI-83
TI-83 Plus
TI-83 Plus Silver Edition
TI-84
TI-84 Plus
TI-84 Plus Silver Edition

A cable may required for connecting the TI Calculator to your computer to download datasets. Many TI Calculators come with such a cable. If you need to purchase one, additional information can be found at the following links:
TI Connectivity Kit
Link Cables

Note that while most of the activities in the course include instructions for the TI Calculator, there are some activities that are difficult or impossible to complete on the TI Calculator. For those activities, we suggest using one of the other software packages, such as R.