The Online Experience

SUNY Cortland’s literacy program goes beyond text-exclusive delivery through a discussion board. The online experience is punctuated by points of emphasis that help students during their studies and in their careers as educators: 

• Virtual early field experiences and summer practicum. Early field experiences and summer practicum support elementary and middle/high school students through virtual reading and writing tutoring. You do not need to find your own placement, as the virtual placement will be embedded within your writing assessment and instruction coursework.  
• Video and audio collaboration in the online classroom. Graduate classes in literacy use video and audio tools (e.g., Flip, Brightspace) to communicate asynchronously, enabling student interaction, collaboration, and learning.
• One-on-one faculty connections beyond email. Even away from campus, students discover supportive professors who are easily accessible through video meetings, over the phone, using email, or in-person if students are local to our campus. Faculty members help students grow their professional networks. 

More about technology needs

Students in the literacy program should have access to a scanner or a way to scan and share documents easily. Additionally, the following technology recommendations come from Information Resources: 

• Windows or Mac? Windows and Macs are both popularly used on campus and supported by the Help Center. It is recommended that your computer is running a current and updated operating system: Windows 10 for Windows and Mac OS X High Sierra (OS X 10.13) or newer for Mac. 
• Suggested computer specifications. In general, your computer should have a minimum of 4 GB RAM and at least 200 GB of free storage space on a hard drive for basic computing tasks. 
• What about a Chromebook or different operating system? While these computers are not supported by SUNY Cortland, they are allowed on the network. If you plan to use the device on the campus wireless network, make sure it can support WPA-2 Enterprise wireless networking. There will be minimal support in using these devices. 

Learn more about technology considerations for students.