What do we mean by “blended learning”?
Blended learning essentially means that some of your class time is in person on campus, and some takes place remotely, via video conference and the course web site. St. Nicholas uses the following technologies to connect students in our blended learning programmes:
- Zoom for video conferencing
- Moodle for our learning modules
- Google Workspace for email, calendaring, and collaborative document editing. (Students are provided an smsi.ie Google account upon registration.)
What technology do I require as a student?
Students will be able to fully participate in all blended learning activities with any recent Windows or Apple computer, and most Android tablets. To participate in live sessions via Zoom, you will need to have a camera and microphone enabled on your computer (or smartphone).
Installing and configuring Zoom
No software needs to be installed on your computer to use Moodle or Google Workspace, as they are web-based platforms.
Can I use my smartphone for classes and my coursework?
Although students choose to use their mobile devices to participate in live lectures, smartphones are insufficient to adequately perform your research and writing requirements, so a personal laptop, desktop, or tablet computer will be required.
Do I need to use Microsoft Office as a St. Nicholas student?
As an alternative to using the Google Drive suite for producing documents (Docs), spreadsheets (Sheets), and presentations (Slides), students may opt to use the Microsoft Office Suite. This is not a required technology for students, but those wishing to use the Office Suite (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) to produce your work are welcome to do so.
Please see this page for more info on free alternatives to Microsoft Office.
Who should I reach out to if I have a problem?
- For technical issues with your SMSI Google account, please contact our I.T. administrator at itsupport[at]smsi.ie.
- For issues with Moodle or Zoom, please reach out to our Instructional Designer: steve.welsh[at]smsi.ie.
- For questions that are specific to your programme (assessments, grades, schedules), please contact your Programme Manager.