Technical Requirements

A fast, reliable Internet connection is a basic requirement for taking Michigan Virtual School™ (MVS™) courses and using the myDeamExplorer® career development website. With increasing media components in our courses, your experience will be significantly enhanced with a broadband Internet connection (cable, DSL or satellite) or access through your school or public library. A 56.6KBps dial-up connection will work with a few Flex and Middle School courses, but all Student Direct, all AP and many Flex courses require a higher speed connection than a 56.6KBps dialup.

Electronic mail is critical for communicating with instructors. We recommend you use the electronic mail service provided by your ISP. However, if you use one of the many "free" email services, you may need to identify MVS email as not "junk" or "spam." All Internet connection and email problems need to be resolved by your ISP and/or computer manufacturer. MVU® is not able to provide assistance in solving these types of problems.

Computer Requirements
Our web pages display best at a screen resolution of 800 x 600 pixels and a color depth of Hi Color (16 bit/64K) or greater. Using these settings will require less vertical scrolling and improve the appearance of graphics. Your computer's speed and the amount of system and video memory are important. A Pentium speed PC or PowerMac with at least 32Mb will significantly improve your interactive learning experience. Additional hardware such as a CD-ROM and/or sound card (with speakers or headphones) may be required for some MVS courses. Check individual course summary pages for specific computer requirements.

Web Browsers
MVS courses do not require any special software other than a normal Internet browser, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari. We strongly suggest that you update to the latest full release of your browser of choice. (Note: MVS only tests and supports Internet Explorer 6.x/7.x and Firefox.)

If you are having problems displaying or interacting with any of our web pages, check to make sure java script and cookies are enabled.

You can update your web browser by following these links:

Download Microsot Internet Explorer®
Download Firefox®

Plug-ins and Other Useful Software
The following plug-ins and software may be required to view certain types of class materials, or play audio, video, and animations on certain web pages. All are free and can be downloaded through the following links:

Adobe® Acrobat Reader
Apple QuickTime
Celestia Space Simulation Software
Adobe Flash® Player
Adobe Shockwave
Plato Plug-in
PowerPoint® Viewer
RealOne Player®
Windows Media Player
WinZip

Adobe Connect
Some courses make extensive use of the web conferencing/eLearning tool called Adobe Acrobat Connect. Prior to enrolling a student, schools should ensure that students taking the course are using computers that meet the system requirements of Adobe Acrobat Connect. The system requirements can be found by clicking here.

The following is a partial list of system requirements. A broadband Internet connection is required for good system performance.

Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate, Business, or Enterprise (32-bit edition)

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or later
Mozilla Firefox 2
Adobe Flash® Player 8 or later

Microsoft Windows® XP Professional or Home Edition with Service Pack 2

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, 7
Mozilla Firefox 1.x, 2.x
Mozilla 1.x or later
Netscape 7.x
Adobe Flash Player 8 or later

World Language Courses
If you are taking any of the MVS world languages courses, you will need the following:

High-speed Internet connection
Internet Explorer V6.X or Firefox V1.5X browser
Windows 2000 or later version with a CD-ROM drive, disk storage space and a full-duplex sound card
Sound card
Headset with earphone and microphone for group interaction and audio chatting.
A broadband connection will significantly improve the use of the multimedia components of these online courses

CareerForward Course
If you are taking the CareerForward course, you will need the following:

Multimedia computer with headphones that is able to access and interact with the web.
High-speed Interenet connection
The most recent version of Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari browser
Flash® must be installed to access the multimedia components
Adobe Reader®

Information for Mac Users
The MOIS CD-ROM is not Mac-compatible at this time.

MVU Privacy Statement
MVU will never share any of your personal information without your consent. MVU is committed to protecting your privacy and earning your trust. Click to view the complete MVU Privacy Policy.

Security Statement
This site has audited security measures to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. MVU employs the most advanced security available today for online purchases. All users are strongly advised to use web browsers with 128 bit encryption features for the most secure transmission of personal and financial data to MVU's secure server. To verify whether a web page is really encrypted: Internet Explorer users right click-over some regular text on the page, click on Properties, and then read the statement on the Connection line.