For a downloadable version of this article to share with your IT department, click here. If you have further questions, please reach out to support@projectstem.org.

The course assumes that students have access to computers with a modern web browser. In addition to computer access, schools will need typical classroom supplies, such as pencils, paper, scissors, and glue. Wherever possible, student-facing resources will be available digitally, but teachers with access to printers may choose to print handouts and activity guides for students. A few activities may require some specific supplies and a list of these resources will be made available in the lesson plan associated with the activity. For Units 2 and 3, actual Micro:bit devices are not required to complete the lessons as the Micro:bit Python Editor includes a simulator, but they can absolutely be used in addition to the course. For Units 4 and 5, teachers may want to have students use headphones for the Earsketch activities.

Students will need to access the domains as listed below in order to be able to complete code activities. When speaking with your school's IT department, be sure to include the asterisks as shown.

Screen Size

The course is best viewed at a minimum of 1024x600, which is the average size of a notebook computer. The interface was optimized for desktop displays, so using small form factors such as phones may not provide a pleasant user experience.

Minimum speed of 1Mbps

We recommend always using the newest version of any browser. Supported browsers include:

We recommend always using the latest version of any screen reader. Please note there is no screen reader support for this course in Chrome.

Closed captioning is available for all course videos.

CS Explorations 3 works well on Tablets and Chromebooks. No workarounds are necessary to complete the coursework on Tablets or Chromebooks.

Project STEM does not currently have support for directly integrating or linking the course platform with outside grading and rostering systems. However, the gradebook for a course can be exported by teachers into a csv that may be imported into a separate grading and rostering system.

Project STEM has an option to create accounts and log into the course platform using Google Single Sign-On and Clever Single Sign-On.

For Clever SSO, Project STEM can also be found in the Clever Application Portal in addition to the Clever SSO button being available on the Project STEM signup and login pages.

Project STEM occasionally uses YouTube and Vimeo to embed videos into the course platform. For schools that block YouTube and/or Vimeo, the platform will detect this and display a video hosted by Project STEM instead as a fallback. Access to this fallback system is covered by the Items to Whitelist section above.