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.

Students and teachers will need to access certain domains and sites in order to be able to complete embedded code activities and participate in the course. Project STEM has a Whitelist Validator tool that will help you and your IT team determine which domains need to be whitelisted. This tool checks to see if your school's network is able to access the necessary sites and domains for the course platform to fully function.

To use the tool, navigate to whitelist.projectstem.org while connected to your school's network. It is best to test this on both a teacher's and a student's machine in case they have different permissions set by your IT team. Then, select your course and click the button to run the tests.

If your network is not able to access any of the necessary items, you will be provided with an on-screen list of domains and sites that need to be whitelisted by your IT team.

We recommend always using the newest version of any browser.

Project STEM 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.