Technology guidance and support for students

Technology/devices required to access your learning

To get the most from your studies, you will need your personal computer or laptop, and an internet connection in your home (should you be required to access some of your learning from home). If you are looking to purchase a new laptop, we have detailed student laptop requirements.

All St George’s students have the ability to use Office 365 as part of our institutional license, and to access St George’s software via AppsAnywhere (Windows only). In addition, we offer Office for Mac via office365, but only the following applications are available for Mac: Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote. Web-based Office applications are available on Mac.

To ensure that you are prepared for this and that you have the available resource and support, we have created a dedicated support area for students on where you can learn more and view instructions on how to access these technologies. View Learning technology quick guides for students for details.

Additionally, a large proportion of students already have access to St George’s Tablets via a loan option. This is particularly useful for engaging with many aspects of your learning e.g., participating in placement-related assessments, accessing Canvas and other learning resources, and watching learning videos, etc.

Available support for a laptop/tablet

We understand that it will not be possible for all students to meet our laptop requirements and so will be loaning laptops to the following priority groups:

• Students who are eligible to receive a grant from the St George’s Opportunity Fund
• Students who are eligible to receive a grant from the Access to Learning Fund
• Students who are registered disabled, care givers and/or have caring responsibilities
• International students who may have difficulty sourcing an appropriate device on arrival in the UK

Students who meet the criteria above should email IThardship@sgul.ac.uk to discuss obtaining a loan laptop.

If you do not fit into one of these groups but think you will struggle to meet this requirement, please email IThardship@sgul.ac.uk to discuss potential support options available. 

Canvas Quick Guides for students

Please visit the Quick Guides for Students in Canvas to access guidance on how to engage with the various learning technologies that might be useful for your learning experience. For example, short step-by-step guidance on the following:

• Discussions
• Quizzes
• Utilising your session page for flipped learning
• Panopto
• Microsoft Teams
• Information governance

And more can be found in the Quick Guides.

Read&Write for enhanced accessibility

Read&Write is a simple toolbar designed to help users understand, learn and express themselves with confidence.  The software has a number of tools to help with learning such as reading text out loud, understanding unfamiliar words and proofing written work, as well as features supporting research and composition. These tools may be particularly useful for students with Specific Learning Difficulties or for those whose first language is not English, but anyone can potentially find it helpful.

Find out how to access Read&Write, and guidance on how to use Read&Write on our Canvas pages.

Available quiet space to engage with online learning

It is possible that you may have an online learning activity while on-campus. Should you have a need to find a quiet place where you can comfortably access your online learning activity e.g. a live online lecture, online group work, etc. please make use of the private study spaces across the campus, details of which you can find at room booking and timetabling for students.

When in any of these rooms, please ensure that you are using your headset/headphones and be considerate to others by keeping the volume of your voice low when studying in the main computer room.

Please read the guidance on how to connect to the WIFI on-campus, to connect your mobile device.

Assessment support page for exams guidance and past exams paper

You can access the guidance relating to exams, including the SharePoint area for past exam papers on the assessment support page

Accessing LockDown Browser for exams

LockDown Browser is a secure browser installed on all SGUL PCs that is primarily used for taking online onsite exams. While using LockDown browser, users cannot copy and paste or browse other web pages online. You may be asked to download and install LockDown browser on your own Windows or MacOS laptop should there be a requirement for you to sit an exam remotely.

A preparatory module has been developed on Canvas to allow you to try the LockDown Browser environment before your exam. Please visit the Online Exams at St George's, University of London Canvas module for detailed information and guidance.

If you have not already done so, please self-enrol onto the module as soon as possible to engage with the content. The module will provide you with the necessary information and support to prepare for your exams. It includes frequently asked questions, key contacts and how to prevent and resolve internet connectivity issues. It also provides the download link for St George’s version of LockDown Browser and an opportunity for you to take a short practice quiz using the browser.

Once you have completed the exams preparation module in Canvas, you will have the opportunity to ask questions and/or provide feedback, particularly around functionality and any issues that you have encountered, in the discussion forum within the module. 

Live teaching recording policy and processes

University policy is that all live teaching should be recorded and made available to students in Panopto within 3 working days unless an opt-out has been authorised in advance. The University’s live teaching recording policy is available to read online. If you notice that a recording is not available or is of poor quality, please raise this with your course administrator or report this to Learning Technology Services.

Online support for Canvas is available 24/7 from the Canvas main menu. Support agents can assist with a number of issues, and those that cannot be resolved immediately are referred to Learning Technology Services to address during business hours.

Learning Technology Services is available on weekdays from 9am until 5pm to support you with learning technology including: Canvas, Panopto, MyProgress, Office 365. Feel free to drop into the LTS Office in the library or contact LTS by email.

IT Services (ITAV)

For problems with you IT account, e.g. inability to log in, access email, access Wi-Fi, please contact ITAV by email.

Face-to-Face IT support is also available on weekdays between 12 and 2pm.

The table below shows all the areas on campus in which charging facilities for devices are available for use by students, and details the type of charging sockets or cables available in each area.