We are making preparations for our students to have more on-campus learning in 2022. Remote and blended learning continues for all students until the campus is allowed to open and when it is safe and possible to have face-to-face and in-person attendance.

We will continue to provide updates, dependent on advice and approvals from the government and concerned authorities.

No formal end-of-semester final exams were conducted since we initiated online learning in early 2020. In most cases, Swinburne conducted online assessment for its students and this will continue into Semester 2, 2021.

The best way to experience online learning is to try it out for yourself. And with Swinburne, you can start with our free trial online studies. To get started, simply accept your offer and begin your classes online from the comfort of your home.

If online learning is not for you, you can defer your studies to the next available academic session. Alternatively, you can withdraw from the program before the set deadline.

It is important to speak to Marketing and Student Recruitment before the end of the free trial period stated in your Letter of Offer to avoid incurring any debt.

If you find that you enjoy online learning but would still like some additional support, our Support Services is available to help you succeed.

You will need an up-to-date computer (laptop or desktop) with reliable, high-speed internet access. The recommended minimum requirements for these are:

Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon® 64 processor or better
Microsoft® Windows® 7 with Service Pack 1 or Windows 8 or latest version
1GB of RAM (3GB recommended) for 32 bit; 2GB of RAM (8GB recommended) for 64 bit or better
20GB of available hard-disk space or more
1024×768 display (1280×800 recommended) or better

Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support or better
Mac OS X v10.6.8, v10.7, or v10.8 or latest version
2GB of RAM (8GB recommended) or more
20GB of available hard-disk space or more
1024×768 display (1280×800 recommended) or better

As a Swinburne student, you will also have free access to Adobe Creative Cloud software (including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and much more) anywhere, on any device, for the entire time you are studying with us.

Swinburne has a range of free software available to help you with your studies, including the Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office 365 and Canvas.

You can start online with a reduced course load (i.e. one or two units) instead of a full course load (4 or 5 units).

This will allow you to adapt to online learning and the university teaching style.

Our Discipline Leader or Course Coordinator will work with you to develop a personalised study plan and help you with selecting online units.

Once you are enrolled as a Swinburne student, you will be given access to CANVAS, Swinburne's learning management system. CANVAS is accessible via /current-students and you can access it online from any PC/desktop, tablet or mobile device.

The number of classes you have will depend on the number of units you study.

Typically, a unit will have one lecture and one tutorial per week.

If time zone differences make it difficult for you to attend classes in real-time, rest assured that most lectures will be recorded and available in Swinburne’s online learning platform, CANVAS so that you can log in and review your classes at your convenience.

While it will not reduce the duration of your course, studying online will help you maintain your course progression and provide you with the possibility of completing your course within the original expected completion time.

Of course this will depend on the number of units you have left to complete. Your Discipline Leader or Course Coordinator can work with you to provide study plan options for you.

If you decide online learning is not for you, you can:

• choose to withdraw before the relevant census date(s) and request a full tuition fee refund for any pre-paid fees; OR
• defer your offer to the next available intake before the relevant census date(s) and we will transfer any pre-paid fees and any scholarship to the next available intake.

Just remember to do take action on one of the options before census date to avoid any financial stress.

Yes. Academic teaching staff are still accessible to students while they are delivering lectures and tutorials online. Your unit convenor or teacher will provide you with more information on how to best contact them during your first lecture.

You will not have any fail grades recorded on your academic transcript and any fail grades will not have an impact on your grade point average (GPA).

Please also be aware that while your fail grade will not be recorded on your academic transcript, if you do fail a unit:

• you will have to repeat the unit if it is a core or a pre-requisite unit,
• you will be charged fees for the unit, and
• you will not be able to progress to a unit that the failed unit is a pre-requisite for.
  For example, if you failed Unit A, you will not be able to enrol in Unit B until you have passed Unit A (but your attempt/fail of Unit A will not show on your academic transcript).
• You will also be able to request to have other results omitted from your GPA calculation if you believe a particular result will be a disadvantage you.

For more details about results and your GPA, see here for more information.

Ensure your PC or any smart devices used for online learning are updated with the latest security patches and equipped with antivirus software with the latest definition.

Always use the University’s official learning resources, e.g. Office365, Canvas & etc.

Protect your data by avoiding the sharing of any personal information such as IC or passport number, credit card number when answering an unsolicited email, phone call, text message, instant message or on social media.

Always back up your data to alternative media, e.g. cloud storage.

Be mindful before clicking any pop-ups and links shared through unknown sources, as it may compromise your devices.

Follow industry best practices for password security:

• Minimum length of 7
• Combination of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and special characters
• Avoid using obvious personal information as passwords
• Refrain from using dictionary words
• Use different password for different accounts
• Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• Change password regularly