A computer with a basic set of applications and an Internet connection will always be necessary. For some courses, a smartphone may be sufficient, but you will generally need a desktop or laptop computer. Certain courses may require additional equipment such as cameras and microphones; your course instructors will inform you of such additional requirements. 


You might also find the following apps useful for most of your courses.


Desktop apps and plugins


As a UP student, you can get a free subscription to Microsoft Office 365, which includes Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel, among others. 


Sign up for your free Office 365 account.

Zotero is a tool for managing citations and automatically (and correctly) formatting your reference list in your Word or Libre Office documents.


Download it from the Zotero website

An alternative to Zotero is Mendeley. Your UP email account entitles you to the institutional version of Mendeley, which gives you:
  • 100 GB personal storage instead of 2 GB with the 'free account'
  • 100 GB shared storage instead of 100 MB with the 'free account'
  • Unlimited private groups of up to 100 collaborators instead of 5 private groups of up to 25 collaborators
Create an account and log in using your Google-based UP email address.  

Grammarly is an online tool that you can use to spot grammar and spelling errors in (and improve the tone and style of) your writing. The free version of Grammarly should be sufficient for most of your writing needs during your studies.


Mobile apps


A mobile app for MyPortal is available. Log in using your MyPortal credentials.

for iOS and Android

Some courses and activities require the use of Google Classroom.  


for iOS and Android