Q: Have a MacBookPro5,5 granddaughter using for college. She can't upgrade for information sent to her by teachers.  Does this require new computer?

What do you mean she can't upgrade? Are you referring to the OS? What exactly are the reasons she can't upgrade?

That is a Mid-2009 MacBook Pro which should be compatible with the latest operating system, OS X Mountain Lion, if that's what you mean by "upgrade."

Mountain Lion has to be purchased from the Mac App Store. She has to open the Mac App Store on the MacBook Pro and purchase it, then it will download and then she has to run the installer. This doesn't make any sense though since this will not effect her ability to watch videos. She probably needs to just install a new application to view these videos. Tell her to try VLC media player.