Internet Mail

What is it?

Internet mail is also known as Email, the 'E' signifying 'Electronic'. It's great, because you the person who you want to communicate with doesn't have to be around for you to sent them a message. Think of it as an electronic 'pigeon-hole' or 'information-sorter'. We've all seen these, right?

Basically, you use a piece of software called a 'mail reader' to compose, post and receive Email messages. Again I use Outlook Express, but there are literally hundreds to choose from. Some are free, others expensive, but have a look around before you commit yourself. Why not try a few out?

So, you write a message to someone in a simple text editor. (note though that these days mail messages can be as attractive and entertaining as Web-pages!) With your message, you include the email address of the recipient and a subject. For example, here's a sample E-mail message, sent recently to me. (I've added an explanation in the right hand column).

From: (senders Email Address)

Thank you for your help.
Jude

Richard Williams wrote:

> (See thread for original message)
>
> In my searches, I've found the following sites useful:
>
> http://www.jobhunter.co.uk/findit/
> A great UK site which covers, amongst others, teaching vacancies. Search by
> area or nationally.
>
> http://cra.als.aca.mmu.ac.uk/careers/teach/vacancy.htm
> A bit of an obscure site, from Manchester, UK, with links to the Times
> Educational Supplement, the Catholic teachers gazette :-) etc.
>
> http://www.nottscc.gov.uk/edvac/index.htm
> The Nottingham County Council Site, UK, (near to where I live) which has
> teaching vacancies updated regularly.
> (And good luck!)
>
> --
> .oooO
>   (    )      .oooO     Richard Williams
>    \ (         (      )      rwilliams@easynet.co.uk
>      \_)         ) /
>                   (_/

This is the message from the sender. It's a thank-you for a web-page address I Emailed Jude with. She was looking for sites with teaching vacancies on, and posted the message on an educational newsgroup.

The rest of the message contains the text from the message I sent her.. This is always preceded by the '>' symbol, to signify it's not the sender that's written this down. It's always a good idea to copy in the original message to a reply, to remind the recipient what it is you're talking about!

PS If you're looking for a job, check out the sites, they're really good.

This is my signature, which I always attach to outgoing Email messages. It includes my name, Email address and an ASCII picture of some feet.

I've no idea what the feet stand for, but suggestions would be gratefully received.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that you can use Email to send attached files too. This includes word processed documents, spreadsheets, pictures, sounds, video, programs, etc, etc, etc! Starting to see the potential now?

Educational uses...

Email obviously has a massive educational potential for you as a teacher and for the students. Let's look at those in turn.

..for you.

As a teacher you can use Email for a huge variety of tasks to make your work more efficient. For example, if you have an intranet set up on your site, you can use Email to leave important messages for colleagues, such as what time you're meeting at the pub.

Similarly, but offering more potential, you can reply in person and set up a dialogue with anyone else in the world with an Internet Email address. Exchange ideas, give advice and so on. With the attachment feature, you can even exchange resources over the Internet. What could be simpler? You send a message, and look for the reply when it suits you.

...for the students.

Obviously it's down to the individual institution whether to allow students to have an Email account. If you do and it's not abused, the possibilities are endless. In Geography, students could talk to 'virtual penpals', exchanging thoughts and ideas on where they live. Can you think of a better way to get a sense of place without actually going there? Digital images can be attached to the Email to gain an idea of what a place is like. Give it a try; it'll take some setting up but could be a memorable experience which would remain with the students for the rest of their lives.

In other curriculum areas too, the possibilities are mind-boggling. Think about languages, the arts or sciences. Looks good for the future don't you think?