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Tape 2 - Email

Email allows you to send a message to a friend or colleague from your computer, over the internet, to their computer. It takes only a matter of seconds. Email is like a post office, phone, and fax, all in one. It is certainly faster than the conventional post office. You can sent or receive mail via email. You do not have to be on line to receive mail. If your computer is off, your mail will go in your mailbox. Your computer usually notifies you when you get on line that "you've got mail." You can use email to download pictures and videos which you can then send on to others. Video 2 showed how to use email, the structure of the email address, how to fill in a composition window to send mail. It talked about attachments, using cc and bcc.

There are rules to follow when using and sending email. You are not supposed to use all capital letters. That is the same as shouting. You should not use profanity or inappropriate language. Never include personal information such as your address or phone number. This is because email can be intercepted by others, people you don't know. It is important to get the email address of the recipient correct, exact. If you don't the mail will be returned to you. The video showed sending and receiving a message. You can reply immediately after receiving a message. You just hit reply and it automatically inserts the address in the to and from fields.

Email can be a useful tool for educators. There is no end to the information trail with email. The Classroom Connect has a meeting place for discussion, mailing lists of about 4000 (500 are education related), Kidsphere and Ednet are two of the most popular mailing lists for educators. Combined, they have about 100,000 subscribers. The video showed how to subscribe to Ednet. You can find projects for groups, and use Keypals, all via email. Eudora is another email program. There is a free version of it available for downloading. The free version has some limitations. There is a commercial version available for about $60. The video showed how to set up your own email program. It also showed how to set up files for classroom use, either by using one file for the entire classroom or files for each individual student. I think I am ready to try emailing someone.

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