Module 4:  Working With Email

E-mail becomes a very important component of your distance program when you are required to communicate with your instructor and with your classmates. As such, each student is required to have an e-mail address. You may have e-mail as part of your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or you may choose to use a free e-mail service such as HotMail.

Once you have your e-mail service, it's all very easy. You create the message, log onto the Internet, and send it. The message first goes to your ISP's mail server, which in turn sends it to the recipient's mail server. On the way your message may go through several servers, each reading the domain name in order to route it to the appropriate server. The message then remains in the recipient's mail server until s/he requests it by "checking the mail."

Each e-mail address you send is made up of certain components that help route it to the proper recipient:

To be successful in an online course, you should be able to complete the following e-mail activities:

• Open attachments you receive within your messages
  
• Print your messages (the computer you are using must be connected to a printer)
  
• Send replies to your messages
  
• Forward messages to others
  
• Originate new messages
  
• Add attachments to messages
  
• Delete messages
  

There are no assignments or exercises for this portion of the orientation. The following information is provided as a means for you to familiarize yourself with the e-mail system. You may want to print this information for future reference.

E-mail Basics
These are basic guidelines and may not apply to your computer configuration and e-mail account.

Printing your e-mail messages and attachments

• If you are viewing your e-mail system through your Internet browser, use the Print button to print messages just as you would print anything else from the Internet
• If the message has an attachment, you will need to open the attachment before you can print it.

Saving e-mail attachments

• All e-mail programs work differently and you will need to familiarize yourself with this function. All e-mail programs have "Help" files that cover this topic.

Replying to e-mail messages

• While viewing a message, select the Reply button.
• Another window will appear in which the sender of the original message is now shown as the recipient. The subject will be the same as the original message (you may change it if you wish).
• The original message should be contained in the body of your reply. (This is very important so that the person you are sending your message to can have the original message as a reference when reading your reply.)
• There will be a space for you to key in your message, but the original message will also be contained within the new message.
• After typing your message, select Send.

Forward e-mail message to others

• Open the message you wish to forward.
• Select Forward
• Enter the recipient's name in the TO: field.
• Key in any message you wish; select Send.
• The original message you received will show up after any text you keyed. The recipient will be able to see who sent the original message, the subject, date/time, etc. *NOTE: Use caution when forwarding messages.

Beginning new e-mail messages

• From the tool bar, select New Message.
• A window will appear to enter the recipient's name, the subject, and the text of the message.
• After keying your message, select Send.

Adding attachments to e-mail messages

• Create a new message using the steps listed above.
• There is an attach button within this window on the tool bar.
• After you click the attach button, you will be directed to select the file you want to attach. Follow the directions and click OK. You should see your attached file on your new message.
• Select Send.

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