Email Class

The email class is currently being integrated into the Internet and Safety class.

  • Could use animation to show parts of e-mail address (username, @, computername)

The preparation section of this page should probably stay here. –Nate 2007/10/15

Preparation

Students should have e-mail addresses created for them prior to the class. It takes too long for students to think of an e-mail address, find an open one, and register correctly.

Here are the steps for creating e-mail addresses:

  1. NOTE Google will now only allow seven or eight gmail accounts to be created from one IP address. I guess this is to prevent spammers from mass-creating e-mail accounts – GRR. It is recommended to begin creating e-mail accounts as soon as possible, so that we don't encounter this problem at the last minute.
  2. Open the FIXME spreadsheet on Google Docs http://docs.google.com/a/bworks.org
  3. Click on the Discuss Tab to see who else is viewing it
  4. Mark the next unoccupied e-mail address as “pending” and your initials.
    • NOTE We usually have one person create the e-mails, so this step might not be so important
  5. Enter the first name and last name of the student.
  6. Try one of the suggested e-mail addresses from the spreadsheet.
  7. Use the standard password for every e-mail address
  8. Security Question: {standard question}
  9. Answer: {standard answer}
  10. Secondary email: FIXME suggestion: help@bworks.org?
  11. When finished with all e-mails, print instructions for logging into Gmail. FIXME We need a “template” Google Doc for this. We could copy/paste the students from the e-mail spreadsheet into this document. We could also just put the instructions in the spreadsheet that has the students names/e-mail addresses. Instructions should have the following items:
    • Gmail URL (http://gmail.com)
    • Steps for “Enter your username”
    • Enter your password
    • We could print instructions on how to change the password, but it's not that easy.
    • Include “Send an e-mail to help@bworks.org
    • Include a link to various Gmail help pages?

What Is E-mail?

Electronic Mail: An electronic message that is sent to one or more people using e-mail addresses.

Example:

To: joe@gmail.com
Subject: Party Friday
Message: Joe, I'm having a party Friday at 8:00 p.m.  
         My address is 1234 Some Street.  
         Call me at 555-1234 if you need directions.  
         P.S. Nelly might be there LOL! :)

Why use E-Mail?

  • IM is cool, but what if the person isn't at their computer or doesn't have their phone on?
  • E-mail is fast. E-mail can be delivered in seconds, across the world.
  • Send your resume, jokes, party invitations, etc.
  • Personal – E-mails are addressed to one or more specific people, unlike a web site.
  • Organized - You have all your past e-mails in one place, and can read them at any time. It's hard to find old IM conversations.

Email Addresses

  • E-mail addresses are sort of like regular mail addresses.
    1. Who you're sending it to.
    2. The address of the computer to send it to.

Parts of an E-mail Address

  1. Username
  2. The ”@” symbol (pronounced AT) is located above the 2 key. Hold down the SHIFT key, and press 2.
  3. The “post office” computer's name.

The @ tells the computer where the user name stops, and the computer name begins.

Examples:

  • bob@gmail.com (Pronounced “bob AT gmail DOT com”)
  • bill@gmail.com (Pronounced “bill AT gmail DOT com”)
  • betty1976@hotmail.com (Pronounced “betty1976 AT hotmail DOT com”)
  • george.washington@yahoo.com (Pronounced “George DOT Washington AT yahoo DOT com”)

Tips

  • Email addresses never have spaces in them. When you type an e-mail address, make sure no spaces are in the address.

Parts of an E-mail

When you write or “compose” an e-mail, there are three basic parts.

To

  • Who you want to send the e-mail to.
  • e-mail address of the person you want to send the e-mail to.

Example:

To: info@bworks.org

Subject

The subject should be a short description of what's in the e-mail. The subject line can be very important. When you receive an e-mail, this is the first line that you see.

Question which e-mail messages you would read first, and why:

  1. Subject: From: joe@joe.com
  2. Subject: Party Friday Night! From: joe@joe.com

Message / Body

Message (Also called the “Body” of the e-mail) is the full message that you want to send.

Example:

Message: To whom it may concern,

        I'm interested in the Mathematics Teacher position that's open at your school.
        I've been teaching blah blah blah
        Thank You,
        -- John Doe

Example E-Mail Message

Using Email

Let's get started on writing your first e-mail.

You should have an e-mail account set up for you by ByteWorks. If you don't, please ask an instructor to set up a G-Mail account for you. Or better yet, have an instructor show you how to do it yourself :-)

Logging In

You need a username and a password in order to use your e-mail program. BYTEWorks should have a username/password already set up for you. It's usually not a good idea to write down your password, but for now, you might want to jot it down.

  • You will use a Web Browser to read and write e-mails. Ask for help if you don't know how to open your Web Browser.
  1. Open a Web Browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox).
  2. In the Address Bar, type www.gmail.com
  3. Press ENTER. You should see a login screen something like this:
  4. Enter your username in the “Username” box. (the one you wrote down above)
  5. Enter your password (the one you were assigned)
  6. Press “Sign In”. You should now see the screen below. If you have a problem, try typing in your username / password again. The password is CaSe SenSiTiVE.

Inbox

“Inbox” is where your incoming e-mails are stored. In the picture above, there are 2 e-mail messages which are in the Inbox. To read an e-mail, you just click on the e-mail which you want to read.

Sending an Email

Enough about reading e-mails. Let's send one.

  • Press the “Compose Mail” button that's highlighted in the picture above. You should see a screen like the one here:

  • Enter an e-mail address in the To: box. You could use nathan.neff@bworks.org
  • Enter a simple subject in the Subject: box.
  • Type a message in the big box below Subject:
  • Press the big Send button.

GMail should notify you that your message was sent.

Send Another E-mail

  • At this point, you should write down a fellow student's e-mail address, and send them an e-mail.
  • Note You may have to click on the “Inbox” link to show you any new e-mails that have arrived.
  • When you receive an e-mail from a fellow student, click on the e-mail to read it.

Send an E-mail to Byteworks Founders

  • Send an e-mail to two or three people at the same time. Use the CC box.
  • deloporp3@yahoo.com
  • kewalter@swbell.net
  • nathan.neff@bworks.org

Replying

I'm very lazy, and I don't like to type in e-mail addresses. If I read an e-mail, and want to send a quick message back, I click the Reply link. See the picture below.

  • Notice that GMail automagically puts the sender's e-mail in the To: box.
  • Type in your reply.
  • Notice that the sender's original message is included in your message. This is helpful for remembering what the conversation is about.
  • Press the Send button.

CC / Carbon Copy

If you want to send an e-mail to one person, and also want to send it to other people, use the CC (Carbon Copy) feature. You can also just add a comma between multiple people's e-mail addresses in the To: box. For example:

To: nathan.neff@bworks.org, john.doe@bworks.org, joe.sixpack@bworks.org

BCC

BCC stands for Blind Carbon Copy. The addresses in the “BCC” box are not visible to other people who you've sent the e-mail to.

Sent Folder

You can see what e-mails you've sent by clicking on the Sent Mail icon on the left menu. See image below.

Attachments

When you want to send something other than just a simple message, you can use attachments. Attachments are useful for:

  • Sending resumes.
  • Sending pictures.

When you want to send someone an attachment, feel free to contact BYTEWorks, and we'll help you send a resume or picture. Until you learn to create a resume or picture, it's beyond the scope of the basic e-mail class.

See Also the Spam/Security section below.

Address Book

The address book is a very helpful tool, and deserves its own chapter. The Address Book helps you keep track of people and their e-mail addresses, so that you don't have to remember someone's e-mail address every time you want to send them a message.

Security

  • Do not open attachments, unless you are expecting an attachment from someone.
  • If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
  • Never send your credit card number, bank account number, or passwords over e-mail.
  • Do not follow links that aren't the same as they look:

Example: http://notesmine.com

Spam

Spam is a nickname for junk e-mail. The more you use your e-mail, the more likely you are to get spam. It's just an unfortunate fact.

Fortunately, GMail tries to filter your e-mail messages for spam, and puts it in the The “Spam” folder. Here's the contents of my Spam folder. Notice the dates on the messages.

Don't download Spam

Trash

Spam is everywhere. Even in Instant Messaging.

Put all spam/ads in Trash Can.

Email Class %2007/%08/%29 %00:%Aug nate
Email Issues %2008/%05/%23 %15:%May nate

Admin

See Also

 
email_class.txt · Last modified: 2008/09/01 09:02 by nate
 
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