LESSONS LEARNT ON E-MAIL USE IN CLASS

By Rema Devi Menon

Nov 2003

If you plan to use e-mail to distribute assignments and questions, here are some tips that will make things run more smoothly:

1.    Make sure your students are e-mail savvy. Before you send your first e-mail assignment, spend extra lesson or time on e-mail basics, it is worth the while. Otherwise you send hours unnecessarily ‘tidying up’ later as I found out. Use a public account email because all files are scanned for viruses this way and will be safe for you and your computer.

2.    Open new account with yahoo.com Go through with them and in the process create an account for your self specially to receive their mail. I did not send too much time on this, except show them how to register for a new account. This was a mistake. Some had yahoo.com.au and some yahoo.com.uk Mail was going to other countries and coming back here, taking too long to reach me. With the second class I was wiser and there were no such errors on registration.

3.    Tell them what kind of name to use while they register, otherwise they use their pet names which is not in your name list at all causing you endless hours deciphering whose mail it is. The second time I was wiser to specifically use full name when they fill in first name and last name, and use ID name as rema_kspk03 or rema_kpli_A. This would be make easy for you to sieve into different folders in your inbox.

4.    Show them how to use the mail to compose as well as attach assignments. I found many sending in attachments that turned out junk at my end or no mail at all or empty attachments.  

5.    Ask students to send their first email to you with their class and name in the subject. This is useful if you have more than one class sending you mail into that same mailbox. I used three different accounts for student mail coming from KPLI, KSPK and KDP14m. Reply to each one of them and in this way you’ll have their addresses in your address book to create a mailing group. With this first mail you would have all their email addresses to create a mailing group for that kumpulan.

6.    Let your students know the time and day that you will be sending the assignment so they know to check their mail. Ask them to check their mail as often as possible, at home, cyber-café, at the lab, or any other place. Whenever possible put send messages and instructions via email so that they get into the habit of checking their mail. Also always encourage them to share whatever instructions sent to them with other in their class. This will help students not being in the dark if they do not open their mail. We cannot avoid the fact that some students may have very easy access with streamyx at home while others have to go to the lab or cyber-café to check their mail. Therefore, always give them some extra time to  complete their assignments.

7.    Be specific with your message subject title. For example: Tugasan2 KPLI for Oct. 30th. I reminded them to put their tugasan No. on the subject as well as their class (KPLI A) so that I could identify from which kumpulan they were and group all their assignments into different folders. This would be useful if you teach 2 or more groups of the KPLI or KDP14m.

8.    Sort your mail using the subject title that you have specified. This way you can quickly identify the number of assignments you have received from that group and if it matches with the total number of students you have. I sent unnecessary hours opening each mail to identify content to separate them into folders.

9.    Assignments not acceptable via email: Do not use email to send and check powerpoint assignments unless it is a 5 slide show with minimal special effects. Remember your public email is limited to 4mb or so. I could receive 7 assignments from 24 students – word, & excel without problem. But some sent their powerpoint files and jammed up my mailbox! Mail merge and powerpoint and webpage assignments I evaluated in class. Web page designs were done by converting powerpoint presentation into .pps and html  as well as word file into web pages.

10.                   Feedback must be given for each mail so that students will know their mail has reached its destination. Just open and check and then reply ‘OK’. If any does not comply with instruction for assignment, explain briefly and as for a ‘resend’. All of them will have their work on diskettes (otherwise advise them to do so) and emails in “sent mail” so in case you have not got a piece or needs editing, ask them to resend when you meet them in class. I found some of them had sent but did not wait to see it successfully go, and I did not receive them. Also some were sent with typo error on the address line.

11.                   Evaluation forms should be created to record mail received and marks given. I kept one form to check that mail was received with the date recorded. Marks were recorded on another sheet. This way I monitored all assignments were handed in and as I opened them I could grade them. In the case of two students with the same work, both had to do another different assignment (1/2 the marks for sending in a file). For example, send another web site address and as them to briefly evaluate usefulness of the site for education. Tell them in advance, if they copy tugasan 3, then they (the copier and the copiee!) will have to do tugasan 3a and 3b. This way you can deter them and will not have extra work later on with copied work!

12.                   Start with copyright issues, using search engines and a session on “cut and paste’ from the Internet. This way I could ask them to read extra on PPBK, constructivism, look for information on their area of specialization, history of computers, Internet, safety issues etc. Give them some specific sites to evaluate content for P&P and ask them to send you a brief. This way you can encourage them to read extra from the Internet. If you have time good to assign different reading sites to each one or in pairs and have a class discussion.

Learn more about how you organise and use your Outlook Express from:

http://www.actden.com/oe/unit2/2_main.htm