What is it?
Email (electronic mail) is now so ubiquitous that it needs almost no introduction. In a nutshell, it is a system for sending and receiving messages from one computer to another. Originally, these messages consisted of text only; now it is possible to send audio and video messages as well. You can also append files as attachments to messages.
How can I use it with my students?
Email is one of many ways to communicate with your students, whether to remind them of a room change or an impending deadline, to carry on a discussion begun in class (but see below), or as a quick and easy method for the students to submit assignments completed electronically (e.g. word-processed essays).
You can set up an email list consisting of all the students in a particular cohort; this has the advantage that you only have to type one name in the “To” box. However, when replying to a message sent to the list, you must take care that the name of the list appears in the “To” box, not just the name of the sender.
Bear in mind, however, that using email to correspond with just a small number of students, rather than the whole class, may make the others feel excluded. A discussion forum which is open to all may be preferable. However, email should be fine for corresponding on a one-to-one basis about issues private to an individual student.
Examples
We are still researching examples and case studies for this topic. If you would like to contribute any (whether from your own teaching or from other sources), please contact us.
Where can I get it?
Your college or university will have its own email system, to which you probably have an account already. However, some of your students may also have their own personal email accounts, which they may want to use instead. It is up to you, and your college’s email policy, to decide whether to use students’ personal or institutional accounts when communicating with them.
