Email Tutorial
 

The email tool built into your online course is only for use within that course. Using the email within your online course will allow you to communicate with your instructor and classmates. You will not be able to send email outside of the course, nor will you be able to receive email from email addresses outside of the course. In fact, the email tool in your online course does not even have an email address for you. You will simply send email to the instructor name and other student names. You will have to login to your online course to check for new email and to send email within the course.

Email allows you to send, receive, reply, and forward messages to others in your online course. You can store drafts of email, view sent emails, search your mail messages, add mail folders, and delete old mail.

Email also consists of a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. You can format your mail with color, style, tables, and you can spell check before sending.

To learn how to read, compose, send, and manage your email messages, read the tutorial below.
 
     
Homepage
  

Where is Email?
1. From the homepage of your online course, select Communication.
Figure 1

 

 
Figure 1    
     
Communication Icons   2. From the Communication page, select Email.
Figure 2
Figure 2    
     
Email Screen
Figure 3 		 

3. Your mail screen will consist of the following:

  • A compose message button
  • A search button
  • A Message settings button
  • Folders with unread and total messages
  • Options to create and delete folders
  • Options to delete messages

Figure 3
     
 

Compose Message Button
Figure 4

 

Compose New Message
1. To compose a new message click on the Compose Message button.
Figure 4
     
     

Compose Mail Message Screen

  

2. You will find a send to field, a subject field, a message field, along with various options to edit your email.
Figure 5
Figure 5    
 

Browse Button
Figure 6

   3. Select the Browse button to locate the instructor or student name.
Figure 6.
   
     

Select Recipients
Figure 7

 

4. A list of names will appear in a new window. Using your computer mouse, select the name of the instructor or student you wish to send a message to.

Tip: You can select multiple names by holding down CTRL or SHIFT on your computer keyboard and using your mouse to select the names.

Once you select the name of the recipient, hit the "Select" button.
Figure 7
   
Send To Field
Figure 8 		  5. The WebCT ID of the recipient you selected will be placed in the Send to: field.
Figure 8
     
Subject and Message   6. Type a subject into the subject field, then type your message into the message field.
Figure 9
Figure 9    
     
HTML Editor Button
Figure 10		   7. To edit the style, font, and color of your email message, select the HTML editor button. A WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor will launch and you will now have the ability to edit your email as if you were typing it in Microsoft Word.
Figure 10
     
WYSIWYG Editor
Figure 11 		 

8. Figure 11 represents the WYSIWYG editor. Notice all of the options to edit your email. Below is a list of some of the features of the WYSIWYG editor:

  • Cut and Paste
  • Bold
  • Italic
  • Underlined
  • Font Color
  • Left Aligned
  • Right Aligned
  • Insert Table
  • Bullets
  • Numbered List
  • Alphabetical List
  • Indent
  • Insert Hyperlink
  • Insert Bookmark
  • Insert Image
  • Ruler
  • Spell Check

Figure 11
     
Attachments and Send Button
Figure 12		   9. Once you have edited your email, you can either attach a file, preview your email, save a draft, cancel, or send.
Figure 12
     
 
   
Attaching a File:

Attachments and Send Button
Figure 13

  
1. To attach a file to your email, select the Browse button to locate the file you wish to attach.
Figure 13
   
     
Locate File on Computer   2. Locate the file you wish to attach on your computer. Select the file and hit the Open button.
Figure 14
Figure 14    
     
Attachment File
  

3. You will see the file structure in the Attachment textfield. However the file has not been attached yet. You must hit the Attach File button.
Figure 15
Figure 15    
     
Attached File Notification   4. You will now find your file listed as an attachment.
Figure 16
Figure 16    
     
Send Button
Figure 17		   5. Once you have completed your email, select the Send button.
Figure 17
     
 
The Email Inbox
Figure 18		  

The Email Inbox:
The email inbox will display all new messages. The status column will indicate either a closed or open envelope. A closed envelope signifies new mail and an open envelope signified read mail. You can click on the subject of the email to read the message sent to you. You can also view the author and the date of the email sent to you from the email inbox screen.
Figure 18
     
Display Email
Figure 19
   Tip: It is suggested that you set your email display to All and Unthreaded. This way you will be able to see all new and old email in the order they are sent to you.
Figure 19
     
 
Reply to Message
Figure 20		  

Reply and Forward Email:
First, open the email sent to you by clicking on the email subject. Next you can either reply or forward the message by clicking on the appropriate button. Reply will allow you to write back to the sender of the email. If you forward the message, you will need to select the recipient whom you wish to send the message to.

Note: You can also quote and download your email. Quote will place the original message in the same text window as your reply. Download allows you to save your email as a text file to your computer.

Figure 20