WebCT Activity #5
Mail

[5 points]
 

WebCT's Mail is the email you will use for this course. As with regular email, it enables you to send, read, search for mail messages, and reply privately to a person who has sent you a message. Mail is asynchronous, meaning those involved in the communication do not need to be online and communicating at the same time. (Questions one and two are 1 point each.)

 
 

Steps for Reading and Replying to your Mail

1.From the Home Page, click on Communication Tools (if you already see them).
2.Click on Mail. Notice there are messages in your Inbox. Notice the tools you have:
  • Compose Mail Message
  • Search
  • Manage Folders
  • Manage Messages
Mail opening options
3.Click on Inbox to see the messages.
4.Mail message listOpen your first message (it should be a welcome message from your instructor). To open incoming mail, click on a message to see the contents.

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Note:
If there is a see attached link, there is a file attached to the message. To open an attachment, click on the see attached link to reveal a listing of the attached file(s).
5.Click on the Reply button and send a reply to your instructor (just a sentence or two will do). Reply allows you to reply privately to the person who sent the message. (Activity Points = 1)
6.Click on the small box to the left of Aaron A's name in your list of messages.Mail message list showing 'Apply to selected messsage(s)' option.
7.Select Mark Read from the pull-down list to the right of "Apply to selected message(s) below" (even though you have not read this message).
8.Click on the Go button. A pop-up window will ask if you really want to mark the message as read. Click on "OK."
9.If the Show Unread link is blue, click on Show Unread.
10.Click on the Update Listing link. (You may have no messages at this point; that's OK.)
11.Click on Search to search on Name for Aaron. A pop-up window will let you make some choices.
12.In the Value box, type the name Aaron. In the Filter box, pull down and highlight Name.Searching mail messages dialog box
13.Click on the Search button and then close the pop-up window.
14.Click on the message from Aaron, to open it.
 Question 1 What is Aaron's message to you? ______________________________
15.Click on Update Listing to show only your unread messages. If you have read all of your messages, you will see "There are no unread messages in this folder".
16.Read each message (if you have not already done so).
17.Click on Show All to bring up all of the messages you have received.

Question 2 How many messages do you have? (Be sure to scroll down.) _________
18.Click on Select all to place a check mark in each of the small boxes.
 

Steps for Saving your Messages

Next you will save all your email messages to a file on a disk. Later you will send this file as an attachment to your instructor.

1.Be sure the word Compile is in the pull-down box, then click on the button to compile all of your messages. Your messages will appear in a pop-up window.
Apply to selected message(s) below - Compile - Go
2.Click on the Download button to start the process of saving your messages in a file.Example list of compiled messages
3.Click on Save file to save the file.
 Look at the Save in box to make sure you are saving the file in the correct place.

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Remember your file!
If you are in one of the college labs, you must save the file onto a floppy diskette in the A drive as shown here or to a Zip disk. If you are using your own computer, you may save the file where you choose.You will use this file later, so remember the name and where you put it.
4.Name the file with your name as shown here (with NO SPACES), then click on the Save button.

File saving dialog box
5.Click on the Close button to dismiss the window.
 

Steps for Composing and Sending New Messages

1.Click on the Compose Mail Message button to start a new message.

Compose Mail Message dialog box
2.Use the Browse button to locate your instructor.
3.Example of mail receipents pull down listing.Highlight the name Instructor, and then click on the Done button. Notice that only the first part of the alphabetic listing of students shows at a time. Use the scroll bar to find someone in a latter part of the alphabetic listing.

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Note:
Selecting your Instructor's listing will place the instructor's designation (in this case, evc_ii380) in the Send to box.
4.Type the Subject (this should be the chapter, assignment number, or topic of your question). For this assignment, type, "First message with attachment" for the Subject.

Compose Mail Message with Send to, Subject, and Message filled in.

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Be sure to include your name.
In the message area it's a good idea to include your full name and anything the recipient needs to know about the attachment.
5.Type your message. (WebCT requires a message, even if you just want to send an attached file.)
6.Wait to send your message until after the next section on how to attach files. If you were sending a simple message, you would now press the Send button.
 

Attaching and Sending Files

Next, you will add an attached file to this message. You will browse for the file you just saved in and attach it to this message. The directions are general to use as a reference. You will have to make adjustments to fit your own file location.

1.Click on the Browse button to find the file you wish to attach. (In this case it is the file you saved earlier with the compiled messages).
2) Open Floppy drive A (or other appropriate drive). 3)Be sure 'All Files' is in the 'Files of Type' box (use the pull down arrow to change).
 
Browse files dialog box
4. Highlight the file you saved earlier (your name).

5. Once you have highlighted the desired file, click on Open (or double click on the file itself).
There should be a file name in the little box, such as shown here.
6.Click on Attach File button, then wait while the computer finds the file.
Notice the name of the file shown (onscreen it will appear in blue lettering). If there is no file name, you have not succeeded in attaching the file. [You may have to scroll down to see the file.]
7.Click on Preview , to make sure your message is complete and has an attachment. In Preview, you should see the following:
Person to whom you are sending the message: (instructor, evc_ii380). Subject: 'First...' Attachments (this button does not say how many files, only that at least one file). A message that declares what file is supposed to be attached. Be sure to include your name.

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Need to change your message?
If something is incorrect, click on the Edit button and make the corrections.
8.Click on Send when you are sure your message is ready to send. (Activity Points = 2)
 
 

Confirming Sent Messages

You might want to see messages that you have sent either to confirm they were sent or to remember what you wrote.

Example of Inbox drop down list.1.Example list of messagesSelect Outbox in the Apply to box. You should see the message(s) you have sent.
2.After you have finished with the Outbox, select the Inbox so that you can see any incoming messages.
 
 

Questions, Questions, Questions ???

When you have a question, include the word "question" in the Subject of your message. This way, you will get your instructor's attention and get a faster response.

Now send a question to your instructor. This is just a question, so there is no need to attach a file. If you can't think of a question, ask how the weather is. (Activity Points = 1)

Compose Mail Message dialog box showing a question in the Subject line.
 
Footnotes
Turning in Assignments.
You have now sent two Mail messages to your instructor, one message with an attachment and one question. Using the Mail feature of WebCT is one way to send assignments to your instructor. Activity #6 will introduce you to another way to send assignments - Assignment Submissions.
 
 
 

When you are ready to do WebCT Activity #6

  • If you have a printed booklet, click on the Home link (in the upper one-third of the screen), then turn the page in booklet to WebCT Activity #6. (As you have seen, the WebCT Activities in the booklet are also online, but it may be easier to do them from the printed booklet.)

  • If you do not have a printed booklet, click on WebCT's Next link (in the Action Menu) to go forward to WebCT Activity #6.