Teacher's Net

Lesson 2: Communications, Part Two

Email Providers and Clients

The Provider

"E-mail- Short for electronic mail, the transmission of messages over communications networks. The messages can be notes entered from the keyboard or electronic files stored on disk. Most e-mail systems include a rudimentary text editor for composing messages, but many allow you to edit your messages using any editor you want. You then send the message to the recipient by specifying the recipient's address. You can also send the same message to several users at once. This is called broadcasting. Sent messages are stored in electronic mailboxes until the recipient fetches them. To see if you have any mail, you may have to check your electronic mailbox periodically, although many systems alert you when mail is received. After reading your mail, you can store it in a text file, forward it to other users, or delete it. Copies of memos can be printed out on a printer if you want a paper copy. All online services and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer e-mail, and most also support gateways so that you can exchange mail with users of other systems. Usually, it takes only a few seconds or minutes for mail to arrive at its destination. This is a particularly effective way to communicate with a group because you can broadcast a message or document to everyone in the group at once." (see source 1)

In short, the Email Provider gives you space for storing and sending email. It usually will allow you to create your email within its program, or interface, but must be accessed online. It is not software that runs from your computer, but this is the way that you actually get an email address. Providers include hotmail, yahoo, and aol.

The Client

A program that can retrieve email from an email account, allowing a user to read, forward, delete, and reply to email messages. Yes, a program -this one is software, which runs from your computer, and makes it easier to get your email. It is also the safest method to use within an educational setting, as it allows you to set serious restrictions on the types of mail students receive - right down to limiting them to the receipt of mail only from specific addresses. Clients include Microsoft Outlook, Incredimail, and others.

It is practically necessary to use an email client in the educational setting. For yourself, it allows you to create specific email addresses from which you can be contacted (english@email.com, classquestions@email.com, etc), but you won't have to go tripping around the Internet retrieving mail from each and every place that you have an account. Instead, you will open the program and watch every new email be instantly imported to your computer.

Sources of Free Providers and Clients

There are many free email providers and clients. In all examples which are prepared for support with this lesson, I will be using hotmail as the email provider, and Incredimail as the client. My reasoning? Hotmail is not only free, but it provides POP access (this is what lets the email client actually get your emails). Incredimail, the client I choose, is much easier to set up than Outlook and provides some really entertaining formats to send your mail in.

Following is a listing of free providers and clients that you may look into and choose from:

Email Providers

Email Clients

Hotmail - www.hotmail.com Incredimail - www.incredimail.com

Yahoo - www.yahoo.com Pegasus Mail- www.pmail.com/

Mail Service.ms - www.mailservice.ms The Bat! - http://cws.internet.com/mail-thebat.html

Mail Planet - www.mailplanet.net

Friendly Email - www.friendlyemail.com

Mail & News - www.mailandnews.com

For reference, visit "How to Choose an Email Provider" - any questions you might have about what your needs are, and what different providers can offer you, will be answered here.