Competencies
After reading this document, you will be able to:
- Design and create asynchronous communication components (Discussion, Calendar, and Email) that support course goals
- Employ the Mail tool
The Mail Tool
Mail allows you, your students, and teaching assistants to send private mail messages to each other. There are four default folders for each user.
• All: contains all messages
• Inbox: contains all received messages
• Outbox: contains all sent messages
• Draft: contains all unsent messages
You can send Mail messages to individual participants or to a group of recipients, each of whom will receive the message at a private Mail address within the WebCT course. Although you cannot delete these default folders, you can rename them.
Figure 1: The Mail screen
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Note The Mail tool only allows you to send messages within the course. Although you can forward mail to an outside mail address, you cannot send mail from an outside address and have it reach the people at their WebCT mail addresses. |
As with any WebCT tool, you must add Mail to your course before you can use it.
To add the Mail tool
1 Click Add Page or Tool on the Navigation Bar. The Add Page or Tool screen appears
2 Under Communication Tools, select Mail. The Add Mail screen displays.
3 Type the title for the Mail page in the appropriate text box.
4 Under Decide where to show the link to this item, check the boxes specifying where you want the Mail link to display.
- Selecting On the Navigation Bar displays the hyperlink on the Navigation Bar, making it visible throughout the course.
- Selecting On an Organizer page displays the hyperlink on an existing page. The choices available in the drop-down box are the Homepage and any Organizer pages you have previously added to your course.
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Note To look at the structure of your course as it exists in order to select where to display the link, click Course Map in the header. |
5 To specify the appearance of the link on a course page, select Link shows item title if you want the link to appear as text only. Select Link shows icon if you want the link to appear as an icon only. Select both if you want an icon with a text title.
6 To choose the image for the icon on a course page:
- Select Use default icons to use the WebCT default icons.
- Select Use custom icons and click Browse to select an image from the WebCT built-in files, or an image you have previously created and uploaded.
7 Click Add. The Mail tool is added to your course.
Reading Mail Messages
You can use the Mail tool to list and view any messages that you receive.
To view a Mail message
1 From the Mail Folders table, click the folder that contains the mail that you would like to read. The Mail Messages screen appears.
2 To display any mail that was just sent, click Update Listing.
3 Click the hyperlinked subject of the message that you would like to read. A window opens, displaying the message.
4 If the mail includes a file attachment, you'll see a paper clip icon. For security reasons, it is recommended that you download the attachment to your own computer before you view it.
5 To download the file attachment:
a Click the paper clip icon. The Attachments window opens.
b Select the file you want to download, and click Download.
c Follow the instructions for downloading from your browser.
d When the download is complete, click Close to return to the message window.
6 When you have finished reading the message, click Close. The Mail Messages screen appears.
Composing Messages
You can use the Mail tool to compose and send messages to course participants.
To compose a message
1 While in Mail, click Compose Mail Message. The Compose Mail Message window appears.
Figure 2: The Compose Mail Message window
Replying to and Forwarding Messages2 Complete the Send to text box by either:
- Typing the name of the recipient(s).
- Clicking Browse to view the list of possible recipients. To select a recipient, click his or her name. To select more than one recipient, hold down the SHIFT key while selecting contiguous names, or hold down the CTRL key while selecting noncontiguous names. When you are finished selecting recipients, click Done.
- Clicking Clipboard to address the message to all users listed on the clipboard.
3 Complete the subject line, and then type your message in the text box. Blank subjects or messages are not allowed.
4 If you would like to attach a file:
a Enter the filename of the attachment or click Browse to locate it on your computer.
b Click Attach File. The filename appears below the Attachments text box. You can remove the attachment by selecting the box to the left of the filename and then clicking remove.
5 Click Send. The mail is sent and a copy is placed in the Outbox folder.
In addition to composing original mail messages, you can reply directly to messages that you receive or forward received messages to other Mail users.
To reply to a message
1 From the Mail Folders table, click the folder that contains the message that you would like to reply to. The Mail Messages screen appears.
2 Click the message that you would like to reply to. The message window opens.
3 Click Reply. The Compose Mail Message window appears, with the Send to and Subject lines completed. Although you cannot change the Send to line, you can change the Subject line.
4 Type your message in the text box.
5 If you would like to attach a file:
a Enter the filename of the attachment or click Browse to locate it on your computer.
b Click Attach File. The filename appears below the Attachments text box. You can remove the attachment by selecting the box to the left of the filename and then clicking remove.
6 Click Send. The mail is sent and a copy is placed in the Outbox folder.
To forward a message to another Mail user
1 From the Mail Folders table, click the folder that contains the mail that you would like to forward. The Mail Messages screen appears.
2 Click the message that you would like to forward. The message appears.
3 Click Forward. The Compose Message window appears.
4 Complete the Send to text box by either:
- Typing the name of the recipient(s).
- Clicking Browse to view the list of possible recipients. To select a recipient, click his or her name. To select more than one recipient, hold down the SHIFT key while selecting contiguous names, or hold down the CTRL key while selecting noncontiguous names. When you are finished selecting recipients, click Done.
- Clicking Clipboard to address the message to all users listed on the clipboard.
5 Type your message in the text box.
6 If you would like to attach a file:
a Enter the filename of the attachment or click Browse to locate it on your computer.
b Click Attach File. The filename appears below the Attachments text box. You can remove the attachment by selecting the box to the left of the filename and then clicking remove.
7 Click Send. The mail is sent and a copy is placed in the Outbox folder.
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Note You can also forward your mail to an external email address and enable that functionality for your learners. This can be done by clicking Message Settings and then entering the address where you would like the mail to be forwarded. In WebCT Version 4.x, message attachments are now forwarded as well. |
Marking Messages as Read or Unread
To facilitate the organization of your Mail contents, you can choose to mark selected messages as read or unread. Alternately, you can choose to mark all messages as read (although you cannot mark all messages as unread).
To mark selected mail as read or unread
1 From the Mail Folders table, click the folder that contains the mail that you would like to mark. The Mail Messages screen appears.
2 Display the messages that you would like to mark.
• To choose from all messages, click Show All.
• To choose from all unread messages, click Show Unread.
3 Select the messages that you would like to mark.
4 From the Apply to selected message(s) below drop-down list, select Mark Read or Mark Unread.
5 Click Go. A confirmation dialog box displays.
6 Click OK to confirm. The updated Mail Messages screen appears.
To mark all mail as read
1 From the Mail Folders table, click the folder that contains the mail that you would like to mark. The Mail Messages screen appears.
2 Display the messages that you would like to mark.
• To choose from all messages, click Show All.
• To choose from all unread messages, click Show Unread.
3 Click Mark all as read. A confirmation dialog box displays.
4 Click OK to confirm. The updated Mail Messages screen appears.
Searching Mail
You may search Mail messages using the following criteria:
• first name or last name of the message writer
• user name of the message writer
• thread subject
• unique message number
• date that the message was sent
• content of the mail message
To search mail messages
1 While in Mail, click Search. The Search Mail screen appears.
Compiling and Saving Messages2 Choose your search parameters:
a From the Folder drop-down box, select the folders to search.
b From the Search drop-down box, specify whether to search All messages or only Unread ones.
c From the Criteria drop-down box, select the search criteria.
- None: no filter
- Name: full name of the message writer
- Subject: the thread subject
- Message No: the unique message number associated with each message
- Date: the date that the message was sent
- Message: any of the words in the text of the mail message
d From the Comparison drop-down box, select how the information entered in the Value text box will be compared with the criteria.
- Contains: retrieves messages that match any part of the text or numbers entered in the Value text box
- Equals: retrieves messages that match exactly the text or numbers entered in the Value text box
- Before: in combination with the Date or Number criteria, retrieves all messages before the date or number entered in the Value text box. In combination with a text criteria (Name, Subject, Message), retrieves all messages containing letters that occur alphabetically before the word entered in the Value text box
- After: in combination with the Date or Number criteria, retrieves all messages after the date or number entered in the Value text box. In combination with a text criteria (Name, Subject, Message), retrieves all messages containing letters that occur alphabetically after the word entered in the Value text box.
- Starts with: in combination with a text criteria (Name, Subject, Message), retrieves messages with words that begin with the letter entered in the Value text box.
- Ends with: in combination with a text criteria (Name, Subject, Message), retrieves words that end with the letter entered in the Value text box.
3 In the Value text box, type the words or numbers to be searched. If you have selected the Date criteria, type the date in the format dd,mm,yyyy. Include the commas.
4 Click Search. The Mail Messages screen appears, listing all messages that satisfy your search requirements.
This feature allows you to select mail messages, compile them into one file, and download the file to your computer.
To compile and save a group of messages
1 From the Mail Folders table, click the folder that contains the mail that you would like to compile and download. The Mail Messages screen appears.
2 Select the messages to choose from:
• To choose from all messages, click Show All.
• To choose from all unread messages, click Show Unread.
3 Select the order in which the messages will be presented:
• For chronological order, click Unthreaded.
• For threaded, click Threaded.
4 From the list of messages, select the messages to be compiled.
5 From the Apply to selected message(s) below drop-down list, select Compile.
6 Click Go. The compiled messages appear.
7 Click Download. Your browser's file download window appears.
8 Select the save to disk option, and follow your browser's instructions for downloading the file.
9 When the download process is completed, click Close to close the popup window.
Using the Clipboard
You can copy a list of student records and paste them into Mail. For example, you could list students with failing grades, and then copy and paste these records into a message encouraging them to seek tutorial help.
To copy student names to the clipboard
1 In Manage Students, list a subset of students, or search student records.
2 Under the Advanced Options heading, select Copy records to clipboard.
3 Click Go. These student records can now be retrieved by clicking Clipboard in the Compose Message window.
Saving a Draft Message
You can use the Save Draft feature to save your work on a message that you not yet ready to send.
To save a message as a draft
1 While in the Mail tool, click Compose Mail Message. The Compose Mail Message window appears.
2 Complete the Send to text box by one of the following methods:
- Typing the name of the recipient(s) click Browse to view the list of possible recipients. To select a recipient, click his or her name. To select more than one recipient, hold down the SHIFT key while selecting contiguous names, or hold down the CTRL key while selecting noncontiguous names. When you are finished selecting recipients, click Done.
- Clicking Clipboard to address the message to all users listed on the clipboard.
3 Complete the subject line, and then type the draft of your message in the text box.
4 Click Save Draft. The message is placed in the Draft folder.
After saving a message as a draft, you can access it at any time, finish your work on it, and send it.
To send mail that was stored as a draft
1 From the Mail Folders table, click Draft. The Mail Messages: Draft screen appears.
2 Click the hyperlink to the message that you want to send. The message opens.
3 Click Edit. The Compose Mail Message window appears.
4 Edit your message as needed.
5 Click Send. The mail is sent, and a copy is placed in the Outbox folder.
