Test your current level of connectivity

The trend toward greater connectivity is one of the major points in this chapter. This exercise asks you to look at your use of voice mail, email, and other forms of electronic communication.

1. Explain the circumstances under which voice mail (electronic recording of telephone messages) has been effective in your experience. In what types of situations has it been ineffective?

2. Test your ability to send email by identifying a recipient you know (such as another class member) and doing the following:
   1. Send the following email message to the recipient and send a copy to yourself (by listing your own email address after "cc:") The message is as follows:

      Please forward this sample message back to me to verify that you have received it.

      Thank you.

   2. Use your receipt of the forwarded message to verify that the recipient received the original message. Compare the forwarded message to the copy you originally received. What is the difference between what you see in these two messages and why is the difference of any significance?

   3. Find a word processing document and save the first three or four paragraphs under a new name to keep from messing up the original. Be sure the new document contains formatting such as words in italics or bold face, words in different font sizes, etc. Do the following:
      • Open your email program if it is not already open and create a new message that you will send to the same recipient as in part (b) with a copy (cc) to yourself. The body of the message should be blank until you do the following:
      • Go back to the word processing program. Open the new word processing document if it is not already open, select the entire new document (you can use control A) and copy it onto the clipboard (you can use control C).
      • Click on the body of the new email message and paste the text of the word processing document into the body of the email message (you can use control V). Observe whether the formatting of the word processing document was preserved or eliminated. (This depends on the email program and the way it is set up at your site.)
      • Use the email program's command menu to add an attachment to the email message. (An attachment is a separate document that is "attached" to an email message without changing anything about its internal content or formatting. An attachment might be a word processing document, a spreadsheet, a presentation, or any other file.) The command for attaching a file appears in different places in different email programs, but is often under a heading such as Compose or Tools. When you select the attach command, the email program will ask you to specify which file on your computer will be attached. After adding the attachment, send the message to the recipient with a copy to yourself.
      • When you receive the email, open the message and compare the text in the body of the message with the text in the attachment (which you can usually open by double clicking on an icon or file name in the email message you receive.)
      • The recipient of the message should forward it back to you. When you receive the forwarded message, open it and open the attachment. Observe any difference between the forwarded text and the attachment.
      • Explain whether you believe attachments work effectively at your site and what you see as the advantages and disadvantages of using attachments.

3. Explain whether and how your ability to use voice mail and electronic mail currently makes it easier or more convenient to complete your coursework or could potentially do this in the future.

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