Lesson: Media and Modes of E-communication

A. Picture Discussion (Picture not provided)

Work in pairs. Discuss the benefits and challenges of e-communication.

(Note: Please refer to any accompanying pictures in your original lesson materials.)

B. Vocabulary Exploration

Work in pairs. Discuss which of the following words you are familiar with. How are they related to e-communication?

• Facebook, email, website, blog, e-commerce, Twitter, e-learning, iPod, tablet PC, information superhighway, social network, smartphone

C. Reading

The Power of Email

Imagine a typical citizen’s workday. The morning probably starts with a cup of coffee or tea, followed by greetings to colleagues. Then comes the inevitable: logging into the computer. For many of us, this third step has become automatic and dominates the rest of our workday, as we receive and send dozens of emails.

An email is an electronic mail. It is a computer-aided method of exchanging digital text messages from a sender to one or multiple recipients. Emails operate through a network of computers connected by the Internet. Commercial server agencies, such as Yahoo, Gmail, Ymail, and Hotmail, accept text messages from senders, forward them, and instantly deliver them to the recipient’s digital mailbox. If the recipient is not online, the message is stored and delivered later when the recipient connects to the internet. It works instantly—just with a click of your mouse. Email has become a powerful communication tool in modern life.

(Picture: A person checking email on their computer)

Questions:

1. What is an email?
2. How do emails operate?
3. How do commercial servers function in the email process?
4. “It has been a powerful communication tool in modern life.” Explain this statement.
5. How do emails affect our daily work schedules?

D. Daily Routine Discussion

Work in pairs and discuss the steps you typically take during a normal day, weekend, etc.

E. Email Error Correction

Pairwork. Read the following email exchange between two friends. Like an informal letter, an email to a close friend is written casually. Identify the mistakes in the main body of the message, discuss them with your partner, and correct them.

Subject: Details of Dhaka Tour

FROM: Alexa Dowson <alexa.dowson@yahoo.com>

TO: Moutushi Laboni <moutushi1997@ymail.com>

Monday, 21 May 2012, 6:20 AM

Hi Moutushi!

Thanks for your mail. I’ll fly from Ottawa at 7:36 hours local time on 13 July with Qatar Airways via London-Doha and land in Dhaka on 15 July around 13:41 hours local time. I’d like to spend two days in Cox’s Bazar and one day in Khulna. My return flight is on 21 July at 3:04 hours local time.

Keep fine and in touch. Hope to see you soon!

Alexa

F. Email Composition

Pairwork. The email in Section E is a reply by Alexa to Moutushi’s previous email. Imagine what Moutushi might have written to Alexa. Write that email.

G. Gap Fill

Read the following text, which provides information about the origin of email. Choose the appropriate verb forms from the box to complete the sentences. You may use a verb more than once.

Verbs: send, say, use, remain, call, expand, allow, develop, spread

Sending text messages electronically can be ______ to have originated with the Morse code telegraph of the mid-1800s and the 1939 New York World’s Fair. At the fair, IBM ______ a letter of congratulations from San Francisco to New York using an IBM radio-type, ______ it a high-speed replacement for mail service in “the world of tomorrow.” Teleprinters were ______ in Germany during World War II. Their use ______ until the late 1960s, when there was a worldwide Telex network. Additionally, there was a similar American system ______ TWX, which ______ important until the late 1980s.

With the introduction of MIT’s Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) in 1961, multiple users were ______ to log into a central system from remote dial-up terminals for the first time. They were also able to store and share files on a central disk. Informal methods of using this system to pass messages ______, and these were ______ to create the first true email system.

H. Listening and Chart Completion (Audio not provided)

Read the grid first. Then listen to the audio and check (✓) the appropriate boxes in the grid.

(Note: Please refer to the audio provided with your original lesson materials.)

| | Less Time-Consuming | More Time-Consuming | Less Reliable | More Reliable | Less Efficient | More Efficient | |------------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|---------------|---------------|----------------|----------------| | Emails | | | | | | | | Phone conversations | | | | | | | | Face-to-face meetings | | | | | | |

I. Debate

Group work. Arrange a debate in the class about the advantages and disadvantages of email.