GoalExplain what e-mail is and why it is an indirect communication tool.
New words
e-mail · a digital system for sending and receiving messages between users over the internetindirect communication · talking in which the other person reads and answers later, not at the same momentattachment · a file or a picture that is sent together with a messagesender and receiver · the person who sends a message and the person who gets it
Explanation
E-mail is a digital communication system. It is used to send and receive messages between users over the internet. A message can carry text, and it can also carry files, pictures and other information as attachments. It is one of the most common ways of communicating in the world. E-mail is an indirect communication tool. The sender writes a message and sends it, and the receiver opens it later, like a note left on a desk. Nobody has to be there at the same moment. This is different from a video call, which is direct communication and which we shall study in Week 10. The book also lists e-mail among the cloud computing tools, because your messages are kept on powerful computers that you reach through the internet. Week 9 explains the cloud in detail. In this week we use only invented addresses and paper messages.
Paper letter
E-mail
Video call
Speed
slow
very fast
live
Does the other person need to be there?
no
no (indirect)
yes (direct)
Can it carry files and pictures?
only paper copies
yes, as attachments
it can show them on the screen
Worked examples
Marwan writes a short message to his cousin in another city and attaches a drawing. The cousin is at school, so she reads it in the evening and answers the next morning. Marwan did not have to wait beside the computer.
one message→sent to many→everybody reads it
A teacher wants all her pupils to know the date of a school trip. She writes one message and sends it to every pupil’s family at once. This is the ease of e-mail: one message, many receivers.
E-mail
Video call
Answer comes
later
at once
Type
indirect
direct
Mina has a question about her homework. She sends an e-mail and the teacher answers the next day. In a video call she would have had the answer at once. Both ways are useful, but only the video call is direct.
Class activity
Play “paper e-mail” with a partner. Each of you draws an envelope on a page. Write “To”, “Subject” and a short message of two lines inside it (invented names only). Hand it to your partner, who reads it later and writes an answer. Talk about what made it indirect.
Practice
1
What is e-mail?
A digital system for sending and receiving messages between users over the internet.
2
Why is e-mail called indirect communication?
The receiver reads and answers later, not at the same moment.
3
What can an attachment be? Give two examples.
A file or a picture, for example a drawing and a document.
4
Which is direct communication: e-mail or a video call?
