Benefits of ICT Communicating As an Internet user

Benefits of ICT Communicating As an Internet user, the tools you are most likely to use to communicate with other Internet users are: • Electronic mail the most popular and widespread network application of all, used by tens of millions of network users for one-to-one or group communication. • Usenet News group communication on an extensive scale, with thousands of group forums on particular topics. • Real-time communication which enables you to join in the conversation as it happens, whether it is typed, spoken, or viewed. Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICTCommunicating Electronic Mail • Electronic mail (often referred to as e-mail) is a system for the transmission of messages between computers. • E-mail enables you, as an e-mail user, to send messages to other e-mail users via computer – conveniently, quickly and cheaply. It also provides an effective mechanism for the distribution of information to many people simultaneously. Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating Uses of e-mail • Keeping in touch with colleagues E-mail is one of the most effective and efficient ways of keeping in touch with colleagues around the world, because it is quick, cheap and informal. • Collaborative projects E-mail oils the wheels of collaboration by offering an easy means of communication on a one-to-one or group basis. Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating Uses of e-mail • • Exchanging documents can easily be sent, edited and re-sent via e-mail. This makes e-mail a fast and efficient medium in situations such as joint authoring of papers, where authors are geographically apart. Administration organising conferences or meetings is one example. Assuming that the majority of people involved have e-mail addresses, e-mail could be used for the initial announcements, for drafting agendas, taking bookings, receiving papers, issuing minutes or proceedings, and so on. Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating Advantages of e-mail • Cheap • Fast messages are usually delivered within minutes. Distance is no object. A message can be delivered to the other side of the world almost as quickly as to the other side of a city. Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating Advantages of e-mail • Efficient – if you are working at your computer, you don't need to move to send or receive e-mail. There are no costs for paper, envelopes or stamps. – unlike the telephone, you don't need to rely on your correspondent being available when you communicate. An e-mail message can wait in a mailbox until it is opened and read. Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating Advantages of e-mail • Flexible a message may be sent to one person or to many. In theory, anything in electronic form can be sent by e-mail. The advantages in using email far outweigh its relatively minor disadvantages. Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating Finding e-mail addresses • There is no comprehensive directory of e-mail addresses, though there are some commercial directory services on the Internet: – some directory services try to provide a global solution to the problem of finding personal contact details – others aim to cover local information needs. Examples include Yahoo!'s People. Search or Lycos' Who. Where? Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating Sending files via e-mail Sending files via email can be an extremely useful and convenient facility. • Sending attachments in most modern mail systems, you can send wordprocessed documents, spreadsheets, video and audio files Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating Electronic journals and newsletters • • There are many newsletters based on electronic mail. Electronic journals and newsletters range from serious academic journals to magazines. – they cover a wide range of subjects – they can be rapidly and cheaply distributed. Many electronic journals and newsletters are free, but charged-for titles are becoming more common. Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating Discussion lists • Discussion lists provide a means of communication for people with a common interest. They enable them to: – meet (electronically) – exchange views – circulate news and announcements – help each other solve problems. Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating Discussion lists Find a mailing list on a topic of your choice. There are thousands of mailing lists available, and the likelihood of finding one on any given topic is reasonably high. The main problem is knowing where to look. Mailbase http: //www. mailbase. ac. uk/lists. html Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating How discussion lists work • Messages go to all list members • Some lists are moderated – the moderator will screen out inappropriate messages, or may group together related messages. Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating Newsgroups • These provide a medium for discussion. People can announce news items, state their opinions, etc. • Anyone can post a message (article) to a newsgroup. There is enormous choice of subject. Within each newsgroup, there are multiple discussions going on at the same time. Responses to an article are grouped with that article in what is known as a thread. You can follow the trail of discussion on a specific topic by following the thread. Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating Real-time communication There a number of facilities which allow you to converse with others on the Internet. In contrast to email, these facilities simulate a face to face conversation. They are tools for real-time communication and collaboration on the Internet. Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating Real-time communication • Talk This allows conversations involving two people. Both parties must set up the link. • Chat For group discussions Internet Relay Chat is popular. There is a wide topic choice. http: //support. airmail. net/irc/chat. htm • Web conferencing This allows users to see, hear and chat to each other as well as share files and pictures. Benefits of ICT Communicating

Benefits of ICT Communicating • You'll find further information on directory services in the FAQ on finding people’s e-mail. http: //www. qucis. queensu. ca/FAQs/email/finding. html • The Internet User's Guide to Network Resource Tools has some more information about group communication. http: //www. terena. nl/libr/gnrt/group/index. html Benefits of ICT Communicating