The most powerful use of the Internet is for communicating with other users. Never before has a communications medium made it so quick, easy, and cost-effective to communicate with tens of millions of users all over the world. So great is the benefit that the Internet can truly be called a supermedium for communicating.
Read chapters 5 through 10 of the Internet Literacy textbook to study the concepts covered by this module. Chapter 5 reviews the principles of Internet etiquette (Netiquette) that you will observe to be a good citizen on the Internet. Chapter 6 gets you started communicating via e-mail, which is the most popular service on the Internet. Then chapter 7 introduces you to listerv, which is a mailing list service that you can use via your e-mail account. After you master these basic e-mail services, chapter 8 introduces you to newsgroups, which are a more highly structured form of communicating. Chapter 9 rounds out your online communication skills by introducing you to real-time communicating over the Internet. Then Chapter 10 introduces you to streaming media, which enables high-bandwidth audio and video communications to stream over the Internet.
This module consists of six units of instruction containing online activities that prepare you for completing the course assignments. Follow the links below to study the unit of your choice:
| Unit 3-1 | Internet Etiquette, which consists of a set of courtesy guidelines you follow to be a good citizen on the Internet. |
| Unit 3-2 | How to Use Electronic Mail, which is a store-and-forward type of communications medium between two people. |
| Unit 3-3 | Listserv, a way of communicating ideas to a specific group of people. |
| Unit 3-4 | Newsgroups, which are online discussion groups in which the topics are organized hierarchically, allowing users to read and write messages and converse about the topics in a manner comparable to attending a conference. |
| Unit 3-5 | Chat Rooms and other real-time environments for carrying on live conversations. |
| Unit 3-6 | Streaming, which you can use to tune in to real-time audio and video channels on the Internet. |
