By Jordan Wilhite/reporter
SE public services librarian Lily Cano cleared up student questions concerning all that relates to navigating online emails.
During the TCC Gmail Training workshop Feb. 6, Cano explained student email in detail and gave helpful hints, such as how to access the email without logging in to the student account.
She also showed the class how to connect the TCC email with other emails to receive them all in one place.
One aspect of the workshop students seemed to enjoy was personalizing their individual emails by going through the settings and selecting different styles and themes to reflect their own personality.
Cano also said it is important to separate school email from one’s personal email.
“It’s all through FERPA [Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act] rules, protecting your information, protecting [teacher’s] information,” she said. “It’s a very professional student/teacher relationship.”
FERPA is a law set in place to maintain a professional off-campus relationship between teacher and student instead of interacting through one’s private, personal email, Cano said.
After finishing up with the emails, Cano then offered information concerning Microsoft Word and other similar applications for students on a tight budget. She suggested several websites, such as SkyDrive and Dropbox, which offer free products almost identical to Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Cano said students generally have one reason for not wanting to learn about emails and other online tips.
“The biggest misconception is that students already think they know everything,” she said. “Google makes everything so easy to know, so they feel like they know all about it.”
However, if the students went into the meeting thinking they knew everything, many, like Chance Hutter, left with a different perspective.
“I never knew about all these cool features she showed us,” he said. “You would think an email is so basic, but after today, I feel like it will be easier and faster to work online now.”
Cano said she plans to start a Smart Tablet Club in the near future for students to learn more and have fun with one of technology’s newest advancements.
