With this new feature of MicroGrade, instructors can send e-mail messages and certain MicroGrade reports to an entire class or to individual students. In order to send e-mail from within MicroGrade, your computer must have access to the Internet by modem or by connection through your institution's network.

Note to America Online Users: AOL does not provide access to an SMTP server and cannot be used in conjunction with MicroGrade's e-mail function.

SETTING UP MicroGrade's E-MAIL FUNCTION

In order to send e-mail, MicroGrade must be able to connect to your system's SMTP server, and the program needs to know the E-mail addresses of your students. (SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and the SMTP server handles e-mail on the Internet.)

Setting up the Mail Server Connection

From the Edit menu, choose the Preferences For option and select E-mail. The Preferences for E-mail dialog will open for entry of the following information:

• Instructor E-mail address. (Optional)
• Copy instructor on all mail. (Optional) Click in the text box if you want a copy of all mail sent. Instructor E-mail address must be present.
• SMTP Server. (Mandatory) Enter the institution SMTP server name. If you have questions about this information or you are not sure what your SMTP server is, contact your network administrator or Internet service provider.

  NOTE: If you are using MicroGrade 6.1.3, the SMTP Server option is no longer included. By default, MicroGrade 6.1.3 sends email using Chariot's email delivery service. You do not need to enter any information except for your email address.

• Student E-Mail Domain. (Optional) The e-mail domain is that part of an E-mail address that follows the @ symbol. For example, in the address jsmith@ucla.edu, ucla.edu is the domain. If a large number of your students share a common domain, you can save time by entering the domain name once and MicroGrade will apply that domain automatically to each student name entered.

Entering Student E-mail Addresses

E-mail addresses for students can be entered manually by typing each address or they can be imported electronically.

NOTE: When importing e-mail addresses, create an additional header field called "Email." See Importing Information and Exporting Information for more detailed instructions on those subjects.

To enter E-mail addresses manually:

1. From the Students menu, select Student Records.
   The e-mail text box can be accessed by clicking within the text box with your mouse or by use of the tab key. If you entered a common domain name in the E-mail preferences dialog, you only need to enter a student's prefix if they use that common domain. (For example, jsmith@ucla.edu, would only need the prefix, jsmith, entered. If a student's address doesn't use the constant e-mail domain, enter his or her entire address and the common domain will not be applied.
2. After entering the e-mail addresses for your students, click the Finished button to close the dialog.

USING THE E-MAIL FUNCTION

Sending Mail

MicroGrade provides three ways to send E-mail to your students; from the Students menu, from the Summary window and from the Reports menu.

To send a message to one student (or different messages to a few students) select Send E-mail from the Students menu. When you select this option, an e-mail dialog will appear allowing you to select the mail recipient and a space to type your subject and message. To send the message, click the Send E-Mail button.

To send a message from the Summary window (the upper right window), click on the Send E-mail button which is activated when the selected student's e-mail address is available. A blank e-mail template will appear where you can enter a subject and your message. When your message is complete, click the Send E-Mail button.

Sending Reports Via E-Mail

MicroGrade can e-mail the following reports:

• The Class Roster Report
• The Student Summary Report
• The Class Standards Report
• The Grades by Assignment Report
• The Free Form Report

From the Reports menu, select one of the options listed above.

1. Set the Output To drop down menu to E-mail.
2. If you want this report sent to the entire class, set the Students to Print option to Current class. If you want to send this report to a group of students but not all students, set the Students to Print option to Selection. If you choose this option, a dialog will appear in which you will be able to select which students are to receive your e-mail.
3. Once this is complete, click the OK button and a subject dialog will appear. If you want to send a copy of the message to yourself, click in the Copy Instructor on All mail check box. Enter a subject and press OK to send the e-mail.

Sending Broadcast messages to more than one student

To send a common message to more than one student, use the Free Form Report.

1. From the Reports menu, select Free Form Report.
2. In the space provided, type your message or create your custom report.
3. Once this is complete, set the Output To option to E-mail.
4. If you want this report sent to the entire class, set the Students to Print option to Current class.
   OR if you want to send this report to a group of students but not all students, set the Students to Print option to Selection. If you choose this option, a dialog will appear in which you will be able to select which students to send to out of the current class roster.
5. Once this is complete, click the OK button and a subject dialog will appear. If you want to send a copy of the message to yourself, click in the Copy Instructor on All mail check box. Enter a subject and press OK to send the e-mail.

NOTE: If you are not connected to the mail server when your e-mail is sent, a message will appear to that effect and you will be allowed to save your message to disk for sending via e-mail at a later date. In the save dialog that appears, name your file and select the directory in which you wish to save the message. To send saved messages from disk, select Send E-mail From Disk from the Students menu.