Asia EdNet Tutorial - Module 4
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Keeping in touch - Using the
Internet for communication |
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Mailing lists 
Mailing lists (or 'listservs') use email as the medium and are rather like postal mailing lists except that they are much faster. Although a number of other names are used for various kinds of mailing lists, this tutorial discusses two types: discussion groups and newsletters.
Mailing lists are an example of 'push' technology, which means that information is 'pushed' to you (by email) rather than you having to go and find it.
Discussion groups
A discussion group is a two-way method of 'posting' (sending) email messages among a group of people interested in a particular topic. Members of the group can contribute their own ideas, news, information and opinions about that topic and other people (usually members only) will be able to read those messages and respond.
Because the process of sending messages by email is very fast, discussion and debate in these groups are encouraged. Discussion groups are also good for asking questions of your colleagues and for making announcements of wider importance. They are often used to advertise the sorts of collaborative projects investigated in Module 5.
Discussion groups may be 'moderated', which means that someone (the list moderator) vets all contributions before they are distributed to members. If a discussion group is not moderated, contributions are distributed automatically, without human intervention.
Some discussion groups can provide a 'digest' version. In this case, you receive all the messages on the list, in one email, usually once per day, instead of receiving all the messages separately.
Although many discussion groups are open to anybody, others are restricted to a particular group of people. Your local department of education is likely to have a range of discussion groups for teachers.
Newsletters
Mailing lists in which you receive messages only from the person running the list are often called 'newsletters'. They are similar to traditional newsletters except that they come by email. There is no opportunity for members to send their own messages to these sorts of lists, although it is usually possible to correspond privately with the person running the list.
Like discussion groups, newsletters can be open to public subscription or may be restricted to a particular group of people.
Archives
Mailing list messages, whether from a discussion group or a newsletter are often archived so that visitors and participants can review them.
Note: It is very easy to subscribe to numbers of mailing lists and find yourself overwhelmed by email messages, and with little time to read them all. Fortunately, however, it is just as easy to 'unsubscribe'! After joining a mailing list you will soon know whether it interests you. If not, just unsubscribe. Information about how to do so is usually provided at the time of subscription.
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