GCF stands for Goodwill Community Foundation and through their Learn Free website they share over 125 tutorials divided into sections Technology Basics, Living in the Online World, Microsoft Office, Essential Skills, and Work and Career. These are all worth exploring and the site is a useful toolkit whenever you need to brush up on information yourself, as well as a tool for students to use whenever they need more information.
The particular tutorial series I want to highlight here is the Email 101 section. This series is broken into four modules and each module is broken into sections.
1. Introduction to Email
- Introduction
- Getting to know email
- Understanding email addresses
- About email providers
- Email productivity features
- Getting started with email
2. Email Basics
- Introduction
- Understanding the email interface
- Common email terms and actions
3. Contact and Calendars
- Introduction
- Contact basics
- Calendar basics
4. Email Etiquette and Safety
- Introduction
- Tips for email success
- Email attachment etiquette
- Using email in business
- Email safety
The design of the tutorials is pleasant to look at and each topic is broken into small chunks that are written in relatively easy English making this easily appropriate for level 3 (and higher) ESOL classes as well Pre HSE and HSE classes. Some sections of the tutorial would work for lower level ESOL students but the instructor would want to scaffold vocabulary and spend more time on each section, skipping some altogether.
Some sections are laid out like infographics–for example the section called “Understanding Email” which includes a comparison of snailmail and email. Other sections have more written content like the piece called “About Email Providers.” Some of the sections include Try This! activities.
