Laidlaw Online – Understanding and Using Email

Getting Started with your Student Email NOTE: It is vital that you set up your LCstudent account! Email is the primary means of communication with all students so it is essential that your student email is operational and checked regularly

Laidlaw College students are required to access and maintain an LCstudent.ac.nz email address. Laidlaw College is making use of Gmail which is part of Google educational services to provide students with online email and additional Web services. Many students already have Gmail accounts so the email system should be familiar to most students. This guide will help you to set up and manage your LCstudent account. Other Moodle guides can be found under ‘Information / IT Support / IT Information’ on the main menu, then under ‘Using Moodle’.

Accessing your Email The student email is found in the ‘My Email’ on the main menu of Moodle. Access this by clicking on ‘My Email’ menu.

Accessing your LCstudent account Your LCstudent email account is accessed directly through Moodle, so when you login to your Moodle account, you are automatically logged in to your LCstudent email account. On some screens you will also see the Google Apps block:   

The Gmail link will take you to your LCstudent email. The Calendar is a tool you may wish to use to plan your studies and use as a planner. Google Drive is a link to cloud storage, on your LCstudent Google account.

Use of the Calendar and Google Drive tools are completely optional. Use of your LCstudent email is a compulsory part of your study at Laidlaw College. Your LCstudent account is available through the Internet, through Moodle, at any time.

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Laidlaw Online – Understanding and Using Email

One complication is that if you already have another Google account, you may need to switch between your personal account and your student account. The precise way of doing this will depend upon the device you are using. (If you are using iOS or Android, you will probably be invited to download the Google Mail app.) If you are using a browser, then you can “Add Account” by clicking your profile picture on the top right hand side of the screen. After logging in on your second account, Google mail will open another tab with the second account.

The first time you click any of these links you will be asked to setup your account (next page).

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Laidlaw Online – Understanding and Using Email

Setting up your LCstudent account Clicking on any of the Inbox, Compose, Calendar or Docs links for the first time will take you to a setup area. We suggest that you start by clicking the Inbox link.

The screenshot has the following points of interest. 1. Your email address will appear here. 2. Type in the characters you see in the box on your screen (they will be different from those in the screenshot above). If you need assistance making out the characters, click the disability icon to have some numbers spoken to you. Note that the characters you will need if you choose the disability icon will be said among some spoken gibberish! If you get it wrong, you will have another opportunity to try with a different set of random letters. 3. Read through the Terms of Service. Key terms are as follows:  You are responsible for your own conduct using the online services provided.  Google reserves the right to disclose your account information if required to by law, and may access your account if it has reason to suspect illegal activity, activity contrary to its Terms of Service, spamming, or the protection of others (see item 3).  Any items you submit, post or display which are intended to be publicly available may be used by Google to further promote their services.  Google has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any content or communications it facilitates.  You use Google services at your own risk.

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Laidlaw Online – Understanding and Using Email

Laidlaw College is satisfied that such Terms are standard and reasonable, and should not present a risk to students provided the services are used for the purposes of studying only. If you accept the terms, please click “I accept. Create my account”. Following successful account creation you will be taken to the LCstudent service you selected.

Your LCstudent Inbox page Once you have logged into your LCstudent account you will be taken to your Inbox page. Initially it will look similar to that below:

1. At the top left of the screen are links back to your LCstudent account page, an online calendar, and your Google Docs area. You are only expected to use your LCstudent email address; all other services are entirely optional. 2. Click “Compose Mail” to create an email for sending. 3. You can manage your email account by using these links. 4. You can set your ‘status’ here. Your status lets your online contacts know whether or not you are contactable while you are logged in to your LCstudent account. You can invite others to your contact list by entering their LCstudent email address. Once they have accepted your invitation they will be able to see your online status and chat with you when you are online. 5. Your email messages appear here. To read a message, simply click on it. You can remove a message from your inbox by clicking in the box to the left of the message and clicking “Archive” (to store it elsewhere), “Delete” (to get rid of it) or “More actions…” if you want to use more advanced mail management features. 6. Use the “Settings” option to create email signatures, add a picture, set a holiday message when you’re not available, add another email account,

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Laidlaw Online – Understanding and Using Email

forward your email to another account… Use “Help” for assistance in using any of the features and options you have available to you. If you do need assistance in using your LCstudent.ac.nz email account, please use the “Help” feature (6 in the screenshot above) in the first instance. Your LCstudent email account is a Gmail account keyed to your student ID number @lcstudent.ac.nz. As such, it works similar to most online email services. To read a message, all you need to do is click on its title. If you are unfamiliar with using online email services, it is strongly suggested that you contact a friend or church member who is knowledgeable about such services to help get you started.

Managing your LCstudent email address It is vital that you regularly check your LCstudent account for new messages. Sometimes important administrative information will be sent to your account, and, once sent, it is assumed that you have read them. If you find your LCstudent account is being clogged with message alerts from Moodle, you may want to set up a ‘daily digest’ option. If so, please check the “Getting started with online discussion” guide for instructions. If you do set up a daily digest, you must carefully scan through each message to ensure that you do not miss anything important.

Additional LCstudent services For the purposes of your Laidlaw College study all you need to be able to do is view and reply to email sent to your LCstudent account. Use of the Google Drive and Calendar tools is at your own discretion, and no support for these services is offered through Laidlaw College.

Personalising your LCstudent.ac.nz email account Gmail can easily be personalized. There are two key settings to personalize: 1. My picture. Add your picture here. Simply click on the ‘Select a picture’ and follow the onscreen instructions. 2. Signature. Put your signature here. This will automatically be added to any emails that you send.

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Laidlaw Online – Understanding and Using Email

Forwarding your LCstudent.ac.nz email account to another account If you are used to using another email address as your primary email address, it is strongly recommended that you have your LCstudent email automatically forwarded to your preferred email address. There are two ways to forward email from your LCstudent account to another email address or to an email client. Most simply, you can forward your LCstudent email to another account that you maintain. To do this go to the email Settings.

1. Choose “Forwarding and POP/IMAP”. 2. In the “Forwarding:” area, select “Forward a copy of incoming mail to”, then type in the email address you want your LCstudent email forwarded to. Note: Click “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page.

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Laidlaw Online – Understanding and Using Email

Gmail will automatically send an email to the proposed email address with a confirmation code to verify permission. You will need to confirm from that email by either clicking the confirmation links, or if that fails, by emailing a confirmation code (details are all on the Gmail email). If you have any difficulties with forwarding, please contact the IT Helpdesk (see below). It is also possible to download messages from your LCstudent.ac.nz account to an email client, which is more technically demanding. This will allow you to download and author LCstudent email from a client such as MS Outlook, Mail, Thunderbird or whichever email application you use on your computer. Full instructions are available from the “Help” function once you login to your LCstudent email account. Please note that no support is offered for the download option.

Getting help If you need assistance in using Moodle or Email then please contact the Laidlaw Helpdesk. 

By phone –09-8379782 or from on campus dial ext: 882.

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By email - [email protected]

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Or the online helpdesk http://helpdesk.laidlaw.ac.nz

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