The majority of school districts and large employers will assign you an email account upon hire. For example, at TUSD we all have a your.name@tusd1.org address. We have access to this account on our work computer and at home through the Exchange Server. It’s a great communication tool that keeps us in the loop of the happenings in the district and at our local school. With that said, I recommend that aside from your ‘work email’ you sign up for a ‘personal email’.
Why Do I Need Two Email Accounts?
The obvious reason is that you will probably not be working at one place forever. It would be best that you give out your ‘personal email’ address to friends and family rather than your ‘work email’. You shouldn’t send or receive, let alone store your personal emails on the work server. It’s not considered good netiquette.
How Do I Sign-Up?
There are many free online email services. The sign-up is easy and you can personalize your address. For example, yournickname@yahoo.com if it’s available. Here’s a few that I use:
Gmail Screenshot
Gmail – Provided by Google with almost unlimited storage. Easy on the eyes just like their search engine. Getting better and better.
Yahoo Screenshot
Yahoo! – Provided by Yahoo!. Very comparable to their search engine, lots of graphics and portals.
Hotmail Screenshot
Hotmail – Provided by Microsoft. Same as above and very popular with students.
AOL Screenshot
AOL – Provided by AOL. One of the first to offer this service and popular for their AIM Chat.
Mobile Me Screenshot
Mobile Me – Provided by Apple. It’s a paid service that offers many other features.
I have one with all five listed above. Why you ask? Because I use each for a different purpose and I can easily check them on my iPhone 3G in one place at any given time. They all offer unlimited storage which means I don’t have to delete any email I send or receive. It nice having everything available to me online at work or at home.
Take the time to sign-up with one of these free online email services. You’ll be glad you did when you see the benefits of having a personal email address that YOU ONLY HAVE ACCESS TO!
Which service do you use and why?
