Year 11 · ICT · Autumn 1 · Safety and security; audience; communication

Communication tools and netiquette

TheoryPresent ▶

What this lesson covers

10.1 Communication with other ICT users using email

Cambridge IGCSE ICT 0417 · Topic 10: Communication · Paper 1

10.2 Effective use of the internet

Cambridge IGCSE ICT 0417 · Topic 10: Communication · Paper 1

You will learn to

Describe the constraints on using email: laws, language, copyright, employer guidelines, security and netiquette.
Explain the use of to, cc, bcc, forward, attachments and email groups.
Describe what spam is and how to prevent it.
Compare the internet, an intranet and an extranet.

Success criteria

I can write a netiquette list of at least six rules.
I can say when to use bcc instead of cc.
I can give one use each for the internet, an intranet and an extranet.

The syllabus points for these sections

Describe the constraints on using email: laws, language, copyright, employer guidelines, security and netiquette.
Explain the use of to, cc, bcc, forward and attachments.
Explain how email groups work.
Describe what spam is and how to prevent it.
Compare the internet, an intranet and an extranet.
Explain the terms ISP, URL, hyperlink and web browser.
Describe using search engines and how to judge the reliability of information.
Describe the protocols HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and SSL.
Describe the risks of the internet and how they can be controlled.

Key words

Say each word, then read what it means. Every one is in the glossary too.

Netiquette: Good manners and polite behaviour when communicating online.
cc: Carbon copy: sends a copy to people whose addresses all recipients can see.
bcc: Blind carbon copy: sends a copy to people whose addresses are hidden from everyone else.
Forward: Send an email you received on to another person.
Attachment: A file sent along with an email.
Email group: One name that stands for a list of addresses, so one email reaches them all.
Spam: Unwanted email sent to large numbers of people.
Intranet: A private network inside an organisation, used only by its members.
Extranet: Part of an intranet that approved outsiders can log in to.
ISP: Internet Service Provider: a company that gives access to the internet.
URL: Uniform Resource Locator: the full address of a web page.
Hyperlink: Text or an image that takes you to another page, file or place when clicked.
Web browser: Software that fetches and displays web pages.
Search engine: A website that finds pages matching the keywords you type.
Protocol: A set of rules for sending data between devices.
HTTPS: The secure, encrypted version of HTTP, used for logins and payments.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol: rules for uploading and downloading files.

The explanation

Read it here, or open the study page below to go one step at a time with things to try.

10.1 Communication with other ICT users using email

Constraints on using email

A constraint is a rule or limit on what you can do. Email is quick and easy, but it is not a free-for-all.

Cambridge lists six areas: laws, acceptable language, copyright, employer guidelines, security and netiquette.

Constraint	What it means
Laws	Many countries have laws on email. For example, marketing emails need the person's consent and must include a way to unsubscribe. Emails must not be defamatory (harm someone's reputation with lies).
Acceptable language	No swearing, insults, threats, or racist or sexist language. What you write can be forwarded and kept.
Copyright	Attachments such as images, music or documents may be protected by copyright. You need permission to send them on.
Employer guidelines	Companies and schools have rules on what work email can be used for. Staff may be monitored, and breaking rules can lead to dismissal.
Security	Do not send passwords or bank details by email. Use strong passwords. Be careful with attachments, which may contain malware. Encrypt sensitive emails.
Netiquette	Internet etiquette: good manners online. See the next step.

?Why?

An email is a written record. It can be forwarded to thousands of people and used as evidence in court, so care matters.

Netiquette: good manners in email

Netiquette (net + etiquette) means behaving politely and sensibly online.

The rules below are what examiners expect you to know.

Netiquette rule	Why
Do not write in CAPITALS	It reads as shouting
Be polite and clear; no abusive language	Text has no tone of voice, so it is easily misread
Use a meaningful subject line	The reader knows what it is about before opening it
Check spelling and grammar	Mistakes look careless and can change the meaning
Keep it short and to the point	People get many emails and skim them
Do not send spam or chain emails	They waste time and fill inboxes
Respect privacy; do not forward without permission	The sender may not want others to read it

e.g.Example

Poor: subject 'hi', body 'SEND ME THE REPORT NOW!!!' Better: subject 'Year 10 report, due Friday', body 'Hello Marta, could you send me the Year 10 report by Friday? Thank you, Pilar.'

!Watch out

Netiquette is good manners. Do not confuse it with laws, which are enforced by the state.

To, cc and bcc

To: the main recipients. They are expected to read and act on the email.

cc (carbon copy): people who get a copy for information. Everyone can see who was in To and cc.

bcc (blind carbon copy): people who get a copy secretly. Nobody else sees their addresses, and bcc recipients cannot see each other.

e.g.Example

Try the toy. Ana Ruiz emails a trip reminder. The treasurer is in To, the head of year is in cc and three parents are in bcc. View the email as each person: everyone sees the head of year was copied in, but the parents cannot see each other. Now a club emails 120 members about a meeting. They put all members in bcc. Nobody sees the other 119 addresses.

?Why?

bcc protects privacy. Sending to a big list in To or cc shares everyone's email addresses with everyone, which can break data protection rules and helps spammers.

!Watch out

A bcc recipient who presses 'Reply all' reveals that they received it. Remind people of this when you use bcc.

There is something to try for this step in the IGCSE library.

Forward and attachments

Forward sends an email you received on to someone else, with the original message included.

An attachment is a file sent with an email, such as a PDF, photo or spreadsheet.

Attachments have size limits (often around 20 to 25 MB). Large files are compressed (zipped) or shared by a cloud link instead.

Attachments are a common way to spread malware. Only open them from people you trust, and scan them with anti-virus software.

!Watch out

Before forwarding, check the original does not contain personal data the new recipient should not see. Forwarding without the sender's permission can break their privacy or copyright.

Email groups

An email group (or distribution list) is one name that stands for many addresses, such as 'Year10Parents'.

Typing the group name sends the email to every member at once.

e.g.Example

A school creates the group 'Y10-Tutors' with 8 addresses. The head of year types Y10-Tutors in the To box. All 8 tutors receive the email. When a tutor leaves, the group is updated once, not every email.

?Why?

Groups save time and stop people being missed by mistake. Companies also use groups for marketing to many customers at once.

Spam and how to prevent it

Spam is unwanted email sent to large numbers of people, usually advertising, scams or phishing.

Problems: it fills inboxes and wastes time, it uses network bandwidth and storage, and it can carry malware or phishing links.

Spammers find addresses from websites, leaked databases and big emails sent with addresses in To or cc.

How to prevent spam	Why it works
Use a spam filter	Software moves likely spam to a junk folder automatically
Do not reply to spam or click 'unsubscribe' in suspicious emails	Replying confirms your address is real, so you get more spam
Do not publish your email address on websites or social media	Spammers use programs that collect addresses from web pages
Untick boxes that agree to marketing when signing up	Stops companies sharing your address
Use bcc for large mailings	Keeps everyone's addresses hidden
Block the sender's address	Stops more emails from that sender

10.2 Effective use of the internet

Internet, intranet and extranet

The internet is a worldwide network of networks, open to anyone. The World Wide Web is the collection of web pages you reach through the internet.

An intranet is a private network inside one organisation. It looks like a website but only staff can use it.

An extranet is part of an intranet that selected outsiders, such as suppliers or parents, can log in to.

Feature	Internet	Intranet	Extranet
Who can use it	Anyone in the world	Only members of the organisation	The organisation plus approved outsiders
Access	Public	Private, usually needs a login	Private, outsiders need a login
Information	Huge amount, not checked	Specific to the organisation, checked	Selected information shared with partners
Reliability	May be unreliable	More reliable, written by the organisation	Reliable, controlled
Example	Any public website	School staff portal with timetables and policies	Parents' portal showing their child's grades

?Why?

Organisations use an intranet so information stays private, is reliable and is easy for staff to find.

ISP, URL, hyperlink and web browser

An ISP (Internet Service Provider) is a company that gives you access to the internet, usually for a monthly fee. It can also provide email and web hosting.

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the full address of a web page.

A hyperlink is text or an image that, when clicked, takes you to another page, another part of the same page, a file or an email address.

A web browser is software that finds, fetches and displays web pages. It has an address bar, back and forward buttons, bookmarks (favourites), history and tabs.

e.g.Example

URL: https://www.example.es/biology/cells.html https:// = protocol (the rules for transfer) www.example.es = domain name (the website) /biology/ = folder (path) cells.html = file name of the page

Search engines: speed and amount of information

A search engine finds web pages that match the keywords you type.

Advantages: very fast, a huge amount of up-to-date information, available 24 hours a day, easy to search by keyword.

Disadvantages: too many results to check, results may be irrelevant or unreliable, and results at the top may be paid adverts.

e.g.Example

Searching 'volcanoes' gives millions of results. Searching "volcanoes Canary Islands 2021 eruption" gives far fewer and far more useful results.

?Why?

Specific keywords and phrases narrow down results, which saves time. Speed is only useful if you can find the right page quickly.

Judging whether information is reliable

Anyone can publish on the internet, so information may be wrong, out of date or biased.

Check four things: bias, accuracy, currency and author.

Check	Question to ask	Good signs
Bias	Is the site trying to sell something or push one opinion?	Balanced; shows more than one view; not mainly adverts
Accuracy	Is the information correct?	Matches other reliable sources; gives references; few spelling mistakes
Currency	Is it up to date?	Shows a recent date of publication or update; links still work
Author	Who wrote it? Are they an expert?	Named author with qualifications; known organisation; contact details

!Watch out

A web address ending in .gov or .ac.uk or .edu is often more reliable, but not always. Never trust a source because of its ending alone. Always compare with other sources.

Protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and SSL

A protocol is a set of rules for sending data between devices, so both ends understand each other.

Protocol	Stands for	What it does
HTTP	Hypertext Transfer Protocol	Rules for sending web pages from a web server to a browser. Data is not encrypted.
HTTPS	Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure	HTTP with encryption (SSL/TLS). Used for logins, banking and shopping. Shown by a padlock.
FTP	File Transfer Protocol	Rules for uploading and downloading files between computers, for example uploading a website's files to a web server.
SSL	Secure Sockets Layer	Encrypts data between browser and server and uses digital certificates to check the server is genuine. Its modern version is TLS.

?Why?

Without HTTPS, anyone on the same Wi-Fi in a café could read the password you type. With HTTPS, they see only scrambled data.

Risks of using the internet and how to control them

Two main risks: inappropriate content (violent, adult, extremist or illegal material) and unreliable information (wrong, biased or fake).

Controls are put in place by the government, by schools and parents, and by the users themselves.

Control	How it helps
Web filters / parental controls	Software blocks websites or words on a blocked list. Schools filter their network.
Safe search settings	Search engines hide adult content from results
Government laws and regulation	Make some content illegal; force sites to remove it
ISP filtering	The ISP blocks illegal or harmful sites for all users
Education	Teaching users to judge reliability and to report harmful content
Supervision	Parents and teachers watch how children use the internet

e.g.Example

Debate point often asked: should the internet be policed? For: protects children; stops illegal content and fake news spreading. Against: limits freedom of speech; hard to enforce across countries; material is already illegal offline, so existing laws apply.

Study it

Open the study page and go one step at a time.

ICT topic 8

Check yourself

One question at a time. The reason shows after each answer.

Saved on this device.

Communication tools and netiquette

What this lesson covers

You will learn to

Success criteria

Key words

The explanation

Constraints on using email

Netiquette: good manners in email

To, cc and bcc

Forward and attachments

Email groups

Spam and how to prevent it

Internet, intranet and extranet

ISP, URL, hyperlink and web browser

Search engines: speed and amount of information

Judging whether information is reliable

Protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and SSL

Risks of using the internet and how to control them

Study it

Safety and security

Audience

Communication

Proofing

The web

Digital life, law and ethics

Check yourself