Using An Email Alias to Receive Student Work

Have you ever asked students to email their work to you and all it does is create a big mess in your inbox?  If you don't use a Learning Management System, then one way to organize incoming assignments is to use an email alias.  Both Gmail and Hotmail have this capability.

Gmail Users

Here's a synopsis from the Gmail help page:  "Gmail doesn't offer traditional aliases, but you can receive messages sent to username+alias@gmail.com. You can set up filters to automatically direct these messages to Trash, apply a label or star, skip the inbox, or forward to another email account."

For teachers, this means you can filter student emails by period.  For example, your Period 1 students can send their work to msjosiebruin+period1@gmail.com while your Period 2 students can send their work to msjosiebruin+period 2@gmail.com.

You can use up to 30 Gmail aliases, so use them wisely.

If you don't know how to create a filter, visit this Gmail Help Page.

Hotmail Users

One nice feature of using a Hotmail alias is that your alias can be vastly different from your username.  Maybe your email address is ELAteacher@hotmail.com, but your alias is "msbruinperiodA@hotmail.com."  You can send out email using your alias without ever giving away your real email address.  You also can't log into Hotmail with your alias, so that can be an additional layer of security for some.

Hotmail allows a total of 15 email aliases, but you are limited to creating only 5 per year.  To get started on creating a Hotmail alias, click here.