Melissa Wall， account manager for Ackerley Media in Stoneham， Mass.， raves about her company’s corporate training program with ElementK， “You don’t have to sit down at the desk for four hours and take a whole class. You can go in for 10 minutes， do a few sections anti then go back to it later， she says. “You can do it whenever you have free time— ten at night or six in the morning. Whatever works for you？”
And you won’t be held back by any slower classmates. “If you go to a class， you’re forced to sit through it from beginning to end and go at the speed of the other students，” says Greg Dowd--business development manager at Desktop.com and user of Headlight.com. But with online training， “I could jump right in， get to what I need and finish it， which is really valuable，” he adds.
If you’re looking for classes ranging from basic Web page creation to understanding role-playing games， Smart Planet’s tuition starts at about the price of a hardcover book.
Another advantage to Web based training is the variety of courses to choose from. Whether you’re looking for an entry-level HTML course or you’re on an A+Microsoft certification track， chances are you to find what you need and can start right away. Some learning portals， such as Digital Think， emphasize high tech and software application training， while others， including Headlight.com and Smart Planet， offer a wealth of business administration， marketing， and management tutorials as well.
The best part of online learning is the price. Traditional instructor-led classroom training for common business software applications typically costs $ 200 and up per day， while technical training， network administration， and technical certification classes can easily run double that or more. At that rate it doesn’t take long to exhaust your training budget. By contrast， the majority online classes cost well under $100， and in some cases are even free.
2. Classes， Courses， and Costs
Some E-learning sites， such as Digital Think， ElementK， and Learn， develop all the courses they offer， while others， such as Headlight.com and Hungry Minds， are clearinghouses for courses from a variety of third party providers.
DigitalThink.com offers both individual and corporate training with prices starting at $ 99. Classes fall into two general categories： instructor-led and self-paced. Instructor-led courses typically follow a （relatively） set schedule of lessons， with hands-on projects and exercises to complete on your own time. Students are encouraged to ask questions of the instructor （or other students） via E-mail and message boards.
Unlike instructor led courses where you may have to wait for an open session， self-study courses are usually ongoing， and all lessons are available at all times. Once enrolled， you move through the course outline at your own pace， or even skip around， taking the advanced lessons upfront if you want. Occasionally a book is suggested or required， and periodic simulations or quizzes test your knowledge.
Depending on the site， you may pay for each course as you go， or you may pay a subscription fee that buys unlimited access to several courses over a set period of time. If a group of people or an entire department wishes to enroll in classes， corporate discounts may apply.
Greg Dowd was interested in taking an HTML course， so he could work better with his Desktop.com engineers and be able to make changes to the site’s pages in a pinch. After getting the green light from his manager， he began searching for a classroom course in the San Francisco area. When a friend suggested looking into online courses， Dowd soon discovered Headlight.com was a cheaper and more convenient solution.
【New Words】
swallow
淹没，吞没，咽下
gaffe
过失，出丑，失态
perception
理解，感知，感觉
administration
管理，经营，行政部门
certification
证明
pinch
收缩，节省，乏力
6.3 Computer Networks and Communications
One of the key aspects of any organization is communication. Viewed as a system， an organization is not merely a group of individuals， but a network of relationships among communicating individuals. For this reason the telephone has become one of the most productive tools in today’s organizations.
1. Electronic Mail
Electronic mail is an application that handles the sending and receiving of electronic messages. Usually the messages are short pieces of text， but advanced electronic mail systems have the capability to integrate spreadsheets， presentation graphics， voice， or video in a message. To use electronic mail， you need communication software and a modem.
Although electronic mail is usually included in local area network software， most people subscribe to an electronic mail service provider such as Computer Serve， MCI Mail， or AT&T Easy Link. After you pay an initial fee， you receive an account， a username， a password， and an electronic mailbox. The password is a private code that you use to sign on to the service. It is known only to you （and to the service provider）. The electronic mailbox is a file stored on disk， in which each message in the mailbox corresponds to a record in the file. Electronic mailboxes are usually stored in large computer systems with large disk subsystems. Mail can be sent to and read from mailboxes as well as being stored there. People use electronic mailboxes to communicate by processing electronic mail on a message-by-message basis， reading messages， and， in turn， acting on them. Because you are the only person who knows your own password， you are responsible for paying the use charges that accrue to your account. Use charges can vary from a flat monthly fee， to an hourly fee， to a charge for individual messages.
Electronic mail has an advantage over the telephone when it is necessary to communicate complex data such as a document. It is possible to combine the two into an integrated system that reads your electronic mail using voice synthesis.
2.Archie and File Transfer Protocol （FTP）