Netiquette Standards:
Participating in discussions online (as most of you already well know) is an effective and convenient (and I hope fun) means of communication. However, in order to maintain a professional, harmonious environment that encourages learning there are some standard practices that will help to ensure that your academic online experience is a pleasant one:
1. Remember that we are no longer face to face, so we can’t see non-verbal cues that often help to make the other person’s meaning clear. For example, use of sarcasm should be avoided. We want to reduce the possibility of any misunderstandings.
2. Since Discussion Boards are online versions of a class discussion (something I rigorously promote in my face to face classes), your posts should be acceptable in a classroom environment. Please use a respectful and congenial tone.
3. Although a Discussion Board post is more like email correspondence (which is generally less formal than writing an essay), please check for spelling and grammatical errors. Traditional standards of capitalization and punctuation are required (though I will not penalize anyone for this—unless it seriously detracts from the meaning of the posting).
4. Please begin each posting with a short greeting announcing who you are, e.g. “Hi, this is Jane.” Then ‘sign’ your postings with your full name.
5. Please do not use all upper-case in your posts. It can appear that you are shouting.
6. As a matter of professional courtesy, make sure that your postings are polite,
comprehensible, unambiguous, and clear. Please re-read your note before submitting. [The instructor reserves the right to remove an unacceptable or inappropriate posting, and to privately (or publicly) correct the student or engage in more serious disciplinary action.]
7. When responding to the posting of another student, please be sure that you understand that student’s point or argument. For instance, when discussing ethics we sometimes engage in emotionally charged issues. Therefore, always give a student’s posting the benefit of the doubt and interpret his or her comments in the most charitable way. If you find yourself upset by a posting, please allow some time to pass before responding. In such cases, it may be better to ask clarification questions than react too strongly.
8. If your post is a new question or topic of discussion, be sure to provide a descriptive subject line so that others will know the topic of your question or comment.
9. Please remember that you are ‘conversing’ with your entire group. Even though you may be replying to a particular student’s question, remember to address your post to everyone.
10. You will get out of a class, whatever effort you put into it. Group discussions are great learning tools and it can be fun and engaging. I hope you make the most of this educational online opportunity!