Online Etiquette
Participate. - In the online environment, it's not sufficient to just “show up”! We need to hear your voice in order to feel your presence. By actively participating in your online course, your comments and ideas contribute to the collective learning and the sense of community in each class.
Share tips, help others, and ask questions. - For many of us, taking online courses is a new experience. There are no “dumb” questions. Please share with your classmates by posting your questions or posting answers to technical questions on the Discussion Board or other communication tool. **Seek approval from your instructor before answering an assignment question in a public forum.
Think before you push the Send button. - Remember that we cannot see the smile on your face when you make a sarcastic sommment or the concern about an issue if you only state it in a few words. In other words, help us "see" you by explaining your ideas fully.
Netspeak. Although electronic communication is still new, many standards have already been established. DO NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPS. This is regarded as shouting and is out of place in a classroom. Acronyms and emoticons (arrangements of symbols to express emotions) are popular, but excessive use of them can make your message difficult to read. Many instructors grade students on grammar usage. You need to be aware of when posting this type of "slang" is inappropriate.
Remember a course is a course...
You may be familiar with many of the previous items if you have
participated in other forms of electronic communication in the
past. However, Web-based courses have some added constraints not
present in other arenas. Keep in mind these additional four
points:
Remember where you are. A virtual classroom is still a
classroom, and comments that would be inappropriate in a
traditional setting are likely to be inappropriate in a Web-based course
as well. Treat your instructor and your fellow students with
respect.
Brevity is best. Be as concise as possible when contributing
to a discussion. Online courses require a lot of reading, and
your points might be missed if hidden in a wordy posting. If you
have several points that you want to make, it might be a good
idea to post them individually, rather than as a single, lengthy, a
message.
Stick to the message. Contributions to a discussion should have
a clear subject header, and you need to stick to the message.
Don't waste others' time by going getting side tracked in your
postings.
Read first, then write. Don't add your comments to a
discussion before reading the comments of other students unless
the assignment specifically asks you to. Doing so is tantamount
to ignoring your fellow students and is rude. Comments related
to the content of previous messages should be posted under them
to keep related topics organized, and you should specify the
person and the particular point you are following up on.
Citations and Other Etiquette Sources
Many of the suggestions made here were taken from The Core Rules of
Netiquette, excerpted from the book Netiquette, by Virginia
Shea. The Core Rules of Netiquette can be accessed at
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html.
Information was taken from Arlene H. Rinaldi's The Net: User
Guidelines and Netiquette, which can be found at
http://www.rdc.com.au/Netiquette.htmland from University of Wisconsin's Online Etiquette: A Brave New Electronic World.
The article can be accessed athttp://online.uwc.edu/Technology/onlEtiquette.asp.