A bit about "Netiquette" on the course
Before posting your first online message to the discussion board there is a code of conduct to be aware of often referred to as 'netiquette'. Learning online actually means you have more opportunities to communicate with your fellow classmates and tutor than you would in the lecture hall or seminar room. It is important, however, for online communicators to maintain a cordial online voice at all times.
Without the visual and oral cues of standing face to face with someone, written messages are easily misunderstood or may even unintentionally offend. In order to prevent misunderstandings and promote open and supportive collaboration, extra care must be taken into how you express yourself in your written communication.
Above all remember that there is a human being at the other end of your message and never write something you wouldn't feel comfortable telling that person face to face. To promote a supportive online learning community, online contributions are always expected be topic-related and polite, just as it would be in the traditional face-to-face setting.
Please keep the following 10 points in mind when communicating online:
- Always maintain a cordial and respectful tone in written messages
- Be aware of the global nature of our course and its non-native English speakers, avoid idiomatic expressions and abbreviations
- Never use offensive language
- Avoid the use of BLOCK capitals, boldfaced font or RED text colour, which is shouting online
- Address the person being written to by name
- Treat any online discussion contributions confidentially and don't share the content of posts outside of the online classroom
- Read our written messages before posting (TIP: Write longer posts offline in a text doc to avoid loss of written work in case of outage).
- Write in your own words and re-use copyright-cleared material only (including images!) attributing the rightful owner.
- Complaints about or problems with online participants are always dealt with in a private email to the course leader
- In the Thought Questions we limit posts to less than 200 words, giving everyone a fair chance and encouraging conciseness