Holding a conversation over a discussion forum can be difficult because we lack many of the non-verbal cues (timing, silences, bodily gestures, facial expressions) that are important when we talk with people face-to-face. The absence of non-verbal cues can sometimes lead to misunderstandings that could escalate into heated (and unnecessary) conflict. When writing a post in the discussion forums, respond thoughtfully, appropriately, and courteously. Read contributions made by your classmates. Personal messages that do not concern other members of the class should be sent directly to the person concerned, not posted on the course site. All of these guidelines are part of a set of conventions known as netiquette.
Allot 20 minutes
Watch this short video about netiquette.
Dig deeper by reading the Core Rules of Netiquette as excerpted from the book Netiquette by Virginia Shea: http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
All class discussions are academic discussions, which means that relevant academic conventions apply. Respond to discussion questions thoughtfully, clearly, and concisely. When possible, justify your responses to questions with reliable evidence.
adapted from Slava Gerovitch's "Strategies for Writing a Good Reading Response Paper", from the MIT OpenCourseWare site:
There is another strategy that I would like to recommend, and I think it is so important that it requires emphasis: Do not be afraid to give a dissenting opinion, but only if you have done your due diligence and have actually taken the time and the effort to understand your classmate's view in the first place. A good way of thinking about this is summarized in Steven Covey's principle, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood," as discussed in this video posted by the YouTube user CHOICE and embedded here on this page.
Language register refers to the level of formality that you use when talking to someone. This helpful introduction to language registers identifies five kinds of registers:
The language register you use when participating in a discussion forum is almost always different from the language register you use when talking to someone face-to-face. In general, use a formal or consultative language register in your posts. A static register is almost never appropriate. A casual register may on occasions be acceptable, but you should be very careful about using it. Do not use a casual register when delivering a critical or an opposing viewpoint. Finally, you should never use an intimate register in a discussion forum. Using casual or intimate registers may cause other people to misinterpret your message... which leads me to the next point: you should exercise caution when reading and reacting to other people's messages.
adapted from the Simon Fraser University Center for Distance Education
If someone posts something that you find particularly offensive or hurtful, you can do several things:
To get the most value out of this course, you are highly encouraged to participate in the discussion forums. While not all discussions will be graded, sharing your ideas and engaging respectfully but nevertheless critically with the ideas shared by your classmates is central to the learning experience in a distance and e-learning mode.
However, to prevent old discussions from being bumped and possibly filling your inbox with conversations that are not relevant to the current focus of the course, discussion forums in courses that I teach will be locked after a period of inactivity. This means that if a week goes by without anyone contributing to a forum, it will be sealed and no one else can contribute to it. You can, however, still read the discussions previously posted.