introduction to open educational resources (OER)

Netiquette & Course Policies

Netiquette Rules

The courtesy we practice daily in school, work, and at home should be applied in all our Internet activities. The objective of these practices should be to treat everyone online with equal rights and respect. When the Internet is providing us with so many benefits, it will be appropriate on our part to respect the facilities offered and use the Internet effectively.

We have to be careful of all our communications in the digital world. In a face-to-face communication we can anticipate how people may react to our words. However in a network communication, the sender and recipient cannot see each other and it is difficult to know what the recipient may understand about your message or comment. In such situations, it will help us to model after the social behavior that we practice in the real world.

Be courteous: Whether you are sending an email or chatting with a friend online, it is important to be courteous and respectful of others online.

Be brief: While sending emails or messages, consider this as a best practice, be brief and short in writing a message or a chat conversation. Be specific and clear in conveying the purpose of writing the email or message.

Avoid writing complete sentences in capital letters: Writing in capital letters is considered as ‘Shouting’, hence while participating in online forums, writing in capital letters is considered as rude. A word or two can be written in capitals but not an entire sentence.

Check your language: Before posting a comment or sending an email, check for appropriateness while using language. Avoid using bad language, especially when you are participating in a forum, use of foul language and inappropriate words can block you from participating in a forum.

Respect one’s Privacy: Never share anyone’s private information online, always make it a habit to discuss private issues in person and not on the web.

Respect Copyrights: Respect copyright laws and in case you are impressed by someone’s content, take their permission before using it and do mention their name as reference.

Check Grammar: Always do a spell check before sending an email or chat message and read it twice before sending it to someone.

If you fail to follow these policies, you will be removed from the course and your comments will be removed.