Commenting Etiquette
**** From Julia Hengster's OLTD 506 Discussion Etiquette
Discussion groups are as good, and only as good, as the [users]…make them. Discussion groups work best when intelligent people bring fresh [perspectives], knowledge and ideas to the table…Trivial or inane comments often kill discussion. Write meaty, thoughtful things and everyone will benefit…
Association of Yale Alumni, n.d.
• Never forget you are interacting with other people through a computer or device. Such mediated communication can lead to disinhibition (doing things you wouldn’t normally do F2F—face-to-face) and abstraction (forgetting there’s a real person on the other end). Always keep in mind, the people receiving your communications are real and react emotionally as well as intellectually to your posts.
• Respect & be sensitive to each individual and his/her culture (including cultural knowledge, traditions and core values) (Kirkness Ray Barnhard, V., 1991), gender, cultural and linguistic background, sexual orientation, political and religious beliefs.
• Digital text communications limit the amount of non-verbal cues like tone and facial expression that we use IRL (in real life) to interpret shades of meaning. Humor can be difficult to detect unless additional cues such as emoticons ( ;-) or )or parenthetical comments like "(just joking, there!)" are added. Sarcasm should be avoided as it is "easily misunderstood in any online discussion" (Learning Technology Center, 2006).
•For this course we will have a communal ‘safe word’. If at any time when you are interacting with others in the course and you begin to feel uncomfortable or unsafe for any reason use the word "Zebra". The expectation is that we will explore ways to re-establish safety and comfort to continue. (Idea from Dental Hygiene Faculty clinical practice, VIU).
•A course discussion forum is usually a limited public space—a virtual space shared by course participants and selected guests. If you want to share content (that is not your own) from this limited public space outside of the designated course or with others, you should contact the author privately to explicitly ask permission. Remember that not all communications stimulated by a discussion posting or reply are suited for the limited public space of a forum and may be more suited to a direct personal communication with a peer or your professor. (Association of Yale Alumni, n.d.). Use your good judgement but if in doubt, err on the side of greater discretion.
•Sometimes you may be asked to post your individual contribution before interacting with others; however, when you join a conversation in process, treat it as you would in the real world. Review what people have already said so you can smoothly & effectively contribute to the discourse to follow the flow rather than disrupt it. (Unless that disruption is conscious and purposeful.)
•If you embed media or attach files in a posting, they should be in a format accessible by all course participants. Acceptable formats are generally those that will launch through a browser without much difficulty and are not "too proprietary" (E.g. audio—mp3, images—jpg, png or gif, documents—pdf, rtf; video—mp4.)
•If you embed links, check that the links are correct and point your audience to the location you desire.
•You, along with your professor, are responsible for helping maintain civility, as well as the academic & professional tone of course discussions. If you consider any postings, replies, or interactions problematic or troubling, you have a duty to convey your concerns to your professor as soon as possible. Your professor will deal with these issues as they arise.
Sources:
Association of Yale Alumni. (n.d.) Etiquette: Discussion groups etiquette. Yale University. Retrieved from http://aya.yale.edu/content/etiquette
Kirkness Ray Barnhard, V. (1991). First Nations and higher education: The four Rs—respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility. Journal of American Indian Education, 30(3). Retrieved from http://jaie.asu.edu/v30/V30S3fir.htm
Learning Technology Center. (2006). Discussion Forum and Email Etiquette. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Retrieved from http://www.uww.edu/icit/olr/stu/learningonline/olr_asset_layout_6_19517_20371.html
****** From Julia Hengster's OLTD 506 Discussion Etiquette
Discussion groups are as good, and only as good, as the [users]…make them. Discussion groups work best when intelligent people bring fresh [perspectives], knowledge and ideas to the table…Trivial or inane comments often kill discussion. Write meaty, thoughtful things and everyone will benefit…
Association of Yale Alumni, n.d.
• Never forget you are interacting with other people through a computer or device. Such mediated communication can lead to disinhibition (doing things you wouldn’t normally do F2F—face-to-face) and abstraction (forgetting there’s a real person on the other end). Always keep in mind, the people receiving your communications are real and react emotionally as well as intellectually to your posts.
• Respect & be sensitive to each individual and his/her culture (including cultural knowledge, traditions and core values) (Kirkness Ray Barnhard, V., 1991), gender, cultural and linguistic background, sexual orientation, political and religious beliefs.
• Digital text communications limit the amount of non-verbal cues like tone and facial expression that we use IRL (in real life) to interpret shades of meaning. Humor can be difficult to detect unless additional cues such as emoticons ( ;-) or )or parenthetical comments like "(just joking, there!)" are added. Sarcasm should be avoided as it is "easily misunderstood in any online discussion" (Learning Technology Center, 2006).
•For this course we will have a communal ‘safe word’. If at any time when you are interacting with others in the course and you begin to feel uncomfortable or unsafe for any reason use the word "Zebra". The expectation is that we will explore ways to re-establish safety and comfort to continue. (Idea from Dental Hygiene Faculty clinical practice, VIU).
•A course discussion forum is usually a limited public space—a virtual space shared by course participants and selected guests. If you want to share content (that is not your own) from this limited public space outside of the designated course or with others, you should contact the author privately to explicitly ask permission. Remember that not all communications stimulated by a discussion posting or reply are suited for the limited public space of a forum and may be more suited to a direct personal communication with a peer or your professor. (Association of Yale Alumni, n.d.). Use your good judgement but if in doubt, err on the side of greater discretion.
•Sometimes you may be asked to post your individual contribution before interacting with others; however, when you join a conversation in process, treat it as you would in the real world. Review what people have already said so you can smoothly & effectively contribute to the discourse to follow the flow rather than disrupt it. (Unless that disruption is conscious and purposeful.)
•If you embed media or attach files in a posting, they should be in a format accessible by all course participants. Acceptable formats are generally those that will launch through a browser without much difficulty and are not "too proprietary" (E.g. audio—mp3, images—jpg, png or gif, documents—pdf, rtf; video—mp4.)
•If you embed links, check that the links are correct and point your audience to the location you desire.
•You, along with your professor, are responsible for helping maintain civility, as well as the academic & professional tone of course discussions. If you consider any postings, replies, or interactions problematic or troubling, you have a duty to convey your concerns to your professor as soon as possible. Your professor will deal with these issues as they arise.
Sources:
Association of Yale Alumni. (n.d.) Etiquette: Discussion groups etiquette. Yale University. Retrieved from http://aya.yale.edu/content/etiquette
Kirkness Ray Barnhard, V. (1991). First Nations and higher education: The four Rs—respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility. Journal of American Indian Education, 30(3). Retrieved from http://jaie.asu.edu/v30/V30S3fir.htm
Learning Technology Center. (2006). Discussion Forum and Email Etiquette. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Retrieved from http://www.uww.edu/icit/olr/stu/learningonline/olr_asset_layout_6_19517_20371.html
****** From Julia Hengster's OLTD 506 Discussion Etiquette