Netiquette
Every person in a remote course helps to form the environment and community. Each community needs guidelines that protect the people and environment. Below are some guidelines everyone in the course should follow in all online interactions, such as in discussion boards or emails. Committing to keep these guidelines will help create a strong and safe learning environment and community.
Below are three different examples of netiquette expectations for remote learning. Feel free to use either example in your Canvas course.
Example 1 (Netiquette for Video Conferencing)
- Clear distractions and silence mobiles as you would in
a face to face meeting. - Mute computer when you are not speaking.
- Mute your phone if calling in and when not speaking to prevent interference
on the call. - Be sure to stay focused during class time and minimize distractions.
- Be considerate to all members of the session.
- Avoid talking over others and make sure you do not dominate the conversation.
- Remember you all have an opportunity to contribute.
- Use the slide bar to see participants and chat box.
- Use the hand or the chat box to ask questions.
- Remember to get permission before you record any session.
Example 2 (for the class in general)
Use Proper Writing Style: The academic environment expects higher-order language. Write in emails, assignments, and discussions as if you were writing a term paper. Correct spelling, grammatical construction, and sentence structure are expected in every other writing activity associated with scholarship and academic engagement. Avoid profanity.
Cite Your Sources: Another big must! If your assignments and discussions include the intellectual property (authored material) of others (e.g., books, newspaper, magazine, or journal articles—online or in print), they must be given proper attribution.
Respect Diversity: It’s an ethnically rich and diverse, multi-cultural world in which we live. Use no language that is—or that could be construed to be—offensive toward others. Racists, sexist, and heterosexist comments and jokes are unacceptable, as are derogatory and/or sarcastic comments and jokes directed at religious beliefs, disabilities, and age. We all come with different perspectives, so please be respectful and resist the urge to tell anyone they are wrong. Understand they have had different life experiences and all of our world views are simply different.
No YELLING! Using bold upper-case letters is bad form, like stomping around and yelling at somebody (NOT TO MENTION BEING HARD ON THE EYE).
Participate: This is a shared learning environment. So for discussions, there is no lurking in the cyberspace background. It is not enough to login and read the discussion thread of others. For the maximum benefit to all, everyone must contribute.
Avoid Repetition: For discussions, read everything in the discussion thread before replying. This will help you avoid repeating something someone else has already contributed. Acknowledge the points made with which you agree and suggest alternatives for those with which you don’t.
Remember, You Can't Un-Ring the Bell: Language is your only tool in an online environment. Be mindful. How others perceive you will be largely—as always—up to you. Once you've hit the send button, you've rung the bell. Review your written posts and responses and assignments to ensure that you’ve conveyed exactly what you intended. This is an excellent opportunity to practice your proofreading, revision, and rewriting skills—valuable assets in the professional world for which you are now preparing. Read your emails, posts, and assignments out loud before hitting the send button. This will tell you a lot about whether your grammar and sentence structure are correct, your tone is appropriate, and your contribution is clear or not.
Adapted from Colorado State University
Example 3
NOTE: Because of the links embedded in this netiquette policy, you will need to be a little familiar with how to use the HTML Editor in Canvas. You must copy the HTML, not the words from the page, for it to work properly in your course. Instructions for how to do this are after the policy.
My Online Etiquette
In this course I will:
(click on the links to see more information about each expectation)
- Avoid posting material that could be offensive or difficult to understand, and provide clarification when needed.
- Support my opinions with reliable sources and facts.
- Use language that stays on point and is professional.
- Be careful when using humor or sarcasm.
- Read all the discussion posts before my own to prevent redundancy (when applicable to the course).
- Review what I have written before sending or posting.
- Avoid sending or posting inappropriate material.
- Actively communicate with my classmates and instructor.
Want the html code?
- Just click the link below to open a popup box with the code.
- Highlight the code inside.
- Use clt-c or cmd-c to copy.
- Go to the Canvas page you want to copy to.
- Edit the page.
- Click on the "HTML Editor" in the upper right
- Paste the code in the editor.
- Save.