BASICS

1. Thou shall respect other users
2. Thou shall not post spam
3. Thous shall not post links to competitive sites
4. Thou shall not use Profanity

Introduce yourself
The welcome activity will help you get to know your classmates and help create a positive educational environment. Use the off-topic forums to talk with other students.

Ask questions
If you find something confusing or want to know more, do not hesitate to ask questions. Make sure to post your questions in the appropriate thread.

Participate
Do not hide in the background; it is not fair to lurk and let others do all the work. Contribute to discussions to get as much as possible from the course and to maintain your participation grade.

Do not dominate a discussion.
Share your knowledge, but not to the point of excluding others. If you have something to offer, please share it, but allow everyone to contribute equally to a discussion.

Be intellectually rigorous
Do not excuse sloppy or illogical thinking. Challenge yourself and one another.

Be tactful
Be critical of ideas, but remember there are other people involved. Be tactful and kind. You can hurt the feelings of a person reading your post.

Forgive other students’ mistakes
Do not correct others, even if you follow the rules of netiquette and use good manners. Just because you do not agree with a student’s post does not mean that he or she is wrong. Instead, offer a different perspective to encourage further discussion.

Read the whole thread before posting
Read all the posts in a thread before responding so you don’t repeat what others have already said. Try to contribute clarifying information or a new idea to a discussion.

Be concise
Do not waste people’s time by posting basic, repetitive information. Make your point clearly and quickly.

Reread and check your posts
Practice professionalism. Be mindful of how you look online; others will likely judge the tone and quality of your writing. Reread your posts and edit for clarity and mechanics.

Cite your sources
If you use a source, cite it properly. Give credit where credit is due. Include links where appropriate.

Maintain confidentiality
Respect your classmates’ privacy. Do not repeat the personal information that others share.

Report technical problems
If the platform is not working properly, please let me know as soon as possible.

Utilize a netiquette policy
Utilize the institution’s established guidelines for network etiquette in order to address respect between students and instructors.