Sample Guidelines For Communication
Most of our interaction will take place through the Discussion Group. The goal for work in this area is to share knowledge, and to build a learning community. Participation in the Discussion Group is expected. Be prepared to engage in thoughtful dialogue with other students.
It is a good idea to check the postings nearly everyday. In this way you maintain a feeling of connection.
When messages accumulate over several days, people tend to feel overwhelmed and discouraged.
If you do NOT want to communicate with others in this way, then an online course may not be the best learning environment for you.
Here are some guidelines for ensuring that your communication is clear, positive, and productive:
- Because of the absence of body language online, communications can easily be misconstrued in terms of their perceived intent.
- To minimize this problem, it is important to establish clear expectations related to communication with others.
- Common guidelines for communication include the following:
- Try to make your postings thoughtful and reflective as opposed to just saying " I agree." Be prepared to support your position with evidence. Acknowledge the contribution of others to the discussion.
- Provide thoughtful postings that add to the topic being discussed.
Support your views with references to the readings, your own experiences etc. When composing replies, here are a few approaches to consider:
- provide an alternative perspective
- share stories about your own experience
- ask questions to further the discussion
- post additional resources(web links, books, articles).
- Use clear, concise language to communicate your thoughts.
- Leave a blank line between paragraphs for easier reading.
- Choose your words carefully; scrutinize your message before posting for hostile, racist, sexist, or otherwise demeaning content.
- Disagree with others in a respectful manner that suggests another perspective needs to be considered, rather than that the other person is deficient in some way.
- Describe some of your personal reactions with “emoticons” as a means of expression. For example, :-) means that you are smiling.
- Avoid the use of capital letters except to start a sentence. Using capital letters in words tends to mean that you are SHOUTING.
- Address others by name. This small gesture can be very affirming online.
(Reference: Adaptation of Harasim,L., Hiltz, S.R., and Turoff, M. (1995) in Learning networks:A field guide to teaching and learning online. Cambridge, Mass.:The MIT Press, sited in Andrusyszyn, Mary-Anne, Node Conference Online, Oct.28-Nov.17, 1996 and
*Presentation WebCT Conference, July 2006Using the Discussions Tool:
Course Design, Pedagogy, and Assessment
Nega Debela Lisa Heaton Rudy Pauley Donna Spindel Tim Wiblin
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