Creating a successful, interactive learning community is one of the goals of this course. Participants should be polite and considerate of others while following Netiquette Guidelines when participating in the discussion boards or emailing classmates or instructors.

Messages and Discussion Posts should be positive in nature

• Do not become abusive in your messages to others.
• Use appropriate language. Do not swear, use vulgarities or any other inappropriate conversation
• Be pleasant and polite rather confrontational
• Be forgiving when someone makes a mistakes
  • with spelling or grammar, especially when long answers were typed.
  • with factual errors …be kind expressing a different view of the facts. 

Be an Expert

• You will be judged by the quality of your writing so make sure you are accurate and logical.
• When sending email to your instructor or classmate use the spell and grammar check
• When conducting online research check the authenticity of the source.

Be respectful of people’s feelings

• Make sure you are treating others like you would like to be treated, following the “Golden Rule” 
• This is not a face to face classroom, most participants cannot see you therefore they cannot always tell when you are joking. Carefully phrase your words so the person with whom you are interacting understands your intent.
•  Avoid insulting remarks and flame bait.
  • A flame is a post that expresses a strong opinion or criticism.
  • Flames messages are acceptable when their purpose is to correct misinformation or bad behavior or to add something of value to the topic at hand.
  • Flames that insult others publicly are considered bad netiquette.

 Avoid Shouting

• Using capitals in electronic communication indicates that you are shouting. While capitals can be used to good effect to add emphasis, typing in all capitals in online communications WOULD BE LIKE SHOUTING THE WHOLE TIME!
• Only type in all caps if you really mean to shout.

Be respectful of the privacy of others

• Passwords, full names, address, etc. are private information and are not to be shared with others.
• Private e-mail should only be forward with the author's permission.
• If there is any information of a personal nature in the e-mail, it is common courtesy to make sure the author doesn't object to your sharing the information.

 Be respectful of other people’s online rights

People on the internet have rights just as they do off line. If someone says or does anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, talk to the instructor, a parent or other adult immediately 

Be responsible & ethical while working online

• Use the computer and the Internet for the positive rather than the negative
• Do not reveal your personal address or phone numbers or that of other students
• Avoid using the computer to harm other people which could include:
  •  Taking things which are not yours (such as files, passwords, or credit card numbers)
  • spreading rumors about other people online infecting other computers with viruses (on purpose)
• Obey the law. Do not plagiarize or pirate information. Acknowledge sources by providing citations and pay required costs for fair usage of website subscriptions or software.