Your Online Classroom Community

Your professors and classmates make up your larger team of support. This quarter, we are all in this online learning adventure together. We all need a little extra patience, kindness, and respect - shown to us and given by us to others. The following expectations for online communication should be followed in all of your classes.

Online Communication Expectations

Do your best to follow all of the expectations, and readily forgive others and yourself when mistakes occur.

1) Join the discussion. Actively participate in live class sessions and in Canvas discussions.

Synchronous/Live Class Sessions
- Mic - Stay muted and then unmute any time you share. Be aware of background noise when you are unmuted. Tip: If your class session is in Zoom, mute your mic and then press and hold the space bar the whole time you speak. This makes it easier to switch between mute and unmute while participating in a class discussion.
- Video - Using your video helps improve connection with your professor and your peers and allows them to see your nonverbal responses. If you are not able to use video for any reason, let your professor know.
- Chat - If you are not able to participate with audio and video, be active in the chat window.
Asynchronous Discussion Boards
- When your professor assigns Canvas Discussions, complete your initial post as soon as possible. Then, be sure to come back and reply to other students' posts. It's great to reply to peers who reply to you, too.
- Make it a real discussion. If you agree, say how or why. Add some evidence or an example. If you disagree, what parts do you disagree with?
- Be sure to follow the rest of the expectations provided here whenever you post and reply to others.

2) Be respectful. Respectful communication is crucial for building connection and understanding.

Choose to be kind, especially when it is easy in an online environment to forget the humans on the other side of our screens. Do not say anything you wouldn't say in person.
Carefully consider someone else's viewpoint, and articulate your own using "I" statements. "Your point is not something I had not thought about before. Thank you for sharing. In my experience, I..."

3) Be clear and ask for clarification. Try not to make assumptions about what others write. Assume the best. If the meaning or intent is unclear, ask for clarification. To help others best understand what you mean when you communicate, do the following:

Be careful with humor and sarcasm. This is especially true in written communication online. Because other people cannot see your facial expressions or body language, humor and sarcasm can be lost completely. Your professors or classmates may take what you wrote seriously.
Avoid acronyms. It is easy to use shorthand when communicating online. Whether those acronyms are professional/program specific like RNP and GTAW or informal textspeak like ROFL and TTYL, acronyms can muddy conversation when they are not understood by everyone involved. As a result, they unintentionally exclude people.
Read out loud everything you write before you send it. Reading something out loud will help you catch any errors and make sure the tone is what you mean to communicate. Tip: Make sure to apply this to any written assignments you have, especially papers.
Label your emails and assignments. Help your professor communicate with you by naming the assignment you're asking about in the first lines or subject line of the email. Name your files with your last name and the assignment name.

4) Watch your language. This connects really closely with being clear.

Be aware of strong language. Use strong language intentionally and infrequently. Instead of writing something like, "I hated everything about the article we read," write, "I did not enjoy reading the article, and I didn't think it was very well written. Here is why..."
Avoid all caps and exclamation points. ALL CAPS = shouting in online communication. Exclamation points can mean the same. As with strong language, only use exclamation points when there is not a better way to get your point across.
Use proper grammar and correct spelling. The tip from earlier about reading everything out loud before submitting it will help with this, too. Ultimately, participation is more important than having perfect grammar and spelling. Do not let fear of misspelling a word or missing a comma keep you from engaging in the class. Do your best.

5) Protect your privacy. Do not share any personal information in Zoom or in Canvas. Be cautious doing so via email. This is especially true of Personally Identifiable Information (PII), which includes things like your name and birth date, your home address, your phone number, etc. Be careful with your student ID number, as well. Anything personal or private, shared online, could become public.

6) Protect other students' privacy. Do not ask others to share personal information with you online. When you are logged into email, Canvas, and Zoom or another conferencing tool, other students’ names may be visible on your screen. Minimize the potential for those who live with you, if applicable, to see your online classes, especially live class sessions. Ways to do this include using a room with the door closed or sitting with your back to a wall.