MRKG2349

Online Communications
Guidelines for Students

Please observe the requests below when communicating with the class online. The items below apply to the e-classroom and email as noted, and may differ somewhat from what is usually seen on the web.

In Both the E-classroom and Email
1. Keep the content course-related.

  • Non-course related humor is best shared with friends outside of class.
  • Do not use the course to send spam or otherwise promote a business. That violates the spirit of SAC's code of conduct.

2. Make sure that everything in the content is respectful.

  • Write nothing that violates or infringes the rights of others or interferes with their learning.
  • Examples of such violations include statements that are libelous, invade someone else's privacy, or are shameful, embarrassing, offensive, sexually suggestive or discourteous.
  • Write nothing that violates the college policies for student behavior, harasses people, or incites others to take violent or otherwise unlawful action.

3. Don't type in all caps.

  • Many interpret it as SHOUTING and consider it rude. As one site recommends, "Treat contacts with respect so the dialogue on the Internet continues to grow in a valuable way."
  • Type set in all capital letters is harder to read than type set in capital and lower case letters.

4. Post class-related questions in the electronic classroom.

  • Placing them there gives access to the information to everyone, including the two or three others to whom the question occurred, but who haven't asked yet.
  • It also reduces the amount of everyone's email.

Email Only
5. If you are replying, after you click the reply button, look at the <To>: line at the top of the screen to make sure the program is replying to the correct address.Change it if it is incorrect. Remember that on a Listserv, the reply goes to everyone. If that is not your intent, change the address in the <To:> line.

6. Always fill in the subject line for email.

  • Start it with HyC. For example, if you have a question, do the subject line this way:

    Subject: HyC question about Essay 1

  • Reserve email for sensitive-topic queries that you prefer not to share with the class and bonus question answers only. Put all the rest in WebCT.

7. If your e-mail program does not show the date, type it in the message box.

8. In replying to a message, quote only the part to which you are responding.

  • Delete the rest before you start typing.
  • That way, we don't occupy others' mailbox space unnecessarily.

9. Whenever possible, start with a compliment or a thank-you comment, but be wary of overkill.

10. Explain the project you're working on or the situation about which you are writing to provide a context for the reader. Then ask the question or make the request that causes you to write.

11. Close with "Thank you" when it is appropriate.

12. Include a signature because not all e-mail programs make the sender's name clear. At minimum for this class, it should include your

  • name
  • phone number.
  • Some people include a favorite saying, a disclaimer, and/or a graphic.
  • It should be no longer than five lines.

[ ] Send a message showing you've internalized this information.

  • Print out this page and compose a new email message.
  • Incorporate all the elements listed above.
  • In the message box, type "I understand the email guidelines."
  • Send it to the address below.

Top

Page maintained by Sherman Howard -- showard@accd.edu [Home]