- Before opening the first Discussion Forum, remind students that you appreciate when they tie in their life experiences, but that they should avoid overly emotional posts (Sull, 2014).
- Consider pasting the following guidelines into your Discussion Forum rubric:
- Remember the human behind the computer screen. Keep in mind that each message is from a person with thoughts and feelings much like your own (Shea, 2004).
- It is appropriate to disagree with a peer’s response, but do so in a professional manner (Sull, 2014).
- Follow the same standards of behavior that you subscribe to offline. Although it may seem like one can get away with more online, a lower standard of ethics is not acceptable (Shea, 2004). Keep in mind that all online communication is documented and therefore permanent.
- Consider drafting your response in a Word document before pasting it into the actual Discussion Forum.
- Try to stay calm and do not allow yourself to be easily offended. If you feel the need to send an angry message, take a break. If you write the message out, do not send it immediately. Save it. Then, look at it later and try to rewrite it using a milder tone.
- When drafting an email, avoid putting the recipient’s email address in the “To” field in case you accidentally hit “Send” before the draft is complete.
- Always read over your post before clicking “Submit” (Sull, 2014).