Netiquette is an essencial element of instructional design and organization. When it comes to netiquette I demand a somewhat professional quality when it comes to what students post on discussion boards. If its a discussion all posts must of course be course and topic related. I am aware that it may create a friendlier atmosphere if students are allowed to be themselves, use their own slang and go by abide by their own standards of what is professional behavior in an online environment. Boundaries need to be set for behavior that are strict and with definite conseqences for my classes because I am going to be working with a much younger age group (high school freshmen and sophmores)

From my own personality I do need relative control when it comes to online discussion in high school. The temptation is too great to get off task and the possibilities for disputes or unprofessional behavior is too great to loosen the structure. Even in things outside the course like bulliten boards, it must be clear that netiquette still applies. This is also important with the new global classroom. WIth in my face to face classes there is diversity to consider and with in the global environment it is all the more important. Most in our class can attest to learning along side (virtually) students from very different cultures where mannerisms are different and where the language barrier is high.

With this in mind it is most important that their be consistant standards, not just my own idea of what it should be. However netiquette should be a required and strict policy in an online class. For mine I have dedicated the first module to the topic where student will read, analyze, evaluate and discuss netiquette. The website I decided to use for this is the following: Netiquette. There is also an interactive quiz to the site and a lesson.

Jarrod (4)