Employment Relations: Are you ready?

Guidelines for online discussions

You will need to work closely with your teammates during this course. Here are some guidelines for getting the most out of online discussions. You may like to return to this page regularly.

• Always show respect for others. When you disagree, do so politely and present your reasons. Never resort to insults.
• Actively participate, and encourage participation from others. This will strengthen your learning.
• Justify your responses. Don’t send a ‘Yes’ or ‘I think so, too’ message; say why you agree or disagree.
• Because people can’t see you, they can’t judge your attitude from your non-verbal behaviour. This makes using humour – especially sarcasm – risky in online communication. Consider whether your message may be misinterpreted before posting (putting your message onto the forum).
• Make sure your post has a clear and relevant subject heading.
• Try to keep your posts (messages) brief and to the point. If you must send a longer post, help your readers by using headings and clear paragraphs.
• Spell it out – try to avoid acronyms.
• Pay attention to where you’re posting your message. Is there already a thread (a series of messages – sometimes called a discussion topic) that suits your message? If there is, reply to that thread. If not, you might need to start a new thread. ‘Off topic’ posts can confuse or even kill a thread.