Defining appropriate behavior for interactions among online students helps to create a positive and respectful learning environment.
It is the expressed policy of the University of Massachusetts Boston that every aspect of academic life—including formal coursework situations as well as all relationships and interactions connected to the educational process—shall be conducted in an absolutely and uncompromisingly honest manner.
Do: Use proper language, grammar, and spelling. Be explanatory, justify your opinions, and credit the ideas of others. Cite or link to scholarly resources.
Avoid: Misinforming others when you may not know the answer. If you are guessing about something, clearly state that you do not have all of the information.
Be Respectful
Do: Respect privacy. Respect diversity and opinions that differ from your own. Communicate tactfully, and base disagreements on scholarly ideas or research evidence.
Avoid: Sharing another person's professional or personal information.
Be Professional
Do: Represent yourself well at all times. Be truthful, accurate and run a final spell check. Write in a legible, black font, and limit the use of emoticons.
Avoid: Using profanity or participating in hostile interactions, known as flaming, is unprofessional as well as disruptive.
Be Polite
Do: Address others by name or appropriate title or requested name, and be mindful of your tone. Be polite as you would in a face-to-face situation.
Avoid: Using sarcasm, being rude, or writing all capital letters (shouting.) Written words can easily be misinterpreted as they lack facial expressions, body language and tone of voice.
