Effective Communication Guidelines
Fortunately in the 8 years that I have been teaching online I have not had one student cross the line in any post. In fact their peer posts are often very supportive of one another. I'm going to be positive and trust that an issue won't happen in the future. But after studying this unit I'm going to conduct a self-audit and see what else I can do to shore up the guidelines I currently have established.
Kelly,
UGH! I hate that for you. But, you learn from situations like this. Sounds like you handled this well. This is a good lesson for others.
I actually just had my first "sort of" incident. In three years of managing online discussions I have never had a student be blatantly rude, and all but call another student stupid on the Unit's discussion board. It was very obvious the gentleman was very intelligent; however, he displayed a very direct and aggressive communication style in the classroom. I do understand that there area many environments where this style is acceptable and maybe even praised. Unfortunately, my classroom is not one of them. I teach Communication. My goal is to always create a setting in which students feel safe, comfortable and accepted. In this instance, this particular student had in fact responded to two of his peers, mostly blasting them for incorrect statements and correcting them harshly. After much thought and contemplation of the tone I wanted to set with my communication with him, I devised an email that thanked him for his participation and commended his intellect. In the email I also included a respectful request that he leave the criticism of others up to me, so that we don't deter anyone from participating in the course. No response. He has turned in all of his work each week early and posts courteously.
Sharon ,
Great for you! You have had some good students then. Reviewing your guidelines is a good idea - just in case. Thanks!
