Participation Tips

Participating in an online discussion group can be one of the most rewarding aspects of distance  learning. For the 2007 Discussion Series  we'll be using a  conferencing software that will thread  the messages posted so you can see an orderly flow to the conversation.  In posting messages to the online discussion activities, please follow these guidelines or "netiquette":

  1. Post your initial message as early in the week as possible so people will have time to read and respond to your contribution. Post additional messages throughout the week that are either new contributions or replies to someone else.

  2. Keep your messages concise and clearly written. Most ideas can be stated in a couple of paragraphs, although sometimes a longer message may be needed to develop your thoughts adequately. Keep in mind that people are more apt to read and digest shorter messages than long ones.

  3. Be respectful of other's ideas, opinions, and beliefs. It's fine to disagree with someone, but please respect their right to think differently.

  4. Avoid posting simple two or three word statements such as "I agree" or "Good point". If you think someone has made an especially cogent point and you want to say so, then explain why by adding a few sentences describing your response or adding to the original point.

  5. A message that demonstrates substance contributes to the understanding and application of ideas by doing one or more of the following:

    • Reflection about meaning: Describe thoughtfully what something means or new insights it provides, or raise a question as a seed for clarification or further discussion.
    • Analysis: Discuss relevant themes, concepts, main ideas, components, or relationships among ideas. Or, identify hidden assumptions or fallacies in reasoning.
    • Elaboration: Build on ideas of others or ideas found in the readings by adding details, examples, a different viewpoint, or other relevant information.
    • Application: Provide examples of how principles or concepts can be applied to actual situations, or discuss the implications of theory for practice.
    • Synthesis: Integrate multiple views to provide a summary, a new perspective, or a creative refashioning of ideas.
    • Evaluation: Assess the accuracy, reasonableness, or quality of ideas.
  1. Avoid using all caps. IT SEEMS LIKE SHOUTING!
  2. Maintain the privacy of participants, including privacy of comments made during electronic conversation that is to be shared only with those participating in the course.
  3. Abide by Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act rules which find academic information is confidential and forbids disclosure of academic information without the participant's consent.
  4. Operate within the guidelines of Appropriate Use of UW Information Technology Resources (http://www.doit.wisc.edu/security/policies/appropriate_use.asp).
  5. Use emoticons (smileys) if you wish to convey emotion, especially if you want people to know that you are using humor or joking:

Emoticons

:-) happy, humorous
:-( unhappy
:-O shocked
;-) winking
:-} wry, ironic
 

Summaries

Summaries extract ideas from discussion posts and offer order to help participants either re-focus (if topic has begun to drift), move forward, or prepare for the end of the discussion. A summary:

  • condenses discussion comments into a short report

  • refers to specific comments made in the discussion

  • reviews what has been covered so far by weaving comments together to synthesize the discussion

  • identifies various points of view and acknowledges differences and similarities

  • reviews unexpected developments or findings

  • lists issues still on table

  • interprets the main contribution of the discussion toward the overall goal or assignment

When summarizing, be sure to include multiple perspectives on the issue(s) being discussed and hold off on judging. A summary is not simply compiling everyone's posts into one long message!  A summary uses some of the original poster's words to briefly re-cap and integrate the results in a concise and useful way.