Literally hundreds of
millions of people use some form of digital communication every day. It is
pretty incredible to think that there really has never been a specific usage
structure for digital communications. The result of this is perhaps noticeable
to most social media users and digital communication recipients. All one has to
do is scroll through a social media wall or read a couple of emails from
friends and associates to recognize the disparity in usage structure. I’ve
gotten messages I couldn’t decipher because of abbreviations, acronyms, and
short cuts! NetiquetteIQ is designed
to address these issues. They state that their products are specifically
designed to promote improved grammar, composition, and usage in digital
communications. They offer a book in hard copy and digital form: “NetiquetteIQ-
A Comprehensive Guide to Improved, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email.” The
book offers a concise set of instructions for digital communications. Perhaps
an even more useful technology is their blog NetiquetteIQ.blogger.com. This
offers up to the minute suggestions and real situations which can be discussed
in a blogging forum. As an adult educator, these resources would make an
excellent reference for learners to develop some form of established usage
guidelines. I would build this resource into the introduction phase of each
course, requiring learners to review the ebook and the blog, then report on
findings in a DQ style classroom discussion. More information can be found at http://www.netiquetteiq.com/Benefits.aspx.
A related concern is
Internet Ethics. Most of us just hop onto the Internet and do our thing without
considering if “our thing” follows best practice or ethics for the digital
domain. What exactly are Internet Ethics? A slideshare program by the Brookings
Institution gives a relatively brief description of the top 10 Commandments for
Internet Ethics. Issues such as hacking, privacy, copyrights, and plagiarizing
are addressed. This would be a simple program to require new learners to view
and discuss in each classroom. As an online adult educator I feel it would be
my responsibility to improve the ethical understands of my students. This
slideshare program presents basic Internet Ethics and provides a blogging forum
to further discuss them. This would be an invaluable tool for educators and
learners alike. More information is available at: http://www.slideshare.net/smartinson/smm-10-commandments.
Thank you for these useful recommendations.
ReplyDeleteJust for fun, here are the first 10 questions of the Netiquette IQ test:
1. What should your “from” field show? A) Your service provider; B) Your full name; C) Your desired reply address; D) Your nickname, E) All of the above
2. What should the “to” field show? A) Desired public recipient(s); B) Anyone who wishes to receive the message; C) Both A and B; D) Neither A or B, E) None of the above
3. Who should be in a “cc” field? A) Those not expected to reply; B) Those who need to know the content; C) Those in any preceding message; D) Both A & B, E) None of the above
4. Subject fields should: A) Never be blank; B) Be changed for different topics; C) Left unchanged when an initial direct reply is given; D) Not exceed 10-12 words, E) All of the above
5. Subject fields: A) Do not require capitals; B) Should end with a punctuation mark; C) Should not include links; D) Can have all capitals if urgent, E) Use normal punctuation except the end of the entry
6. A recipient in a cc field should: A) Never reply; B) Reply only to appropriate people; C) Include others when replying; D) Reply only to the sender, E) A & C
7. When a recipient is in a “Bcc” field, one: A) Can forward a message; B) Should never forward the message; C) Should only forward to a new recipient; D) Ought reply if deemed important, E) Both B & D
8. A subject field: A) Can comprise the entire message; B) Can be partially changed by a replier; C) Can be fully changed by a replier, D) Both A & B, E) Both A & C
9. Salutations: A) Should always be used; B) Are only needed in business email; C) Should never use nicknames; D) Should include official titles, E) Both A & C
10. Salutations should: A) Include all To and cc recipients; B) Only To recipients; C) Usually have more than one word; D) Be followed by a colon or comma, E) B, C and D
I'm pretty sure I would flunked this test, but to get it assessed, we are to email it to admin@netiquetteiq.com or fax it to 609-818-1803. I'd better order the book!
Netiquette IQ Test (2013) Retrieved from http://www.netiquetteiq.com/files/Netiquette_IQ_Test_with_Fax_template_for_return_tests_9-9-2013.pdf
I also liked the 10 Commandments of Computer Ethics. The slide presentation was easy to view and the 10 commandments format made the points easy to remember. Please note that I did not break any of them by posting the above quiz, because I was careful to cite my source :-)
DeleteI am really interested in sharing the 10 commandments of computer ethics with my future students, as well as my employees. Many people are not aware of ethics for the internet. I believe that this should be discussed with all college classes upon entering.
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