Netiquette

CSM Netiquette guide

What is the guide?

The CSM Netiquette guide provides guidance for staff and students on having the best possible experience in online learning spaces. It covers 7 key areas:

1. Taking part
2. Using cameras and microphones
3. Reporting issues
4. Handling recordings
5. Being respectful
6. Getting support
7. Using trigger warnings

The Learning and Teaching team has co-developed this guide with the Online Learning Group, and colleagues from academic course teams at CSM.

It has been developed with permission and support from Shades of Noir, building on their Virtual Learning Netiquette. 

How to use the CSM netiquette guide:

We recommend using the guide to facilitate a discussion or activity with your students about your roles and responsibilities in online learning spaces. This could form part of your students’ induction, or take place at the start of a new unit or academic year.   

Some ideas for discussions or activities:

• Sharing a slide at the beginning of each session to remind students of your agreed netiquette for the type of session – e.g. ‘This is a seminar where we will be having spoken and typed discussions’.
  
• Facilitating a session on ‘Creating  more deliberate online identities‘ – for example, choosing profile pictures, adding pronouns or short bios.
  
• Brainstorming with your students about how they want to engage in online sessions of different kinds (e.g. lectures, tutorials, crits) and what is important to them in these spaces. You can then compare what your students produce with the CSM netiquette guide, analyse any similarities or differences, and collaborate to decide what is appropriate for your cohort.

• Hosting a jigsaw exercise – assign your students into groups to look at different areas of the netiquette and talk about why it is important, what impact it may have on their experience as individuals and as a collective, and whether they think it works well or needs some adjustment.

• Setting up a continuum exercise by preparing statements relating to the netiquette and options for students to agree or disagree on a sliding scale. E.g. ‘In lectures, I am there to listen and I don’t like to ask questions’; ‘It is really important for everyone to have their camera on in seminars’; I don’t like to contribute if someone has already made the same point’; I am shy and feel nervous about contributing to discussions’. You can use students’ responses to pick up on patterns and generate conversations about the group’s priorities. Some prompt questions may include: How do we create space for everyone? What kind of space do we want? How do we deal with it if our netiquette is not working?

• Reviewing the netiquette at different points in the academic year, based on your students’ feedback .