Professor Joy

Rules for Discussion Board

Rules for Discussion Board Participation

To ensure a successful participation in the weekly forum experience the following rules and expectations will guide all participation in discussion board posting and activity.

• Please treat the forum as a professional tool: collaboration in the workplace is an essential tool for success in many jobs.
• You are expected to read all posted messages. (This means you will need to check into the class several times each week.)
• You are expected to contribute at least one "main response" to each discussion board question.
• Additionally, you are expected to respond to the main posts of at least two other classmates in each week of discussion, and in a timely manner consistent with the published schedule and its requirements. 
• Please address one another by name when you reply to a message. This helps to keep all of us oriented, and it helps us maintain a clearer sense of who is speaking and who is being spoken to.  Moreover, as we begin to associate names with tone and ideas, we come to know each other better.
• DO change the subject line of the message when you want to introduce a new topic. (The value of this tip will become apparent as the number of messages grows.)
• Feel free to reinforce each other's ideas with comments such as "Good Point" or "I agree" or "Thanks for the comments." Note, however, that these comments do not count toward your weekly discussion board grade.
• Avoid rude or angry comments.  More generally, treat others with the respect you wish for yourself.
• The use of sexist, racist, or objectionable language is not acceptable.
• Do not post internet links to any site that that is sexist, racist or has objectionable content.
• You are welcome to use emoticons to communicate humor such as:  :-)   ;-)   :-0    :-/   :-(
• When you are writing for an online discussion, it is important to edit your postings and to check your spelling. Blackboard has an HTML editor which you can enable when composing messages. This allows you to edit your messages in much the way you edit your messages in Microsoft Word.
• If you do not like using the HTML editor then I strongly encourage you to compose your message in a word processor and then to copy and paste the text into the discussion message; but do turn off the HTML editor first.  DO not paste text directly into the Blackboard message boxes. And before posting, do plan to spend time editing and revising your messages until they are clear.  Composing your messages in a word processor first, will save you from losing your hard work if your browser crashes before you click the submit button.
• As a general rule, messages posted on the Discussion Board should be no more than two to three screens in length. If your message is longer, consider revising it to be more concise or separating your message into points and posting each point as a separate message. 

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