PLEASE READ ALL OF THE FOLLOWING BEFORE GETTING STARTED ON YOUR POSTS.
Netiquette and Privacy
Words can mean many things and what we intend to say is not always what others hear. This is especially true of "online communication"
during which other students do not have the opportunity to see your "body language" and therefore have a greater possibility of
misunderstanding what you truly mean.
Please, follow these guidelines in all your online responses
and discussion groups.
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RESPECT. We would like to suggest respectful exchanges as a basic ground rule. We feel that informational errors should be
pointed out- respectfully (even if stated strongly...). Disagreements that honor the viewpoints of the various contributors are
productive and can lead to new learning and understanding.
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PRIVACY. Keep in mind not only your own privacy rights but others as well. Do not reveal any information that you deem private.
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BE SUPPORTIVE. We are all still learning. Our job is not to judge or condemn or even praise, although genuine encouragement is a
necessary ingredient. We are here to provide information, to address topics in a discussion forum, and to provide assistance in
helping each participant use her/his own unique learning style. Reflection generally precedes growth. So reflect upon what is said,
provide sincere comments, and hopefully, we will all grow.
BE CONSIDERATE of grammatical/spelling errors.
REMEMBER that humor and satire are often misinterpreted online. Communication is more than words. So, be prepared for some
misunderstanding and requests for clarification.
One good way to avoid problems is to reread your postings before sending them. Something written in haste may be misread.
Created by Val Donato, Sandra Looper, Diane Hostetler and Tom Braziunas
Assignment for Discussion 01
This Discussion Forum is set up so that in order to see anyone else's post, YOU MUST POST YOUR RESPONSE FIRST. Once you have
posted your response to the Discussion assignment/question, you will be able to see other team members' posts, even if they were posted
before yours. This is meant to help you to understand what you think you know before being persuaded by others' thoughts. I want to
challenge you to really take risks in your thinking about how a problem might be solved, and this means opening your thoughts up to the
constructive criticism of others. This also means that in response to one of your teammate's post, you must take care in how you phrase
your constructive criticism. In our next assignment we will get more practice doing just that.
For this assignment, since posting your own thoughts on how a problem can be solved to people you do not yet know well can be very
unnerving, our first assignment will be to get to know each other first.
Please do the following for our first discussion assignment:
1)
Your first post must be made by Saturday night at midnight.
Introduce yourself to your teammates and talk about what foods you eat in your culture. Keep in mind your privacy (as discussed in
the "Netiquette and Privacy" section above), and, in addition to your name, some other questions you may consider answering are:
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Why are you taking this class?
Do you have any hobbies or play any sports?
What other classes are you taking?
Where are you from?
Is there anything in biology that particularly interests you?
2) Your second post must be made by the following Tuesday night at midnight.
Respond to anything that a teammate has posted. In your response keep in mind our "Netiquette and Privacy" section above.
Hopefully, this assignment, as well as our groupwork in class, will help you to become more comfortable around your teammates and
allow you to be able to take more risks in your thinking, while also practicing how best to work in groups - a skill that is all too much
needed in a society that depends on people working together to solve problems and get things done.
Have fun!