Before Using Technology In The Classroom…

Make People Communicate Properly!

Reflection on Netiquette

Imagine the following situation:

After working all weekend in a report for your boss, you send it by mail and you receive the following answer:

MARCOS!!!

I AM WONDERING WHY YOU HAVE BEEN ALL THIS TIME IN THAT CHAIR. THE REPORT YOU SENT IS WRONG. I AM NOT GOING TO SEND IT TO THE HEADQUARTERS. DO IT AGAIN AND DO IT WELL!

I am sure you think this is totally rude and lacks of politeness, education and etiquette or, considering the environment where this situation took place, netiquette.

According to Strawbridge (2006), etiquette is "the framework of formal rules and customs governing how people behave". Considering this, the author explains that netiquette, the shortened form of network etiquette, is a specific type of etiquette design as a ‘think before act’ reminder when using the Internet (ibidem).

Probably some Internet users might think that this is not important, but when communicating primarily by text-based medium, it is worthy to have a look at these rules in order to make our messages clear without causing discomfort to other people. That is why netiquette is so important, to prevent misunderstandings when using communication by writing.

When introducing technology into the classroom it is useful to highlight the importance of using netiquette when writing and commenting other people’s opinion. This is completely necessary since the lack of some of the most important paralinguistic aspects like intonation and gestures, among others, can produce mistakes and confusion for the reader and consequently in the communicative process.

In order to make text-based communication clear and comfortable for every user of the Internet, people have been using some especial rules like the avoidance of capital letter since it is a sign of shouting people, the use of emoticons that can help to add humor information (only in informal contexts), and common abbreviations to shorten messages. The consideration of these easy-to-follow rules can assure users the success when using writing communication on the Internet.

In the classroom, it could be useful to discuss the netiquette rules with the students as well as practice their usage with them. Probably some previews session before the beginning of the course activities could be helpful, and would avoid most of the communicative problems when interacting on the web.

The next links could help you to learn (or remember) more about netiquette and its usage. They are very complete so you can be prepared to make your students aware of the importance of having “network manners”.

• Strawbridge, Matthew: Netiquette: Internet etiquette in the age of the blog
• John Colbert: Intercultural Language Activities with CD-ROM
• Nancy Flynn: The e-policy Handbook: rules and best practicing to safely manage your company's e-mail, blogs, social networking, and other electronic communication tools

Reference:

Strawbridge. M. (2006). Netiquette: Internet Etiquette in the Age of the Blog. [Online book] Available: http://books.google.co.ve/books?id=ru-lWSTuiqQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=netiquette&hl=es&ei=61hoTYG9CsP_lgfT9cX_AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false [2011, February 24]