The TEAL Institute uses many virtual and Moodle communication tools in our online environment to build community, deliver courses, foster collaboration, and provide support.

In each of these contexts, all stakeholders -- guests, participants, employees, contractors, partners, moderators and facilitators are expected to communicate with one another civilly, observing the core rules of Netiquette.

In the context of online courses, forums may be used for both scored and un-scored activities. Participants in scored forums should adhere to the following guidelines when posting discussions and replies:
  • Topic: posts or replies are related to the stated topic

  • Timing: initial contributions and replies to the discussion are made early (not last minute)

  • Tone: posts and replies are constructive and collaborative

  • Thoughtful: posts and replies demonstrate civility and Netiquette

  • Thorough: posts and replies are complete and accurate demonstrating depth of knowledge and understanding: by quoting relevant text from another participant's post you wish to which you respond, citing other sources; supporting opinions with facts or theories; sharing personal experiences, resources and suggestions, etc.
Contributions merely stating "This is my forum reply;" "me, too;" "I agree;" etc. will not be considered in scoring forums.

Communicate Any Special Needs to a Facilitator by E-mail or Moodle (IM) Messaging
It is our intention to meet the widest range of participant special needs possible. If you have any special needs, please notify a member of the facilitation team on Day 1 via an e-mail or Moodle (IM) Messaging.

While Moodle itself is Section 508 compliant and our intention is to deliver content to our participants that is also Section 508 compliant and accessible, it is possible that one or more of the content resources used in this course may not meet your special needs. If you find that is the case, please contact a facilitator directly, and we will attempt to provide you with a comparable content resource.

Is your first (or native) language something other than English?
We especially encourage our non-English native speakers and international participants to share their share their preferences for levels of formality in communicating within the course by including same in their introductory post. During TEAL Institute courses we tend to be more informal and refer to all participants by given or first names, and encourage them to refer to us in the same manner.
Last modified: Friday, August 6, 2010, 8:52 PM