Communicating in Academic Online Communities

I am a moderator for our Honors College online community known as HCOL (Honors College OnLine). Every year with the influx of freshman there is a visible learning curve on how to participate in this type of community. Some of these students have only ever talked with friends online in social places like MySpace and Facebook. Others are comfortable in the aggressive and abusive worlds like gamer forums. When these two conversational styles collide, everyone gets defensive, insults arise, feelings get hurt, and discussion dies. Sadly, some people choose to leave the community. This is a different type of interaction so it should have different rules. here are some from the mistakes I've made and my observations of the most common issues.

No Personal Attacks. It does not matter if they are off handed or direct; no one in your community deserves to be verbally stoned.

Don’t Post Upset. I know from experience that it is hard advise to take, especially when you have been directly contradicted or insulted, but I also know from mistakes that it will be worth it. This is not a battle, you do not have to defend your honor or stand your ground. When you are that emotional, your writing suffers so you are more likely to stick your foot in your mouth, say something that is completely misinterpreted, insult others, and fall into a tangent that is completely off topic. Take some time to cool off and the community will carry the discussion and the clarifications you originally wanted to may be done for you without any of the consequences.

Create Discussion. Fortunately, conversation does not exhaust physical resources. This means that you do not have to deconstruct an argument to construct your own. State your ideas without picking apart other peoples. If you message has short snippet quotes of the previous to yours and your rebuttal to their statements, then you are not asserting your beliefs, you are tearing apart others’. You do not have to point out how your opinion is in contrast. It is obvious.

Play the Believing Game. Set aside your own opinions to try on other people’s points of view. If you genuinely try to understand and value the other arguments, carrying on conversation in a productive manner should come easily.

Agree to Disagree. This is a community for sharing ideas not converting believers. One of the skills you should strive to learn is how to appreciate opinions that are different than your own.

Do Not Discuss Logical Fallacies. People are posting to share their ideas and opinions; calling them illogical is inappropriate. There is an argument there even if it is not posted in your ideal way. Discussions on how to form a logically sound argument or definitions of what is not a logically sound argument are off topic. It is disrespectful to break the semantics of a post down and ignore its meaning. If you would like to educate your peers on logic you can start a new thread, but I’ll warn you: Don’t use specific examples from other users of logical fallacies.

Be Respectful. No matter how good or thorough your post is, what you say will not be heard if it is not presented in a respectful way.

Know Your Audience. You may be part of a conversation where only 3 or 4 people are posting and it can seem like they are the people you are talking to, but remember there is always more than that. There are other students who are lurking in the thread reading everything, but not posting anything. There are faculty and staff poking about. They may not read everything, and they may not post very often, but they are there. There are on occasion visiting guests. Just because there aren’t any at the moment doesn’t mean future visitors will not look at old threads. Some of the guests that our community has already seen include experts for virtual hightables, honors administrators from different programs, and a fellowship committee. Some of these people will be forced to judge you based on your virtual presence because they will never meet you face to face. Honestly, this should be a rule for life, not just communicating online.

These aren't the stead fast laws of the internet, but it is not just limited to honors students and their discussions either. It is just my advice, but I do hope to refine and add to these recommendations as I observe and learn more.

Honors Worthy

A friend of mine, who is teaching at the Honors College I graduated from posted the following quiz in our online community just for fun. Would you enjoy an honors education?

It's a self-assessment device for prospective honors students. You score it this way:

* agree strongly - 5 pts
* agree - 4 pts
* indifferent or can't decide - 3 pts
* disagree - 2 pts
* disagree strongly - 1 pts

If you score 70 or higher you will enjoy your career in Honors. He also says "no one will score a 100 on this (at least not without multiple personalities)."

Respond to the following statements:

1. I like to read for fun.

2. I can stall on schoolwork but still make an A with a last-minute push.

3. I am goal-oriented and hate to be distracted from achieving what I've set my sights on.

4. My strongest motivations are intrinsic. Some things are worth doing for their own sake.

5. Sometimes I enjoy being alone with my thoughts.

6. Discussing ideas with other people is exciting.

7. I find myself thinking differently from those around me.

8. I am already gathering information about postgraduate education (law schools, med schools, graduate school, etc.).

9. I solve problems more quickly than most people.

10. I enjoy being with friends who are as smart as I am.

11. I can tolerate living with "loose ends" -- unanswered questions, unsolved problems.

12. I would rather take all the classes I'm interested in than graduate early.

13. I want to take classes that challenge me, even if it doesn't mean more money when I graduate.

14. I expect to meet interesting people and be exposed to new ideas in college.

15. I would like to go abroad for study or travel.

16. I enjoy doing projects or research on my own.

17. A good course is one that is an adventure in thinking and that tackles big issues. I would take it even if I weren't guaranteed an A.

18. I'm pretty sure of who I am, even if I haven't chosen a career.

19. Even though I expect to make new friends and participate in extracurricular activities, my top priority in college is learning.

20. I pay attention to current events.

It is really interesting to see this list and think about our current students and myself as an undergrad. Until recently, our honors college admitted student based solely on ACT. Good test scores do not reflect any of these interests. In fact, some of these interests will probably work against a good GPA. I know that many of the honors colleges and programs around the country continue to use GPA/ACT/SAT for their only admittance criteria. I don't fault them for it, because I realize how difficult it is to be objective and fair when trying to admit students. I was part of our honors interview process last year as we started a program deemphasizing ACT scores and I've seen the issues that can arise when trying to determine if one student is 'better' than another. On the other side of the system is the students who are planning on being judged by their GPAs and ACTs. That is how they've been told they can earn all of the things mentioned in the above list, and this does not include parent's expectations. It is a really tough situation, and I'm proud of UCA's honors college for trying to change the system.

I scored high on this test, but I spent most of my time in honors questioning whether or not I belonged there. I've been strongly considering working with honors students, because there are so many ways in which I can relate to them. I understand the concept that any grade other than an A is failing. I've dealt with the desire to find or form the perfect argument. I've struggled with the transition from conversational honors classes to general education courses where current issues are avoided. At the same time, there are still a lot of ways that I don't relate. As an undergrad I was in love with the program, but not all the people it attracted. Then it made me like an outcast, as a professional I worry it will make me feel unappreciated. Fortunately, I think the opportunity to work with people who believe in those honorsesque ideals will outweigh the mistakes students make as they work on maturing.