The discussion forum can be a great tool for learning, a place to share ideas, to ask questions, and to support other students. If you are not familiar with edX course discussions, read the discussion guide for students.
Online etiquette, or netiquette, for posting in the discussion forum:
- This course community has been designed to discuss controversial ideas; however, we do not welcome posts seeking to simply inflame or instigate. We seek to create an environment and community that is safe for expressing a variety of views and perspectives.
- Stay on topic: post information that is relevant to the course topics and discussion questions
- Respect other students’ opinions, even if you do not necessarily agree with them. If you feel the need to disagree, acknowledge the valid points in your classmate’s argument and provide evidence for why you may not agree with their opinion. We want to encourage critical thinking and thoughtful critique, while remaining polite.
- Gish galloping and attacking other students while having a debate will not be tolerated.
- Inappropriate or abusive language, personal attacks or disrespectful conduct, or spam will not be tolerated and posts may be removed. Continued inappropriate behavior may result in removal from the course.
Additional guidelines to keep in mind:
- Remember that English is not the primary language of many students. Avoid the use of slang or abbreviations.
- Before posting a question, first search to see if your question has already been asked so that course staff can focus their time on new questions.
- Write responses in your own words and give credit when referencing the work or ideas of others’, please see how to correctly cite.
- Please limit your posts/responses to 200 words or less.
- Please use the upvote feature if someone has already posted a question that you also have or for an answer you think is especially good.
- Please use the blue star to follow a post.
- If you see an inappropriate post, flag it instead of adding your own commentary.