In the 21st century it has become increasingly important to be able to properly represent yourself online. As a student, we have to think about the audience we addressing with each trip into cyberspace. In this post, I will focus on “professional” relationships, meaning, relationships with professors, and other classmates online. This will exclude social media and friendships with classmates.

With OSU’s Carmen online class system, classes are increasingly using discussion posts, and while more students are working, office hours are harder and harder to get to. Because of these factors, it is important to learn how to appropriately communicate through email and discussions. I have found great success in emailing professors by doing a few things. One of them is including the course title and topic in the subject line. First state who you are, and what section you are in, followed by your question or concern. Always thank the instructor for their time, and leave a professional signature including your name, dot number, and email address at a minimum.

I like that there are more and more ways to collaborate online. The wikis seem like a great way for multiple people to collaborate over long distances. I have heard people use the term, but was not aware how simple they are to use. Also, I will admit that I don’t much care for Ohio State’s discussion board set-up. It seems odd to me that you can’t save anything and the spell check isn’t automatic. For this reason, I often type out my discussion in Microsoft Word, and paste it into the discussion post window. This allows me to both save my work on my computer if there are any computer malfunctions, and allows for better spelling and grammar checking. I have noticed one particular instructor who has poor grammar, and it drives me crazy!

Also, for emails to professors or posts for classmates, I have often written a draft to blow off steam and quickly deleted it. The trick is not to put their actual email address in the window. This allows me to both express how I feel and not risk an email written hastily and based on emotion that may have negative repercussions. I have already learned a lot about online etiquette and this module has offered me insight into new concepts and a good refresher on positive habits.