Nailing Your Netiquette: Key Communication Skills for Online Students

1. Exercise respect in all forms of communication

Keeping your online communications respectful at all times shapes how others view you. If a writer exudes politeness and professionalism, that increases the odds that the person they’re communicating with will respond in kind.

Keeping communication respectful is especially vital during digital classroom discussions. Academic environments should be safe places for debates, as students explore different points of view and practice how to defend their stances.

2. Use proper spelling and grammar

While you may have a whole dictionary of shorthand conversational terms that you use in texts and messages to family and friends, proper spelling and grammar are essential in an academic environment. Plus, using correct spelling and grammar help you practice for the professional communications you’ll use in the future.

For many online students, the only way their cohort and instructors know them is through their digital communications. As a result, your reputation in a virtual classroom is linked to your effective and professional emails, posts, and chats.

3. Practice positivity

Whether it’s in virtual group work, online discussions, or projects, practicing positivity helps set the tone, encourages participation, and fosters a healthy digital atmosphere for online learners.

Remember that sarcasm often doesn’t translate well in written communication. Nuances in tone and inflection are what make sarcasm work, and those are difficult to convey in writing, especially with people you don’t know well. Don’t risk upsetting your fellow learners; skip the sarcasm.

4. Keep firm boundaries

Keep your online communications on topic and avoid the temptation to get overly chatty or casual. By staying friendly but all business, you’ll be in a position to keep your boundaries firm and keep communications civil, on-topic, and safe. If boundaries are breached, politely redirect the conversation to the classroom topic. People will get the message that irrelevant chatter has gone too far.

5. Think before you type

While in-person conversations allow for on-the-fly clarifications, the digital world is much more unforgiving. Besides preventing the regret that comes with later thoughts of “I wish I hadn’t send that email,” a thoughtful approach to digital communication ensures that you say what you mean and that you come across as engaged and professional. In short, think before you type.

6. Be mindful about personal information

Whether it’s your personal information or personal information about others, be careful about disseminating any sensitive information online. Avoid sharing addresses, phone numbers, and birth dates in a public forum, and think twice before you share details of your personal life.

7. Fact-check before you post

Apply the same factual scrutiny to online communications that you would for a research paper. While honest factual mistakes in discussions will occur, using reliable and academically approved sources is the best practice to avoid many of these situations. Just because you’re posting on a message board doesn’t mean you can copy and paste info from the web and skip citing your sources. Plagiarism is plagiarism. Period.

8. Follow HIPPA guidelines

For healthcare students and professionals, breaking HIPPA guidelines is a big deal. HIPPA ensures that medical professionals and employers protect sensitive patient information and prevent disclosure without the individual’s consent. Anytime patient information is involved, always review your communications to ensure that HIPPA guidelines are met.

Patient confidentiality is essential for ensuring trust between patients and medical professionals and is a foundational tenant of an effective healthcare system. One careless email or post can ruin that trust and maybe even prevent a patient from seeking care.

9. Say no to fancy fonts

Communication within an academic environment is dictated by generally accepted professional standards—and those standards don’t include flowery, fun, and fancy fonts. Aside from the fact that some fonts are challenging to read, they also lack the seriousness that a student is expected to convey. Stick to standard fonts like Cambria, Times, and Arial. Additionally, avoid using emojis. Just think about it; little cartoon illustrations aren’t likely to contribute to your image as a dedicated, hardworking student.

4. Don’t interrupt on video calls

Just as you wouldn’t disrupt a lecture, avoid interrupting in-class video calls. Disruptions can lead to the loss of valuable learning time, and they aren’t respectful to others who are on task. During video conferences, free-flowing conversations can be difficult within larger groups. If you have questions, wait for an appropriate time to interject or ask your question via email or in the chat.

Discussion Boards

Discussion boards are commonly used in online classes, taking the place of traditional in-class discussions. Even though you’re typing rather than talking, the same thoughtfulness and respect that you’d bring to an in-class chat should govern what you post on a discussion board. If you wouldn’t say it in person, don’t say it online.

Discussion board netiquette suggests that you keep up with the conversation and refrain from repeating discussion topics and questions that have already been answered. Stay on topic and keep the conversation respectful. Healthcare students should take care to accurately reference medical information and provide sources for cited materials.

Email

Email is a primary form of communication in many professional settings, so thinking through the netiquette is helpful. To start, your email address should be professional—a school email address is perfect. However if you’re using a personal email address, reconsider playful email addresses like snugglyotter1999@hotmail.com when tackling serious conversations with professors and other professionals. Get into the habit of communicating as you would when working in the field.

When writing an email, include a clear subject line. Start with a proper greeting such as “Dear Dr. Isaacson,” rather than a casual expression such as “Hey Prof.” Also, be polite and reply to any email you receive, even if you just confirm receipt and state your next step. Before you send an email, always be sure to proofread; avoid spelling and grammar errors at all costs.

Social Media

Social media doesn’t have a reputation for civility or etiquette, but that doesn’t mean you can discard the netiquette guidelines used for other modes of online communication. Social media users should use respectful language and always remember that, despite the sometimes anonymous nature of social media, a real person with real emotions wrote the post. Students can face serious disciplinary actions if they behave inappropriately online.

As always, if a situation involves patient information, privacy and confidentiality is paramount. Patient information does not belong on social media. If you’re communicating on behalf of a professional entity, such as writing a health info blog on behalf of a student nurses’ association, be mindful of what you post. Make sure your sources are rock-solid and never give examples that could compromise patient confidentiality.

Video Demonstrations & Lectures

Even though online students may feel removed from the traditional operations of a college or university, a virtual classroom has the same behavior guidelines as an in-person environment. An instructor or presenter deserves your attentiveness and respect during a synchronous lecture or video demonstration . This means minimizing distractions and interruptions. While asking questions is always encouraged in a learning environment, be aware of the situation and only interject when appropriate. Sometimes it may be helpful to jot down your questions and ask them through email, on a discussion board, in the chat, or at another time.

Zoom Clinicals

With social distancing requirements, the hands-on part of your studies may instead be conducted online. Anytime you’re participating in a video conference, choose a well-lit location that’s clean and quiet. Minimize distractions; while you may think your cat is adorable, having your cat on camera probably doesn’t convey the professional attitude you’re looking for.

For Zoom clinicals, be especially mindful of HIPPA regulations in all communications, making sure any patient information is discussed in complete privacy. Your attire and surroundings should exude the professionalism that you’d expect from any medical professional.