Online communication code of conduct
Education in the Netherlands.
In many reports available on the impact of Corona on teaching and learning the conclusions reveal that the crisis came in waves and the perception of what the crisis was about showed a related pattern. The first concern was how to establish a technically feasible kind of online education. The next challenge was to make the best of this new teaching under the circumstances and later on the focus was widened to the social and emotional needs in this new reality of students. The conclusion that the technical problems were solved relatively soon does not mean that the technicalities now may be taken for granted. Several issues appeared that were related to the chosen technical solutions.
Dilemma
Technical issues may seem to be solved but we are facing related issues such as how to behave in this technical environment:
- how to deal with issues of privacy,
- how to deal with cyber risks,
- how to deal with the health and physical aspects of computer work
In what ways did you respond to this dilemma?
Based on an inventory of experiences of students a draft code of conduct was developed and discussed with students and trainers. Based on these discussions the code of conduct was improved and a panel of teachers and students was established to monitor how it works in practice. This panel serves as a helpdesk to students. Student may turn to this helpdesk in order to share problems, do suggestions for improvements, to file a complaint, or to seek mediation in conflicts.
What are the implications for teaching and learning?
The implications are a permanent awareness of the social aspects of new technical solutions and a continuous update of the norms on how to behave in this constantly changing blended and increasingly digitalized learning environment.
Keywords: Netiquette, Code of conduct, Online behavior, Online risks
