Week Eight: Computer Netiquette and Security

Many are those who have opened their email only to receive an affront of some sort. The particular affront that I am speaking of is concerning "net ettiquette" or "netiquette". There is nothing that can ruin one's day so fast as to receive a very discourteous email from someone - especially if it is your boss. Security and computers...that's a big topic as well, so I will focus on these two topics as they apply to education.

Envision this scenario. You have had a hard day at work. The kids have been wild enough to be featured on Animal Planet; you have picked up and drank the coffee that had been sitting on your desk for three weeks now; and you have paperwork that was due last week. You then drag yourself to your work station to check your email and what should be there but the figurative cherry on top of the whole day - an email from the powers-that-be that isn't exactly written in the nicest tone. Don't you wish everyone knew about the rules of netiquette and actually applied them?

One must be very careful when communicating in type. This communication mode is lacking one big component of effective communication, which is body language. Sometimes it is hard to pick up on the nuances and subtleties of conversation if one cannot see the facial expressions or the body language of the other person. Therefore it is extremely important to remember a few things about online communication (without visual).

1. Be polite. Do not be abusive. Do not "flame" others (flame is netspeak for abusive, incendiary language).
2. DO NOT USE ALL CAPS WHEN WRITING. NOT EVEN A SINGLE WORD. It is considered loud shouting. This one is my personal pet-peeve.
3. Be tolerant of the beginning user.
4. Use appropriate language. No profanity.
5. Do not give out any personal information.
6. Protect the privacy of others.
7. Realize that email is not private.
8. Respect copywright laws (Goldberg, 2011).

Security and students is a big issue in education and one that can certainly give a teacher pause-for-thought concerning their use of it in the classroom. Now more than ever, opportunities for trouble are lurking around the corner.
As a teacher, one must be aware of what his/her student may encounter on the internet. These are some guidelines which were provided to our class by Dr. Cristine Goldberg, online professor at The University of the Cumberlands. Students must be taught to:

• Withhold their names and personal information, including their Social Security numbers, phone numbers, addresses, or ages, from people they do not know online



• Protect their passwords from unauthorized persons



• Never open suspicious attachments to their e-mails



• Reject automatic downloads



• Reject cookies from unfamiliar Web sites (Education World, Inc., 2007)

By using the above precautions, it is very likely that your experiences, as well as the experiences of your students, will be much more pleasant and panic-free. And with teaching today? Who needs anymore unpleasantries or panic?

Picture retrieved from: http://1u1n.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/FrazzledCat.jpg