And the discussion group gets smaller. We lose members after every other exchange it seems these days.
Please, everyone, moderate thyself. We often have entire classes of students join our discussion group; these students, ranging from high school students to graduate students, often observe only and deserve better than what they sometimes get from us. I've been contacted by more than one teacher who has expressed disappointment in the amount of unprofessional behavior seen on the list at times. I explain to them the nature of a public, unmoderated list with the hope that they will understand. However, without stating anything as a "rule," let me share some common precepts and expectations that make for successful listserv groups:
- All those who use this list
are expected to maintain quality levels of professionalism, ethics,
decorum and civility regarding postings.
Postings and Etiquette/Netiquette
Postings should exhibit the following:
- Maturity and tact
- Audience-appropriate language
- Cogency when possible
Avoid posting that can be reasonably described as any of the following:
- Libelous
- Defamatory
- Obscene
- Pornographic
- Threatening
- Invasive of privacy
- Abusive
- Illegal
- Constitute or encourage a criminal offense
- Violate the rights of any individual, group or entity
- Create liability
- Copyright infringements
These seem like no-brainers, right? We currently do not moderate or censor messages nor do we impose consequences for violations. To do so would require interpretation of content, which is subjective. We've tried to stay away from this. Please allow us to continue to do so. I will be working with ATEG's leadership to review policies for blatant offenses such as commercial spam and pornography. I truly hope we don't have to expand the policies to encompass more than that.
John Alexander
ATEG
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