In researching acceptable online practices, or "netiquette", you will find the original authority on the subject is Virginia Shea. In 1997, she wrote the first edition of her book, aptly titled Netiquette.The ten core rules of Netiquette are as follows (Shea, 1997):
(click on each rule for an explanation)
Now, as 2011 comes to a close, some of these rules have expanded and adapted to encompass everything the internet has to offer. When the original ten rules were written, we did not have widespread Social Networking Services (SNS). However, the same concepts for discussion boards apply to SNS.
One of the great tools I have found is the Carnegie Cyber Academy. There are lessons, games, news, and blogs available to teach students about online safety (Carnegie Mellon University, 2011).
The Academy's "Betty's Blog" led me to a story I could share with my students about four students in New Jersey who were arrested for threatening to bomb their high school on their Facebook profiles. Another student at the school printed the conversation and turned it in to the principal (Noel, 2010). Students need to know that what they put online is public. Educators have to teach and model proper online behavior to prepare students for our digitally connected world.
Carnegie Mellon University. (2011). The carnegie cyber academy. Retrieved from http://www.carnegiecyberacademy.com/
Noel, J. (2010, January 12). Four nj high school students arrested in bomb threat. NBC. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Four-NJ-High-School-Students-Arrested-in-Bomb-Threat-81189142.html
Shea, V. (1997). Netiquette. (1.1 ed.). San Francisco, CA: Albion Books. Retrieved from http://www.albion.com/netiquette/book/index.html
