WHY HAVE ONLINE DISCUSSIONS?
Although we will discuss ideas ORALLY when meeting in class, we will also be conducting many class discussions about the reading assignments ELECTRONICALLY. Written communication differs from speech communication in significant ways. We will be exploring those differences. For now, though, understand that our web discussions will provide the opportunity to practice, practice, practice written communication and interpretive skills electronically.

Other advantages to using electronic communication include the following:

Achieve Broader Participation
Rather than four or five students DOMINATING classroom discourse, electronic discussions allow every one of you an opportunity  to express your ideas and receive written feedback from a variety of student/teachers in this classroom. Online communication affords each student/teacher, whether shy or assertive, EQUAL ACCESS to a discussion. It also prevent me, as your course instructor, from over-directing or dominating a conversation.

Think Before Communicating
We will participate in a form of SYNCHRONOUS ("real-time") and ASYNCHRONOUS ("delayed") electronic discussions. Because you formulate responses on the computer screen before posting, you can think more carefully about what you have to say and how you will say it. You can also consider how you will reply to other people’s ideas more clearly and more meaningfully than often occurs when you are put on the spot orally.

British Novelist E. M. Forster once asked, "How do I know what I think until I see what I have to say?"

A computer discussion affords you the opportunity to see what you have to say so that you’ll know what you think, and then be given an opportunity to speak on screen.

Practice Communication Skills
Electronic discussions provide writing, reading, and thinking practice while documenting a HISTORY of written, less formal discourse that you or I can return to whenever we would like. We’ll also be able to trace a connected line of discussion using the threaded-discussion features of this web site.

Participate in Real World Discourse
Electronic communication MAKES WRITING PUBLIC. This means you must be aware of and anticipate an audience’s needs, feelings, and possible reactions—all important elements that influence the content, style, and tone of any real writing/rhetorical situation. In other words, posting electronically can help you better analyze additional occasions when you must write for personal, academic, or career purposes.

MY EXPECTATIONS FOR ACHIEVING RESPONSIBLE ONLINE DISCOURSE
One value I assume we share is respect for individuals—their experience and their ideas or social positions. I also assume we share a genuine desire to learn from one another. In order to demonstrate these shared values, I encourage you to consider how your tone, word choice, and content may affect other readers. Some ways people achieve responsible public electronic discourse include

(a) calling each other by name on the screen,
(b) using smiley faces =) if a writer's tone might be ambiguous,
(b) clarifying with someone courteously before "flaming" back a quick response, and
(d) refraining from publishing or forwarding any questionable jokes or strong language that could offend various readers.