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When we think of guiding principles for our courses, it’s easy to immediately point at the learning goals and objectives — the metrics by which we gauge whether learners have succeeded in their pursuit. But does the degree to which someone has “learned” have a bearing on their role in the community? Put another way, does the A+ learner belong more than the C- learner?
While there may be some standard, boilerplate behavioral guidelines for your course (where and how to ask what kinds of questions, general decorum, and other compulsory information), it’s also important to consider the more unique sensibilities of your space. Perhaps an underlying theme in your film studies course is food: it might be expected and commonplace for students to discuss and share pictures of their own favourite dishes and culinary experiences within the course. Such behaviour might be considered out of place in a statistics course, but it would be something that makes that particular film studies course more special and meaningful for its learners.
In The Art of Community, Charles Vogl speaks to the idea of the temple:
a place where people with shared values enact their community’s rituals (Vogl, 2016, p. 67)[1]
In essence, your course is the temple for your community. It is the place where members of your community gather to listen, speak, and learn from one another — where they communicate. Clearly articulating the activities that will take place in the course (the rituals of the temple) will help you to develop an understanding of what makes your course special and unique. It will help your learners to feel more comfortable in understanding the decorum of the space.
Below you’ll find four short lists: three with general considerations about netiquette (things that would likely apply to any course), and a fourth with some thought provoking questions about specificity (what makes your course unique).
How are we communicating with each other?
- Where are we communicating? Is it better to ask questions via email or in the discussion boards? Is there a “hallway space” for learners that isn’t supervised by the instructor?
- What does our communication look and sound like when we’re speaking? What about when we’re not speaking? How are we addressing each other when we do so? In what language?
- How do we deal with disagreements or conflicts should they arise?
Where and when are we expected to complete tasks and engage with material?
- Are we utilizing spaces and tools that take us outside the confines of the LMS? To what end?
- What flexibility can we expect regarding things like assessment, attendance or participation?
- How does the course account for time and space? Are there opportunities for synchronous meetings? Is there a “preferred” time zone that the instructor occupies?
What institutional information needs to be made explicit?
- Do learners have access to specialty software? How would they go about obtaining it?
- What resources are available to learners that t