Often referred to as “netiquette”, online etiquette is especially important in online learning in order to maintain a supportive learning environment. In addition to the usual expectations in classroom classes, online learning presents learning opportunities and challenges that we must consider in order for the course to be successful.
🦠 The impact of COVID-19 has been tremendous, interrupting our lives, our routines, and the way we are able to provide instruction. However, the pandemic also presents us with opportunities for personal growth and professional development. If you approach the online learning experience with a positive attitude, an open-mind, and personal discipline, you will enjoy it more, learn more, and earn a higher score. How each of us respond to the situation is ultimately a personal choice.
🏫 There is an English expression that says “90% of success in life is the result of simply showing up.” The single most important factor for success in this course is attendance. Please do your best to attend each class, to arrive on time, and to stay through the end of each lesson. If you will be absent, please let me know so we know you are okay. We do take note of your absence out of concern for your and your family’s well-being during this challenging time.
🕓 Tardiness requires interruptions of the lesson to mark attendance, resulting in lost learning time. The nature of online learning means that some learning time is lost working with the technology, itself, so please respect your fellow classmates by arriving on time so that we can maximize learning during each lesson.
📺 Try to reduce distractions in your learning environment, as much as possible. Many of us are working in shared space with others around. However, I’ve encountered students doing all sorts of activities during lessons: cooking, watching TV, listening to music, or even taking another course at the university. It’s simply not possible to learn a second language while multitasking. Nor is it possible to do two things well at the same time. Your presence in this course requires your presence of mind.
🖐 Learning a language requires all of our mutual respect and active participation. It cannot be learned simply listening to me talk. Please be prepared to read, respond to questions, and interact with your classmates, etc. Please don’t hesitate to respond, raise doubts, or ask questions. The only bad question is the question not asked. During timed exercises, please use the “Raise hand” feature to let me know you are finished so we can continue without waiting for an alarm. Your participation is considered as part of your speaking score.
🎥 Video is ideal, but optional. Depending on the bandwidth and data plan you have, decide if using video works for you. As your teacher, I will use video sparingly as I have a TelCel modem with a data cap and speed throttles which simply does not allow streaming video for the duration of each lesson. I’ll use video from time to time, when it’s necessary. However, I usually share my screen for the duration of each lesson.
🎙 Turn on your microphone when speaking so that we can engage in normal dialogue. Otherwise, please silence your mic to avoid distracting your classmates with background noise (phone, family, pets, traffic, tamales, etc.) It is especially important to be aware of ambient noise if you are wearing a gaming or noise-cancelling headset, which eliminate noises only for you. If I silence your mic, please check your environmental noise before turning it on again.
📚 You must purchase the books for this course, this is not optional. When starting to use a book for the first time, be certain to add the product code inside the front cover of your book in order to have access to course materials on RichmondLP. Additionally, during the first week of each course, you must enter the class code for the course in order to have access to course assignments for our particular group, including the Practical Use of English Evaluation, which is required to pass the course and amounts to 20% of your score.
⏰ Evaluations are strictly-timed exercises. I am unable to give you additional time if you do not finish in time. The reason for this is that we are preparing you for Cambridge certification exams. These exams are timed and there is no allowance for extra time. If you are having a difficult time finishing exams in the given time, it might be an indicator that your ability is not at the level of the course you are in. In this case, it might make sense to take another skills assessment exam to ascertain your current level of ability. Please understand that we are not trying to offend you or punish you in any way, but rather we are 100% dedicated to helping you reach your English learning goals.
