online discussions how-to

This feature is not for members of the public who visit my website. I expect that only De Anza students enrolled in my classes, or teaching assistants, will participate. I will delete any commentary from other people.

The following are instructions for using the discussions feature. They may be slightly different from other faculty websites. They might be easier to use if you read them through, then print them and follow them.

In order to participate in our online discussions, you must become a member of this site.

1. Go to: become a member. There are three maroon colored rectangles, one for each of the three sections.

2. Fill out the form at the first maroon rectangle, Required Info. Please use the email address that you will check most often as I may use this address if I send out class updates and news.

3. You do not have to fill out the second section (maroon rectangle that says Personal Info). Do not change the default settings for Receive Email Bulletins at the third maroon rectangle at the bottom of the form. Bulletins are a way for me to email the whole class at once and if I do it would be important for you receive such a message.

You can access the class discussions by clicking on the link on the class page. You must be logged in in order to read discussions.

There are two views available for discussions: Topics and Chronological View.

Topics view allows you to see all the main threads of discussion. When you click on a link to a discussion, you will see all the responses to that thread.

Chronological view allows you to see all discussions - main threads and responses - in date order.

You can switch between views by clicking on the Chronological or Topics link in the upper left corner of the discussion window.

1. Click on the link to the discussion you want to read.

Sometimes this website posts new material I posted, like a photo or page, as a discussion title.

Sometimes I don't catch it right away.

→ Please ignore discussion topics we have not talked about in class.

2. Type your response into the text box located below all the responses at the bottom of the message display page. If there are a lot of responses you may need to scroll in order to see this box.

This program has no spell-checker, so, if you are concerned about correct spelling and grammar, you could type your text in your word processor, check for spelling and grammar, and then paste your text into the discussion list. Note that if you do this, bullets, numbering and other formatting features in your word processor will not be visible in the discussion window.

3. Do not change the subject line. This will get too confusing if people are looking at messages in chronological view.

4. Post your response.

Once you post a message to the discussion list, you will be able to edit it at any time. When viewing discussions, you will see an -Edit this page - button next to any discussion text you wrote. Click on this button to edit your text.

Netiquette is short for Network Etiquette, a loosely defined code of behavior for communicating over the Internet. Emoticons and acronyms will be allowed on this site, but Flame Wars (angry or rude messages) and obscene or profane language will not be. Anonymous messages will be deleted.

Emoticons--also called Smileys--are designed to convey emotion. Emoticons are made by combining letters and symbols on the keyboard. Their purpose is to prevent misunderstanding and add some personality to messages. Here are some samples of common emoticons (if you have not seen these before, tilt your head to the left to see the expressions on the faces):

: - ) or : ) Smile

; - ) or ; ) Wink

: - 0 or : 0 Gasp

: - ( or : ( Unhappiness

Acronyms are abbreviations that convey meaning quickly. This is particularly beneficial for slow typists. Here are some samples of common acronyms:

BRB Be Right Back

BTW By The Way

F2F Face to Face

FAQ Frequently Asked Question

FYI For Your Information

IMO In My Opinion

IMHO In My Humble Opinion

IRL In Real Life

LOL Laughing Out Loud

ROTFL Rolling On The Floor, Laughing