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Conduct and content online
Introduction
During your studies you may be involved in sharing ideas with other students online. Your module may include the following online ‘spaces’ that enable you to do this.
A forum is an online discussion area where you can post messages.
A wiki is a set of connected web pages that anyone in a particular group can edit.
A blog (sometimes called a 'learning log') is an online diary that one person writes and usually other people can view and comment on. All students have a personal blog, although some modules have module-specific blogs.
- Online rooms, the online venues for tutorials and student collaboration rooms.
Some of the first sections of this guidance focus on forums but its general principles and everything in the sections following it apply to all online tools.
When working in shared online spaces, it is important that you:
- treat others with courtesy and respect
- safeguard confidentiality and personal security
- avoid committing or supporting plagiarism
- understand and respect copyright
- remember that any information you share on your profile, blog or forum can be read by a peer or Open University staff member: be careful about posting any deeply personal data such as your religious or philosophical beliefs, political views, sexual orientation, your mother's maiden name or your detailed location.
Communicating online
Courtesy and confidentiality
Treat others with the same courtesy and respect as you would in a face-to-face conversation. This is an academic community and you should feel free to be controversial and outspoken with your ideas but never offensive or hurtful.
Don’t write or share anything that is:
- defamatory, obscene, discriminatory, illegal, incites hatred or could damage the reputation of the University
- confidential or infringes another person’s privacy; for example, you should not post someone’s contact details without their permission
- sent to you privately and not intended to be shared with others
- likely to make someone feel bullied or harassed
- malicious or potentially harmful to others.
Don’t engage in commercial activity.
Although it seldom happens, moderators can and will remove content that they decide is unsuitable.
Plagiarism
Avoid committing or supporting plagiarism. Never discuss answers to work that is counted for assessment (remember that even if the cut-off date has passed some people may have extensions). Of course, work that is not counted for assessment can be discussed freely.
Copyright
See the Copyright when working online.
Messages
Be brief. Several short posts have more impact than one long message. Write in a natural and informal style but take a moment to check grammar and spelling. Use the spellchecker.
Online messages are sometimes misunderstood because the other person’s facial expression can’t be seen. It can help to use emoticons to show you are smiling 
, surprised 
, sad 
, embarrassed 
and so on.
When you reply to a message you can set the scene by quoting part of the original message. Make it easy for readers to see what you have done by putting quoted text between double angle brackets, << and >>.
If you quote from an external source always credit the original author as you would in other academic writing.
It’s fine to use standard abbreviations but do not write whole messages using the abbreviations used in texting.
Don’t write in capital letters because it can look as though you are SHOUTING and is harder to read.
Contacts
Make your posts in the right forum. Many modules have a forum for general discussion and other forums for individual study blocks or activities. Try to use these rather than sending all messages to the general forum. Similarly, don’t send a message to a forum if a wiki entry or a blog comment would be more appropriate.
When you start a new discussion, create a subject line that helps readers understand the topic quickly. If you introduce a new topic in an existing discussion, alter the subject line to signal the change.
If replying to a particular person in a forum, begin your post with an @ sign followed by their name. You can even make this the new subject line, very useful if you are just thanking someone. A subject line like ‘@Anna – thanks!’ says it all, without needing anything in the message.
If you do well in an assignment, it’s natural to want to share this online. However, we recommend you don’t mention your actual marks in case it discourages someone who has not done so well. It’s fine to write in more general terms though, such as ‘I was really pleased with my mark for TMA 01 – it was better than I expected’ or ‘I found the exam very hard but I’ve got the result I wanted, which I’m very happy about!’
Prevent (counter-terrorism) strategy
The Open University has a statutory duty to show ‘due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’ (Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, 2015).
If the use of the University’s computing equipment, systems or information causes concern that a person may be at risk of being drawn into terrorism, the University may take action in accordance with the OU Prevent strategy.
OU policies and guidelines
Complaints
See the University’s online learning system complaints procedure if you believe the online code of conduct or the online content policy have been violated.