The tools of web-based meetings, virtual teams, and online or blended classrooms will help us meet the challenges of today's rapidly changing commerce and learning sectors. And foremost among those tools is online bulletin boards or discussion forums. One of FutureU's jobs is to provide discussion forums that are a safe place to communicate what's on your minds, deepening our learning together and improving the effectiveness of our communications.

To help create this open and friendly environment, whether using forum software provided by FutureU or something from within your own organization, we ask that all participants agree to the following community norms.

Our norms will evolve as the community grows but let's begin with the following agreements.

First, by participating in the FutureU Online Learning Exchange I agree that each participant's words are their own but that, together, we are creating meaning to be shared by all of us. I further agree to...

• keep people's postings and other contributions confidential, unless permission is explicitly given by the author to do otherwise
• participate thoughtfully and respond in a timely manner
• operate in the spirit of open inquiry, knowing there is no exclusivly right answer, but everyone has part of the answer
• examine my assumptions as deeply as possible
• hear and consider all points of view
• listen with care to what's behind each person's words, as well as the words themselves
• be open to new ideas and possibilities
• be responsible for asking for what I want
• explictly agree or not agree to others' requests
• clear up any issues as they arise with the person or people directly involved

A note about etiquette. Keep in mind that comments entered in hasty reaction to someone else's posting will be available for others to read long after you have entered them. So it is wise to exercise moderation and tolerance. If you feel yourself writing a note in anger or some other negative emotion, don't send it. Wait a day and then rewrite it from a more neutral place, if at all.

By participating in any of FutureU's online spaces or activities, you are explicitly agreeing to our right to ban anyone who disrupts a discussion or the community at our discretion and with no recourse to appeal.

To read FutureU's guide to "Netiquette (Internet Etiquette)" click here.

Finally, participants are bound by legal restrictions that are an unfortunate requirement of today's pirate-mad and lawsuit-happy environment. The "Terms & Conditions of Use" basically say that participants will respect FutureU's intellectual property rights and will behave toward each other with the decency and manners that will avoid legal conflicts among participants or between FutureU and participants.

• To read the full "Terms & Conditions of Use" click here.
• To read about FutureU's "Statement of Position on Intellectual Property" click here.
• For FutureU's complete "Privacy Policy" click here.

How to Reach Us

Copyright © 1997-2004 by Gail Terry Grimes and Claude Whitmyer. All rights reserved. Published by FutureU.