Online Etiquette in Virtual Learning Environment: Reflection

Online Etiquette in Virtual Learning Environment: Reflection Netiquette and Student Learning Experience on Blackboard – Reflective essay Communicating by email and other methods on the Internet such as online message boards and chat systems has become very common these days. It is almost impossible to pursue a course of study in higher or further education without using computers, and without communicating with other people online. Yet it can be safely said the most of us have never had any type of formal training in communicating online. The increased use of Virtual Learning Environments such as Blackboard and Moodle put an additional imperative on students to learn how to communicate online. This means that students now not only need to learn the content of the course, they also need to use a new tool properly prior to studying the subject matter. At our University, the Blackboard is used for various courses. Most students today are already familiar with the Internet and have already communicated with others via various methods on the Internet; hence there isnt a steep learning curve when they learn to use this new tool. Additionally, support is provided in various ways for students who require it. Firstly, students can approach the online learning support officer if they require any general help with the system. Secondly, they can approach the module leader or teacher if they have any problems with any specific course they are taking on Blackboard. Thirdly, they can approach their personal tutor with any problems t hat cannot be otherwise resolved. Practically, however, students often find peer support invaluable. I always found myself asking or being asked about specific issues with Blackboard. Some of the common questions are about where are the buttons one would require to perform certain tasks, for example the upload button when submitting an assignment, what happens when the system hangs – this often creates a lot of anxiety, especially when it happens close to the deadline for the submission of an assignment! I have often found that the people who are able to readily answer these questions have often faced the same problem themselves, and found it out either by trial and error on their own, or were in turn helped by some others. Although technology is often (dis)credited as the cause of an increasing loss of personal contact in every aspect of modern life, ironically, the use of an unfamiliar tool such as the Blackboard actually helped me communicate better with some other student s, as we faced a shared problem and being compatriots somehow brought us closer. Netiquette was something I decided that I had to learn before I was brave enough to add my comment in the discussion forums. This was mainly because I was very used to the Internet slang of using the short form of words such as CUL8R and I wasnt very sure these would be acceptable and did not want to get on the wrong side of the lecturer unnecessarily. I did some reading on the topic and found a great deal of material on the Internet regarding Netiquette. In particular, I read the RFC 1855 (Hambridge, 1995), which was a sort of bible on netiquette. On reading it the reasons behind many of netiquette rules that I didnt think were important, most of it seemed to be common sense and polite. The WIRED article by Leahy (2006) cited one good example of an email communication that had this sentence Don’t work too hard, which could be interpreted in a variety of ways – had this been addressed to me, I would have wondered, was the writer sarcastically implying that I was working too hard, perhaps trying to impress someone, in which case I probably would have taken offence, or was it just a joke? Either way, its difficult to interpret. I read the general rules for posting on Blackboard and saw that they werent very different from the RFC 1855. There were only minor differences, some recommendations adapted to keep in view that this was an educational discussion board in an educational institution. Going back to my interaction on Blackboard, I monitored the comments on the discussion board for while before I decided to post a somewhat inconsequential comment to test the waters. I had given a great deal of thought before deciding to participate in the discussion online. Initially, I thought that since participating in the online discussion forum wasnt compulsory, I need not participate; it would only take me more time to learn the rules, and then engage in a discussion that didnt really earn me any marks in my final score for the module. However, I spoke to some of my peers, and got the view that participating in discussions not only helped you clear your doubts, it also helped others; most often, someone else had the same question, but was just too scared to post it, and when you did, they were grateful to you; sometimes that made them bolder to start posting too. Then, one of the lecturers for one of the modules that was using Blackboard encouraged us to continue a discussion that took place in class online, and that was what spurred me on to leave me comment; however, having thought out my first post for very long before posting it, I feel that I somehow killed it and it had the desired effect: it was so inconsequential, no one posted a reply to it. Funnily, I found this was somewhat disheartening, however, resolved to take part in the discussions better and managed to follow through. The main benefit I obtained from the discussion boards is that if there are some strands of thought running on your mind about a topic that is being discussed, the discussion board offers you the opportunity to actually post those thoughts anytime, anywhere. On hindsight, communicating on the Blackboard discussion board did not have very different rules from communicating face to face in the classroom. One just has to remember that when posting on an online forum, the readers cannot see your face to gauge your expression and therefore are more likely to misinterpret your s tatements. Using emoticons, if these are acceptable, can help convey the tone of the message to a certain extent. Also, if you are always prepared to offer a clarification and apology if necessary if your message has been misinterpreted then you cannot go very much wrong. There are indeed some excellent positives to the use of Blackboard (or any other Virtual Leaning Environment) in the university. The use of the VLE allowed us to work at home (or as a group in one persons home) and enabled us to avoid spending the time travelling to university, and also the stress. We were able to discuss group assignments at a place convenient to the entire group, and as for individual assignments, there is a great deal to be said for sitting on ones own room with a pizza and coke and typing up an assignment. While it took some getting used to, once I got used to the system, I greatly appreciated the availability of all the information that was made available on an anytime, anywhere basis. However, I think that I would not like to pursue course of study that was conducted wholly through the VLE. This is because I felt that the face to face interaction I had with the lecturers of most modules was important, even if it consisted of me simply sitting passively in class listening to the lecture. This is because I felt I could understand much more when it was the lecturer explaining a certain point in person, not reading the written word; additionally, during face to face interaction, I had the opportunity of clearing any doubts that popped into my mind, and one once occasion, the teacher drew a simple diagram which allowed me to grasp the concept quickly; this would not have been possible if we were discussing the topic on the discussion forum on Blackboard. If all the convenience of using a VLE in additional to face to face teaching can be made available in a cost-efficient circumstance, then I would definitely recommend the use of Virtual Learning Environments. As for discussions on Blackboard, with my experience, I am now a bit confident at posting my comments on discussion topics. Perhaps the next semester I may even be bold enough to start up discussion on new topics if the opportunity presents itself. References Hambridge, S. (1995) RFC1855: Netiquette Guidelines (Available online at http://rfc.net/rfc1855.html last accessed Aug 2007) Leahy, S. (2006) The Secret Cause of Flame Wars Wired (Available online at http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/02/70179 last accessed Aug 2007) What is ethical policy? What is ethical policy? WHAT IS ETHICAL POLICY? In recent past so many successful business failed, many profitably running businesses suffered from a downfall and it is said that some effective corporate receives a great fall in their profits and popularity. One of the main reasons behind these surprising happening was lack of business ethics. Thus the ethics can be defined as the ability to distinguish between right and wrong (Buzzle.com, 2009). For a business to grow and maintain its prosperity, it must be found on certain ethical principals. A business that is based on ethics can run successfully for years (Buzzle.com, 2009). Money makers who do not pay attention to ethical values can only earn a short term success. To last long in the market, ethical business policy is must. An ethical business policy is important at many levels. It establishes expectations for employees and management as well, and defines the enforcement mechanism and penalty for noncompliance. When the ethical policy is professed as an integral component of the organizations culture is understood, followed and enforced (Bankers Online, 2010). An effective ethical policy has number of advantages. Its awareness among employees is a guarantee of proper conduct and doing the right things. They will better understand their responsibilities and expectations and assume the appropriate level of accountability when identifying and managing business risk (Messmar, 2003). The ethical policy of an organization is more than just a formal document outlining related rules of conduct. It is about integrating positive values throughout an organization (Sethi, 2003). Some key fundamental characteristics of for making ethical policy effective and worth having are (Find Articles, 2008);  · Employees often used to follow the behaviour of their superior executives, managers and others who have succeeded in the company. There fore everyone at every level must stick to the guideline laid down by the ethical policy.  · Companies those are very successful in their business have made ethics a key element of their corporate culture. Conducting business with integrity is considered as important as bottom line results. Ethical standards are applied any time a decision is made or an action is taken, not just during controversial situations (findarticles.com, 2008).  · Many firms make the mistake of asking their legal department to draft their code of ethical practice. As a result the policy may not reflect the challenges employees routinely face on the job. That is why it is valuable to include people from all levels of the organization in discussion about ethical guidelines. Once the ethical policy is implemented, it is equally important to review it periodically to ensure it accounts for current business practices (Find Articles, 2008).  · While deciding for the ethical policy companies should adopt democratic approach despite of giving the task of policy formulation to the legal department firms must include people from all levels of the organization in discussion about ethical guidelines. Once the ethical policy is implemented.  · Management should apply the same ethical standards to everyone in the organization. The consequences for an executives dishonest conduct should be consistent with those of a junior staff member. No exceptions should be made (Find Articles, 2008).  · The work environment must be one in which people feel they can deliver bad news to management without fear of repercussions. (Find Articles, 2008). A good ethical policy will not prevent every crisis, but it will ensure that staff members have a clear understanding of expectations. Collaborate with employees on defining the rules and make sure everyone is aware of the requirements. Then take step to instil core values throughout the organization (Rodgers, 2004). With regular reinforcement, ethics will guide every decision organization makes and become a central element in the way the organization conducts business. CONTENT OF ETHICAL POLICY First of all, the ethical policy must reflect organizations values, controls and processes. Unless the policy, controls and processes adequately reflect that institution is unique organization, the code will not be effective in providing guidance or offering protections (Bankers Online, 2010). Depending on regulatory requirements the contents of ethical policy vary. In general, the ethical policy should contain rules on; record keeping, information security and privacy, gift and hospitality, cooperation with investigations and audits, conflicts of interests and of course, a â€Å"whistleblower† provision, establishes procedures for reporting any suspected illegal or unethical activities by others within the organization (Bankers Online, 2010). ADMINISTERATION OF ETHICAL POLICY There is no unique style of administration. In some companies legal department has oversight and administrative responsibility. In some, responsibility rests with Human Resources or compliance. Some other organizations have a special ethics committee empowered specifically for purposes of oversight and enforcement (Bankers Online, 2010) (Wood, 2002); Accountability is clearly defined. The responsible department or person has the stature necessary to facilitate enforcement, It is assigned to someone who does not have a propensity to engage in illegal or unethical activities. Important components of the administration of ethical policy include initial and on going training and awareness effort of receipt, understanding, and compliance with the code; standards for documentation of exceptions; standards for investigation of suspected or reported wrongdoing; consistent enforcement; and finally periodic review of the code to ensure that it is comprehensive and reflects the current organizational structure and business practice (Bankers Online, 2010). THE TAJ GROUP OF HOTEL: TAJ GROUP OF HOTELS: The Taj Hotels Resort and Palaces is a group of 64 hotels at 45 locations across India with an additional 15 international hotels. The most significant addition to the Taj portfolio has been the iconic landmark hotel in New York, the Taj Boston and the blue in Sydney (Taj Hotel, 2009; Tata.com, 2009). The Taj Group of hotels is a part of Indian Multinational Group ‘TATA which has been respected in India for 140 years for its adherence to strong values and business ethics. TATAs vision is to attain leadership through business excellence in the sectors that they operate in, while upholding values and integrity, to improve the quality of life of the communities they serve. TATAs has always been values driven. These values continue to direct the growth and business of TATA companies. The five core TATA values are (Tata.com, 2009); Integrity, Understanding, Excellence, Unity and Responsibility (Tata.com, 2009).Detail analysis of ethical policy of Taj Groups of hotel is as follows. ETHICAL POLICY AND ITS ANALYSIS As a part of TATA group Taj Group has a very comprehensive ethical policy, which gives each and every detail about what the group is intended to do in future. As a part of TATA the Taj group carries a long history of ethical practices. The ethical policy is in real sense an essence of 150 year of ethical and value based business developed by TATAs around the world. As TATA is very big organization they have a very detailed ethical policy for the entire group consisting 25 clauses which focuses on every aspects of ethical practice. The important points of this policy are discussed and analyzed here (Tata.com, 2009). National interests: the group is committed to benefit the economic development of the countries in which it operates. In the course of its business the company shall respect the culture, customs and traditions of each country and region where it operates. Financial Reporting of reports: The organization shall prepare and maintain its accounts in accordance with the generally accepted guidelines. There shall be no wilful omissions of any company transactions from the books and records. Any wilful, material misrepresentation of and / or misinformation on the financial accounts and reports shall be regarded as a violation of the Code, apart from inviting appropriate civil or criminal action under the relevant laws (Tata.com, 2009). Competition: As a TATA Group member organization shall fully support the development of open market and shall promote the liberalization of the market. No employee shall engage in restrictive trade practice act. Equal opportunity Employer: organization shall provide equal opportunities to all its employees and all qualified applicants for employment and shall promote diversity and equality in the workplace. Gift and Donation: A Tata company and its employees shall neither receive nor offer or make, directly or indirectly, any illegal payments, remuneration, gifts, donations or comparable benefits that are intended, or perceived, to obtain uncompetitive favours for the conduct of its business. Government Agencies: A Tata company shall comply with government procurement regulations and shall be transparent in all its dealings with government agencies. Political non alignment: A Tata company shall be committed to and support the constitution and governance systems of the country in which it operates. A Tata company shall not support any specific political party or candidate for political office. Health, safety and environment: A Tata Company shall strive to provide a safe, healthy, clean and ergonomic working environment for its people. A Tata company, in the process of production and sale of its products and services, shall strive for economic, social and environmental sustainability. Quality of products and services: The quality standards of the companys goods and services shall meet applicable national and international standards. Corporate citizenship: A Tata company shall be committed to good corporate citizenship, not only in the compliance of all relevant laws and regulations but also by actively assisting in the improvement of quality of life of the people in the communities in which it operates. The company shall encourage volunteering by its employees and collaboration with community groups. Cooperation of Tata companies: In the procurement of products and services, a Tata company shall give preference to other Tata companies, as long as they can provide these on competitive terms relative to third parties. Public representation of the company and the group: Tata group shall be represented only by specifically authorized directors and employees. It shall be the sole responsibility of these authorized representatives to disclose information about the company or the group. Group policies: A Tata company shall recommend to its board of directors the adoption of policies and guidelines periodically formulated by Tata Sons. Shareholders: A Tata company shall be committed to enhancing shareholder value and complying with all regulations and laws that govern shareholder rights. Ethical conduct: Every member of the organization shall exhibit professionalism, honesty and integrity, while conforming to high moral and ethical standards. Regulatory compliance: Employees of a Tata company, in their business conduct, shall comply with all applicable laws and regulations. Conflict of interest: An employee or director of a Tata company shall always act in the interest of the company, and does not involve a conflict of interest with the operations of the company. Integrity of data furnished: Every employee of company shall be entirely responsible in ensuring that the confidentiality of all data is retained and in no circumstance transferred to any outside party in the course of normal operations. Reporting concerns: Every employee of a Tata company shall promptly report to the management, any actual or possible violation of the Code or an event of misconduct, not in the companys interest. Analysis of ethical policy: Customer Focus: Customer relationship is of utmost importance for a business to achieve long-term profits. To gain a long term relationship with customers and achieve customer return for the business, the business needs to be based on ethics. The trustworthiness of a business, its customer service, its customer care, its way of dealing with customers and its urge to retain its old customers, is a part of business ethics. Businesses ethics leave a long lasting impression on their minds builds trust, fetching a business more customers while retaining the older ones (Buzzle.com, 2009) (BIZ ethics, 2009). Legalities: Most of us are concerned about making money for our business and we cater to the legalities in business but we seldom bother to base our business on ethics. At times, ethical duties of a businessmen and project managers could be more abiding then even the business laws. Ethics is a far reaching concept and goes beyond the idea of making money legally. Ethical values are way ahead of earning money. Ethics is more about the earning long lasting relationship in business (BIZ ethics, 2009) (Buzzle.com, 2009). Ethical Practice: People who seek motivation behind being ethical should understand that they are ethical by definition. Ethics is an integral part of running business and hence ethical values accompany business by default. Without following certain ideals in business, one cannot become successful. Success that is attained without a foundation of strong ethics is bound to be short lived. A business can not continue to prosper without an ethical base. A few successes can be coincidence or flukes but persistent success can only be a result of strong foundation of ethics (BIZ ethics, 2009) (Buzzle.com, 2009). Human resource: Organisational benefits should not be used in an unfair manner. The use of company resources for personal benefits and taking an undue advantage of business resource is completely unethical. Using the wealth of the business for personal reasons is not ethical. Using company fund for personal reason is unethical. A thoughtful and careful utilization of company resources is a part of business ethics. A vigilant and prudent use of resources is an essential component of ethics in business (Buzzle.com, 2009). Hospitality Bribe: Accepting bribes, pleasing the so called important clints, favouring a part of the customers while being unfair towards the others is against business ethics the primary aim is not just to maximise profits. It is rather to cater the needs of the society and work towards benefiting the masses. THE HILTON GROUP OF HOTEL: Hilton world wide is a multinational hospitality company started in 1919 in Cisco Texas. Today Hilton is expanded in 79 countries and operates around 3400 hotels world wide. Hilton world wide offers business and leisure travels the finest accommodations, service, amenities and values. The values of Hilton group are incorporated in its name that is HILTON where (Hilton Hotel, 2010); H Hospitality passionate about delivering exceptional world class services. Integrity doing right things all the time. Leadership leading the industry and community. Teamwork team work in every thing done. Ownership owner of action and decision. Now operate with the sense of urgency and discipline. The vision of Hilton group is â€Å"to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality†. ETHICAL POLICY Hilton Groups ethical policy is brief but comprehensive in nature. It clearly explain what is expected from the employee while performing their duties. Main points of Hilton groups ethical policy are discussed here as under (Hilton Group, 2010). Promote honest and ethical conduct, including fair dealing and the ethical handling of conflicts of interests. Promote compliance with applicable law and governmental rules and regulations. Promote prompt internal reporting of violation of this ethical policy. Insure the protection of the companys legitimate business interests, including corporate opportunities , assets and confidential information; and Deter wrong doing. As there is no standard format to draft the ethical policy for all the organization, in other words we can say that the ethical policy of the organization depends on the vision , mission and the core values of the company. Therefore two ethical code of conducts could not be compared point to point basis but their impact on the success of business could be. Here an attempt is being made to compare the ethical policy of the Taj Groups of hotel with the leading multinational player in hospitality industry The Hilton Group. In the Taj Groups ethical policy the national interests is at the top shows that TATAs believe that interests of the nation where they operates are of utmost important and shows their commitment to economic development of that nation and respect for the local culture tradition and values but this thing is not mentioned clearly in the ethical policy of Hilton group of hotels. Hilton group emphasis on corporate opportunities that for its entire group the business interests of the group are of utmost importance than any other thing. In case of Taj corporate opportunities are not discussed in detail, as Taj is a member of a well diversified industrial group it is been said that while working with other organisation group companies must be favoured. The Taj and Hilton are regarded very successful organization in hospitality industry, their success id simple reflection of the values and principal they follow in routine as well as strong adherence to their ethical policies respectively. Both the organisation emphasised on the transparent financial reporting system. Timely disclosure of all the transaction, prohibition of creative accounting, miss appropriation of financial information is regarded as the violation of ethical policy and punishable too. The ethical conduct is at the centre of the policy for both the organisation. Both the organisation put great emphasis on the professionalism, honesty and integrity while exhibiting high moral standard on work. Conflicts of interests is been recognized by both the organisation, it is clearly defined that if there exist any conflict, in that situation all the employees of the organisation will uphold the companys interest first. Hilton group is specially a hospitality company which has its interest in expanding world over and they are successful in achieving their objective, their policy of joining hands with other similar organisation for the expansion is paying them in better way. Taj group has to work on its expansion strategy that how they will realize the dream of being worlds best hospitality company. Taj group has to work on the application of technology to their counter part is using. Hilton groups web portal is more customer friendly than any other similar organisation. As Hotel Taj was the main target of Mumbai terror attack in India, Taj group has to come out with the clear policy with regard to the security of their guest because one incident in Mumbai degraded the image of the Group hotels and specially to attract the international customers more in number they have to concentrate on their marketing strategy too. In case of Hilton customers security policy is not clearly defined in their ethical policy thus they also required to work on it without waiting for any unpleasant event. Experts in business management and researchers have certified the need for businessman and company professional to study ethics. They have asserted the importance of founding business on ethical values and following them. They have urged management professionals to adhere to ethics and accept it as a part of business. Ethics remain being important in business and strong ethical values shall take the business a long way! (Biz Ethics, 2009) (Buzzle.com, 2009)