Are You SHOUTING?

As teachers, we sometimes lag behind our students in keeping up with technology trends. This is often true of Internet etiquette too. I've noticed that some teachers have taken to SHOUTING online, and I'm guessing that they don't even know that they're doing it.

Whether you're using email, posting on a message board, or grading in VLA, using all capital letters is the same as SHOUTING. See how the word SHOUTING kind of jumps off the screen at you?

Now, sometimes you want to shout....

GREAT job, Johnny!

Other times, you probably don't want to shout....

YOU NEED TO REDO THIS ONE, JOHNNY.

Please be mindful of how you're communicating when you're typing. Your students can't see your facial expressions or read your body language. So the text is all they have to go by. Make sure that you're not SHOUTING at your students.