From an early age we learn how to communicate with others and develop an understanding of etiquette and what constitutes polite behaviour and good manners when interacting in person. The term ‘netiquette’ refers to internet etiquette. Welsh and Wright (2010) use the term netiquette as the rules of etiquette in digital communication and DeJong (2013:115) describe netiquette as "a term used for professional and polite practices online". Students will use multiple ways to communicate with their friends and family in a social context; with peers and tutors throughout their learning and assessment experience; and with potential employers when seeking placements and graduate job opportunities. Communication may be in person or online, be formal or informal. Furthermore the modes of communication used will be multimodal integrating visual, audio, gestural and spatial patterns of meaning (Cope and Kalantzis, 2009). The New London Group (1996:63) coined the term multiliteracies to describe “the multiplicity of communications channels and media, and the increasing saliency of cultural and linguistic diversity”. There are expectations that students entering university will all have a command of these multiliteracies and the expected rules of netiquette. Moreover they may be judged and assessed on their interactions both in person and online. A significant question is where are they taught these skills and how do we know the students have developed them? This poster considers a range of literacies required as networked individuals (Rainie and Wellman, 2012), and the need to provide students with guidance on professional social skills and multi literacy support. Drawing upon Miller’s (2015) multi literacies framework for university learning, suggestions for formative activities are given. These focus on six domains of literacy: institutional literacies, digital literacies, social and cultural literacies, critical literacies, language literacies, and academic literacies.

1. The complex web of social interaction:
expanding virtual and spatial multiliteracies
and a need to revisit netiquette guidance
Institutional literacies: reading and
navigating the university system
Sue Beckingham NTF @suebecks
International Assessment in HE Conference 2022
References
Cope, B. and Kalantzis, M. (2009) “Multiliteracies”: New Literacies, New Learning. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 4(3), pp. 164-195.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15544800903076044
DeJong, S. M. (2013) Blogs and Tweets, Texting and Friending: Social Media and Online Professionalism in Health Care. London: Elsevier.
Miller, A. (2015) On paper, in person, and online: A multi-literacies framework for university teaching. Journal of Academic Language & Learning, 9(2), pp. 19-31.
https://journal.aall.org.au/index.php/jall/article/view/359
Rainie, L. and Wellman, B. (2012) Networked: The New Social Operating System. London: MIT Press.
The New London Group (1996) A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), pp. 60-93.
https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.66.1.17370n67v22j160u
Welsh, T. S. and Wright, M. (2010) Information Literacy in the Digital Age: An Evidence-Based Approach. Oxford: Chandos Publishing.
Digital literacies: understanding
and using multimedia
technologies
Critical literacies: decoding and
manipulating texts, discourses,
genres and practices
Language literacies: understanding
the mechanics of reading, writing,
listening, and speaking
Academic literacies: producing
academic texts and adhering to
academic conventions
Social and cultural literacies:
reading and relating to people and
culture
The New London Group (1996:63)
coined the term multiliteracies to
describe “the multiplicity of
communications channels and
media, and the increasing saliency
of cultural and linguistic diversity”.
The modes of communication
now used are multimodal
integrating visual, audio, gestural
and spatial patterns of meaning
(Cope and Kalantzis, 2009).
New literacies are required for
networked individuals: graphic
literacy, navigation literacy, context
and connections literacy,
multitasking literacy, ethical literacy
= networking literacy
(Rainie and Wellman, 2012)
Netiquette was introduced for email but should be considered for all modes
of online communication including online lectures and the chat function.
Welsh and Wright (2010) use the term netiquette as the rules of etiquette in
digital communication and DeJong (2013:115) describe netiquette as "a
term used for professional and polite practices online".
We need to ask where are
these skills taught and how
do we know our students
have developed them?
Building on Miller's (2015) multi-literacies framework for university teaching which considers institutional, digtial, social
and cultural, critical, language, and academic literacies, six recommendations are made to support the development of our
students online literacy and online ettiquette:
Create activities to locate and discuss
communication policy and guidance
Demonstrate how different technology
can be used to communicate and
collaborate professionally
Talk about the importance of listening to
different perspectives, respecting others,
and the implications of being
misunderstood online
Discuss the value of getting different
perpectives, but also questioning
information and sources
Learning how to acknowledge other's work
(written, visual, spoken or multimodal)
through citing and referencing
Ongoing practice to use the right
conventions and protocols both in
person and online, spoken or written
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