Eric Butow - Digital Etiquette For Dummies

If you expect your students to submit attachments with those messages, provide specific instructions such as the type of format for documents. Common formats include Microsoft Word and Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF).

Make sure the formats are as pain-free to create as possible. Most students can create files in Word or Google Docs, but creating a PDF file can be tricky for some. For certain classes, like math, you may want to have students take photos of written pages with their phones and upload them.

Even if you’re not a teacher, you may have contact with kids who need advice and guidance about how to communicate online. You may have kids of your own like Kelly. You may have nieces and nephews like Kendra. Or you may have a more curious situation, like Eric, where you sometimes have older daycare kids who are being kept home for safety reasons but need to connect online to keep up their studies.

The COVID-19 pandemic made schooling online a must, and kids of any age may be overwhelmed about how to take classes online. That’s especially true of younger kids, and so, as the adult, you have to be flexible and answer kids’ questions.

Before your kids start logging in, you need to make sure that they have the right equipment beyond a computer or tablet. Kids may need headphones with a microphone included so that people can help them, but if you have a modern iPad or laptop, this may not be an issue.

You may also need to have a separate account on the computer or iPad only for school so that your kids don’t find any apps or other distractions when they get bored. Just remember that you have to devise some methods for changing and keeping the passwords on your child’s main account that unlocks access to all the goodies.

Don’t forget the basics that you would include in an in-person classroom setting, including paper, pens, and/or pencils for taking notes or for drawing things the teacher wants students to make and show others on their webcam. Check for anything else you need in the teacher’s syllabus, or ask the teacher for a list of what your child needs.

You should also make sure the computer’s Internet connection is strong. That means either a good Wi-Fi connection or an Ethernet cable. If you aren’t sure about the connection, try using it to call someone else (like a relative) outside your house if you can, and see whether you find any glitches you can fix. For example, if your Wi-Fi connection keeps dropping off, connect an Ethernet cable from your computer to the modem.

Speaking of your microphone, apps also have settings to test the speaker level and the video to see how you look and sound. For example, you may need to increase the volume and change the height of the monitor so that your child can see and hear correctly.

Testing is also a great way for your child to understand how they should look on the screen and what they should do, such as look directly into the camera when they’re speaking as well as try different tasks like muting the microphone for a cough.

You may want to talk with your child’s teacher about holding a practice class before the real class starts. That will not only get your kid(s) comfortable with using online tools but also work out any bugs and glitches so that the first day of online class is smooth (well, smoother) for everyone.

Throughout this chapter, we talk about rules for specific audiences, and we touch on some common rules. Now it’s time to focus on those common rules that cover everyone in online communication, in case you haven’t read these already or you just need a cool refresher.

When you write email or text messages, no one cares what you’re wearing when you write it. But when you have a video meeting, everyone appreciates it when you dress for the occasion.

In business, your boss may dictate what people need to wear in meetings. That may be business casual, or it may be a suit-and-tie if you’re meeting with a hot lead that you’re trying to convert into a customer.

“But,” you say, “I can wear a nice shirt or a suit and tie on top and my shorts or sweatpants underneath — and shoes are optional. Right?”

Consider what people in your meeting will think if you have to get up to go to the bathroom or get something to drink and you forget to turn off your camera, so they see your teddy bear jammies. Or suppose that your child is wearing something on top and absolutely nothing on the bottom because it’s just too hot where you are?

Care to wager some quatloos about how long it’ll be before you get yelled at? (You can also wager New Republic credits if you prefer Star Wars over Star Trek .)

So, wear a full outfit. That means real pants and real shoes. You’ll not only avoid embarrassment — you’ll feel more engaged and, dare we say, almost like you’re there in person.

When you’re at home with kids and you don’t have your own, private cave, it’s frustrating to work and hold meetings when you hear a bunch of noise in the next room. Or you may hear a barking dog outside. And even if you try to get out of the house, your favorite coffee shop may have music blaring and people talking loudly.

Popular meeting apps — including Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom — have risen to the challenge by adding noise cancellation features. But those may not be enough, so consider these additional strategies for cutting down on noise:

Buy a good pair of headphones and a microphone. Then you can block out more outside noise.

Use an internal room, if you can find one. If you’re close to a window, you’re close to your neighbor’s kid who likes to play basketball for hours on end. But don’t have a meeting close to a popular location where people walk. (If you guessed the bathroom, pass Go and collect your $200 in play money.)

Ask your spouse for help. If your spouse is at home with you, have them do you a solid and take the kids and the pets for a walk. (We suspect that you’ll have to return the favor in some way.)

Ask your kids for help. Talk to them ahead of time about what you’ll be doing. Bribes may be necessary.

Keep your pets happy. Put the pets outside with some of their favorite treats and play toys to keep them occupied.

If all else fails, consider renting a business suite in your area so that you can get out of the house. Review the suite so that you’re satisfied you’ll be able to get out of the house with your laptop and “attend” a meeting in a quiet environment.

You can easily enough search for headphones and microphones for online meetings in a web search, but you can also quite easy become overwhelmed. We found a What Hi-Fi article with a list of the best microphones and headphones for 2022, which is the year this book was published, and we think it’s a good place to start. You can find the site at www.whathifi.com/us/best-buys/best-headphones-with-a-mic-for-voice-and-video-calls , as shown in Figure 3-1.