Assessment and Civility

Abstract

Civility in computer-mediated communication, especially in the computer-mediated classroom, has been a topic of numerous inquiries. For this reason, teaching of the means and reasons for civil computer-mediated communication has become increasingly necessary. To accomplish this, the chapter will explore past research which indicates major sources of incivility that have emerged in computer-mediated culture. The chapter will then argue that civil discourse is also the most effective and useful form of discourse and show that needs to be communicated to students. This chapter then offers concrete means of teaching civility in computer-mediated communication by teaching civility as tied to the rhetorical concept of ethos already taught in the Public Speaking class.