Discussion Board policies

This document outlines the discussion board communication policies and guidelines for CSE 403.

Use Ed Discussion

We use Ed discussion board for all class-related communication, except for sensitive information pertaining to an individual educational record (which should be communicated via UW email). Ed was designed as a *replacement* for workplace emails -- expect information and class announcements from us to come through Ed. Since it's much easier to keep everything in one place, we encourage you to (1) communicate to each other through Ed, (2) reflect on what works well and what does not, and (3) refine your project-team communication policies as you go. We expect Ed to be used responsibly for class material only. We expect you to follow the UW Student Conduct Code in your interactions with your colleagues and staff in this course by respecting the many social and cultural differences among us. If any incident occurs that challenges this commitment to a supportive and inclusive environment, please let the CSE 403 professor know so the issue can be addressed.

Use categories (aka channels)

Discussions belong in the appropriate category (aka channel). This makes finding information you need easier and more predictable, and keeps conversations from getting overwhelming. We may delete off-topic messages. Here is a summary of the default categories for CSE 403:

• Announcements: Announcements from the CSE 403 staff.
• Lectures: Q&A for lectures (e.g., clarification questions about slides, livedemos, etc.).
• Assignments: Q&A for assignments (e.g., clarification questions about what's being asked, etc.).
• General: All other discussions and Q&A. We'll try limiting our categories a few to start.

Use threads

Always try to reply to a post in that post's thread. This keeps categories from getting swamped with messages, and is yet another way to make finding relevant information easier and more predictable. This rule is more important the larger the category, and consequently relaxes as you get into smaller category (for example it's not as necessary in your team-specific category(s)).

Know your notifications settings

Make sure your notification settings are what you think they are, and they make sense for how often you check Ed. (By default you won't receive notifications unless something mentions (@s) you directly.)

Tips

Mentioning

If you `@` someone, this will generally override their notification settings and notify them.

Reactions

It's good practice to phrase questions in a way that can be answered by reaction, and to react to messages liberally.

Custom Reactions

You can upload images to make custom reactions, and it's usually pretty fun to do that.