The impact of netiquette on online group work: a study of UK Open University students

This paper argues that the introduction of netiquette principles at the beginning of a wholly online course, followed by assessment of the application of the principles, influences the long term behaviour within task based group work. The research used a mixed qualitative methodological approach; three case studies, virtual ethnography and constructed grounded theory to develop the emergent themes of the study. The findings are based on rigorous analysis of online conference transcripts, continuous assessment and end of course assessment, together with post course interviews. The paper will examine the emergent findings observed during a series of online task based group activities.