Misbehavior Online in Higher Education: Cutting-Edge Technologies in Higher Education ed. by Laura A. Wankel and Charles Wankel (review)

As more of the college experience takes place online, it is imperative that faculty, students and administrators take time to understand the opportunities and challenges for learning and communicating through different online media. Misbehavior Online in Higher Education: Cutting-Edge Technologies in Higher Education is a timely and relevant book focusing on three key topics: cyberbullying, social media, and academic integrity.

The most discussed form of misbehavior online was cyberbullying, the negative behavior intended to harm others through an imbalance of power that has taken place online. "Cyberbullying is not a new issue on campus, yet practitioners are just now becoming aware of the devastating impact it can have on campus" (p. 235).

Victims find it difficult to get away from the attacks, especially since the audience is larger than in a face-to-face confrontation with a bully and since the posted messages can continue to circulate (p. 109). Unintentional cyberbullying can occur due to misinterpretation and miscommunication (p. 295) as a result of a lack of nonverbal cues. Technology can intensify the impact because of the potential anonymity of the bully and the absence of consequences (p. 138).

Cyberbullying and incivility also occur in the online classrooms. It is here that faculty and administrators can be more proactive in establishing clear guidelines and expectations in the syllabus and through discussions with students. Cyberbullying in the classroom raises "issues of student conduct, safety (both in the learning environment and in cyberspace), privacy, [and] the institution's responsibility to monitor and to intervene" (p. 166).

To minimize the chance for cyberbullying, faculty should provide ongoing and quality feedback throughout the class. In an online class, Joanne C. Jones and Sandra Scott recommended that faculty should establish a balance between giving student teams the chance to work through their differences, as part of the learning process and preventing conflicts from escalating to the level of cyberbullying (p. 170).

The range of student misbehaviors against faculty can go from rudeness to aggression that threatens the faculty's well-being (p. 381). When cyberbullying occurs, it may become difficult for faculty to overcome the perception that they are unable to manage classroom issues and seek help.

Institutions must also consider policies, procedures, and best practices for addressing online misbehaviors involving students, faculty, and administrators, even if the inappropriate behavior doesn't happen on campus. Multiple chapters, and especially Chapter 10, outline what faculty and administrators can do to prevent, prepare for, and handle cyberbullying situations. Both proactive and reactive strategies are required.

Policies found in the Student Code of Conduct, Information Technology Usage, and other related documents should be updated to include how to address cyberbullying and other online misbehaviors, rather than creating new and separate policies. "If you have an appropriate policy dealing with in-person harassment, for example, it should cover cyberharassment as well" (p. 193).

Legal issues surrounding university policies relating to privacy and free speech must be included in these plans. The goals of institutional training programs should be "to increase awareness of cyberbullying, judicial actions against the perpetrators, and support activities for targets" (pp. 224-225).

The second area of misbehavior is with social media (especially Facebook), which have become an integral part of the higher education experience. Such media are used "to support communications within and between institutions and their students as well as a mechanism for teaching and learning" (p. 53). Debra Bateman and Julie Willems argue that faculty need to be conscientious about academic integrity issues and their interaction with students (p. 57).

Institutions cannot ignore that most of the online misbehavior happens outside their control, including in a forum like Facebook which "exposes academics and students, and the work that they undertake to a risky, volatile, and ever changing virtual space, with unknown and often unseen audiences" (p. 72).

Another area of...