Are emoticons and acronyms appropriate for students to use with their teacher in an academic setting?

I feel like the use of acronyms in academic settings should depend on the type of acronym and the mode of communication. In a discussion forum or group communication area, for example, I see no reason not to use P.E. for physical education or A.C.U. for army combat uniform, but these seem to be widely accepted acronyms, and would hopefully apply to the topic at hand. My problem with acronyms in academia occurs when the text lacks the basic sentence and grammatical structure appropriate for college preparation. For example: YRU L8 (Why are you late?) looks like a license plate number to someone who didn't have insight into what they were reading. Additionally, my first example acronyms (PE and ACU) are not a sentence unto themselves but would likely be part of a sentence. I also feel like SMS style acronyms encourage mindless conversation. IDK. What don't you know? Encouraging appropriate sentence structure and grammar encourages the writer to craft a meaningful sentence. As for emoticons, if I were teaching an online course I would limit the number permitted in each post to 2 or 3. I would allow them because I'd likely be teaching younger students (I'm K-3) who have trouble communicating their emotions. At the same time, giving them free reign over emoticon posting will probably have results similar to the mindless "conversation" I referenced earlier. They're just a little too fun and a little too tempting for the K-3 (K-12...K-adult??) age group. Will you allow invented spellings, or will you expect students to always use correct grammar and punctuation whenever they are communicating in an academic environment? I expect students to attempt correct punctuation, grammar, and spelling. We are supposed to be preparing them for college and the professional world. I feel it is important to show students that we have high expectations of them. However, I would not plan to take points away for incorrect punctuation, grammar, and spelling and instead, use instances as teaching moments, unless the course was oriented towards learning those items. Should the expectations be different for discussion boards, email or chat? In what ways can they differ and to what extent? I feel that it is important to lay the groundwork for what is and will be acceptable in discussion boards, email, and chat. My opinion is that discussion boards lean towards being the place where more formal discussion takes place and might be the area instructors emphasize spelling, grammar, punctuation, spelling out words, and rules about emoticons. I lean in that direction because the information posted can usually be seen by all participants and, sometimes, non-participants as well. This is also the area that is likely easiest for the instructor to grade. Boards and forums can be a reflection of the poster and the community. The rules apply to mass emails and group chat, in my opinion, because having high expectations benefits the group and helps with group comprehension of the subject. Individual email and chat, in my mind, tend to be more informal and contain less structure and restraint. They are also a quick means to communicate asynchronously. Despite my opinions on this matter, a lot of the requirements and flexibility will depend on the purpose and goals of each discussion, email, and chat, and an instructor might give more or less flexibility depending on the situation.