Communication problems - accepting responsibility
I good friend of mine told me that when something is miscommunicated, the problem mainly resides with the sender and not the communicator. If we accept this presence then the first step in becoming a better instructor is to accept the responsibility that we may not be doing a good job of getting something accross. Once we acknowledge that important fact/tenet then we can work on other skill sets. One involves empathy, patiences and understanding. Another is we need to become better listeners.
I agree that we must realize that a communication breakdown can occur at any stage. The best method for avoidance is to make multiple communication avenues. I use email, announcements and live chats within my online classroom. This way I feel that I am covering many different bases and can hit all of my students with the various methods.
I think that I would have to agree. Communication breakdown does occur often at any stage of the communication process. As a result, I always try to inform my students that communication especially in an online learning environment has to be two-way. Two-way communication is vital to the success of the teacher / student relationship. Two-way communication comes with many benefits, that include but are not limited to accountability of the teacher and student, appreciation for learning environment, trust and motivation.
Communication breakdown may occur at any stage in the communication process and can reside with the sender or receiver. I do feel that although we communicate every day of our lives, we can continually improve our communication effectiveness. Communication serves as a tool to share knowledge and it is critical to the learning process. Listening is indeed one of the most important components to the communication process. Another important component is to ask for clarification from the receiver. We should not assume that our message was understood or correctively interpreted.
