5.2 Communication theory

 

When I mention communication skills, I want to emphasize interpersonal communication skills. I find the knowledge of interpersonal communication can provide unexpected insights in understanding our field. Group collaboration is becoming a more important component in learning, so the knowledge of interpersonal communication and group dynamics might enlighten our practices from a perspective that we might not get from learning theories. Often it might be ineffective communication between group members that obstructs effective group learning. Moreover, as DBR emphases the collaboration between participants, effective communication is an important factor ensuring the success of DBR.

 

Our field was built on communication theory, and there has been a vast body of research in the field of communication, but have we informed our practice by the development of communication theory literature? I cannot know the answer without doing further research. I am thinking about the possibility of integrating continuously developed communication literature into message design, so that learners might collaborate better due to the structure of the learning material and activities. This is only my intuitive feeling and conjecture.

 

I would recommend that instructional designers take a course such as “Interpersonal Communication”, or choose an excellent University textbook on this topic to read. As I know, there is such a course in the department of Applied Human Science at Concordia University.