Virtual Communication: Advantages, Challenges, Best Practices, and Tools

The following is my discussion board submission for my class this week.  I found the topic and the research interesting, so I thought I'd share!

The assignment posed 3 questions to be answered.  

Thanks!

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1.  What are the advantages and disadvantages of virtual communication?

I think it is safe to say that most of us communicate digitally as we live in a world where social networking seems to be making a larger and larger footprint in our lives.  Do you know anyone who does not own a smartphone?  While communicating virtually has its advantages, there are also disadvantages to virtual communication.  Some of the disadvantages include the following:

• The absence of non-verbal cues
• The inability for teachers to monitor, motivate, and assist students in real-time
• The inherent team collaboration that takes place in face-to-face settings, including mediation, motivation, and assistance (Yamat, 2013)

The above list includes some of the obvious boundaries and challenges that most of us who work or take classes remotely have faced.  Even in communicating with our friends and families, we can often misread messages in text, as they lack the body language and vocal inflections that accompany face-to-face communications.  While the challenges do seem to be daunting, there are also advantages to virtual communication, and I would venture to say that as technology continues to improve, these boundaries and challenges will start to fall away.  Some of the advantages to virtual communication include the following:

• Students involved in virtual discussions are more thoughtful
• Anonymity makes them less inhibited and more confident
• Collaboration time can help build peer relationships
• Virtual communication transcends geographic barriers
• Students can refer back to and reflect on discussions
• Students tend to be more active and contribute more to virtual discussions (Yamat, 2013)

In addition to the list above, Jones and Green (2012) also point out that virtual collaboration can be impactful on anytime, anywhere learning.  Personally, I think that being able to use virtual communication to teach our students effective communication skills is essential.  We must prepare them to be successful digital citizens and give them the proper tools to function in a the global community, now and in the future.  On the same token, I think we need to help them develop the skills to have confident face-to-face interactions as well.  My son once commented to me, while he was a student advisor in college, that he was surprised at how many of his generation seemed to lack the ability to confidently communicate face-to-face.  While many may dispute his observation, I think it holds some validity given that he was commenting on his peers, and was in a position to observe students on a regular basis.

2.  What are best practices for communicating virtually?

Communicating virtually is common place in today’s world.  However, establishing norms, or best practices, is essential to ensuring success in the workplace and in learning institutions.  Some best practices include the following:

• Frequent communication
• Effecting meeting planning, including agendas and meeting structure
• The ability to communicate clearly
• Awareness (Walls, 2013)

While Walls’ article speaks directly to the telecommute workforce, it resonated with me.  I have been a remote worker for 5 years now and I have experienced some of the difficulties of communicating with a remote team based across the country.  I agree with her best practices of establishing frequent meetings, even if it is for 5 minutes just to touch base.  Virtual communication can make it difficult to build or form strong relationships, unless you are committed to establishing and maintaining frequent contact—especially via skype or video conferences. 

3.  What are some examples of tools that could be used and professional development that could be set up to collaborate online?

There are so many tools available to help break down the barriers of online communication.  Personally, I prefer video conferences—either via webex, Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom, etc.  These video conferences allow that face-to-face meeting where you can read body language, hear voice inflections, and get that ‘almost there’ experience.  Other ways to collaborate online include blogs, wikis, Google Groups, Google Hangouts, closed Facebook Groups, webinars (group or one-on-one) etc.  Professional development can be conducted synchronously through webinars or similar video conferencing.  Professional development can be conducted asynchronously through blogs, Google Group and Google Hangout discussions, wikis, and so forth.  I would daresay that there are several people—both in the education and corporate world—who receive their professional development opportunities online.  My previous company even used an LMS to provide PD modules and discussion boards.  This post has really made me reflect and I believe now more than ever that it really is not so much about the virtual communication tools, or even the best practices we put in place, but more about affecting cultural change—in an institution of learning or business. 

References

Jones, S. A., & Green, L. S. (2012). Transforming collaboration student learning--anytime, anywhere. Teacher Librarian,40(2), 26-31. Retrieved from https://www.ebscohost.com/

Walls, P. (2013, June 13, 2013). Best practices for virtual communication and meetings [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://blog.ecornell.com/best-practices-for-virtual-communication-and-meetings/

Yamat, H. (2013). Voicing on virtual and face to face discussion. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology,12(2), 372-375. Retrieved from https://www.ebscohost.com/

"Hit and Run" Professional Development

I've been forced to sit through these professional development sessions.  You know what I'm talking about, my fellow educators:  those PD experiences that are more closely related to what I call an 'information dump' without any real-world practical application, examples, hands-on collaboration, etc.  After such an experience, I would take my handouts (if any were provided), return to my classroom and the million and one and other things I have on my to-do list.  The handout would invariably get filed away in my PD folder and when I would try to re-call the learning experience...well, I think you get the picture.  This is not to say that I haven't had some amazing PD experiences in my career--I HAVE!  But I would love to say that all of these experiences were wonderful.

I also know what it's like to be on the other side of the fence.  Although I insisted that every PD I conducted be a hands on experience that fostered collaboration and creation, I am guilty of providing these 'information dump' professional development sessions as the K-12 Ed Tech industry usually bills PD per-day.  While I did my best to support my teachers post-PD (via phone calls, emails, one-on-one webinars, and training materials), I know that the best professional development experience--and successful integration and implementation of a particular technology product--requires ON-GOING support!

Until the K-12 Educational Technology industry realizes this and places the value on PD services and the direct correlation to future sales (especially cloud-based product subscription renewals), I think schools and districts will continue to struggle with adoption and user experience.

I also think that the approach to PD needs to shift from providing teachers with a punch list or menu of offerings to supporting teacher choice and helping them along a more personalized professional development path.

I know there are companies and districts out there getting it right.

But, I can only speak from my own experience, both as a teacher and as a service provider.

Personalised Learning Environments

Why all the Numbers??

So, we all should now know Web 1.0 refers to the traditional Internet. The excitement that we (us old timers) all felt in listening to our phone dial up and connect (if we didn't receive a busy signal) to cyber space--the wow factor that took us from our traditional forms of communication to a much more modern form. We could now retrieve information from the world wide web. And talk to friends and family across the globe! I started college during this interesting time, and literally immersed myself into all that was "Web 1.0."



Then a few years ago, I started hearing the term "Web 2.0." I, in my totally 80's, War Games thinking figured it was a NEW web--a whole new connection. So, I did the research and realized it was merely the term given to the growth of the web. In fact, a way to describe what the web has become--collaborative, sharing, communicating, writing, posting, focused on the individual, etc. It's funny how I never really thought that numbers would mark the distinct differences between the beginnings of the web, and its stages of evolution. Like all things, it will continue to evolve. Now the term Web 3.0 is being tossed around. Wait a second! I haven't even gotten used to Web 2.0 yet!



Sometimes I wish there was an emergency pull rope to slow this technology train down! But something tells me our younger generations are completely content to keep the train moving at top speed--in fact, they're at the wheel! All is as it should be, I suppose. And my thinking perhaps does no more than mark my age--argh, I've become my parents! :)



I guess my point is it's a good things numbers are infinite. If we keep up this numbering trend, Web 4.0 will be here before I even sink my teeth into Web 3.0! And it will just keep growing and growing and growing.....OK, you get the picture.

Generations of Technology

So, this is my first post. I'd like to say that when I first got started in this virtual world back in the early-90s, I never would have guessed this is where I'd end up! I'm 41, and I think I represent a generation of "techies" that either embraced or stepped away from computers and technology.

When I began my college career, it was a requirement that all students take a computer course--Windows 3.1! =) Over the years, I fought (sometimes not so successfully!) to keep up with the ridiculous pace of advancements, and when I began teaching I certainly wrapped my entire approach around technology.

Now, more than 16 years later, I am even more excited about technology in education. As I conduct workshops on SMARTBoards, Response systems, podcasting, web pages, wikis, and various educational software, I realize how easily educators can become overwhelmed and sometimes frustrated with the fast-pace of technology. This is why I think that on-going job-embedded support is a necessity in all schools. Teachers must be given the tools they need to engage their students--this is a given. However, teachers MUST also have the continuing support to integrate technology into their classrooms and curriculum.

I think sometimes teachers are constantly bombarded with "new" things before they even have a chance to learn the previous technological tool. So the question then becomes this: "How do school districts and educators find a balance?"

We all know the arguments: Our kids are functioning in a technology-driven world; we must embrace technology to engage and motivate them; etc, etc. As Educators, we've heard it all countless times. But how do we keep ourselves from falling into the "technology professional development over-load" trap?

So maybe my wondering mind wandered too much...