The process of communication in distance education includes an instructor, participants, content to be exchanged and communication channels and media. Communication in education has two basic content components: (1) information-cognitive component and (2) social-emotional component . A participant of instruction in both mentioned areas has certain informational needs, to receive and interpret both categories of information, react to them and send such information to others.
Taking into consideration the employed communication channels , messages that are exchanged between the participants of communication can be verbal (spoken and written words) and non-verbal (voice timbre, facial expressions, gestures, attitudes and movements, the distance between the collocutors, object and clothes the person has on, aesthetic characteristics of a message, behaviour etc). Furthermore, in every act of communication the sender reveals something about himself, talks about his relationship with his collocutor and tries to influence him in different ways.
Communication can be one-way and two-way. Publishing a book or some content on the web are examples of one-way communication. On the other hand, a conversation between two people, communication in a group or teaching in a class are examples of two-way communication , because the participants mutually send and receive verbal and non-verbal messages.
Communication channels match the types of sensory reception of messages (visual, auditive, tactile etc), types of messages (linguistic/verbal and non-verbal communication) and transfer media which can be natural (e.g. voice, facial expressions etc.) and technical (e.g. printed, electronic, computer).
Communication takes place by sending and receiving messages . The instructor sends information and receives them from the participants, where the participants are not only receivers, but also senders of information. Feedback shows how a certain message was received and interpreted by the receiver. Feedback is very important because it enables control over the process of message exchange and interaction between the participants.
The basic principle of communication in education is the adaptation of the message to the receiver by the sender . Related to the adaptation of the message to the receiver a term information filters is usually used. Filters can be:
- perceptive - conditioning which information a participant of instruction will receive through different sensory channels and how (e.g. related to attracting attention, readability of the content, aesthetics etc.);
- cognitive - determining to which extent the information presented by the instructor is understandable and clear to the participants;
- emotional - affecting what part of the information a participant will feel and experience related to the information they receive during an online course or instruction;
- association - related to the so-called free associations which can appear in participants’ minds related to certain information received during distance education (such as information about the participants’ interest, understanding of their needs etc.).
Apart from the information filters, communication is influenced by the so-called "noise” in the communication channel . It can appear when a message is being formed (e.g. incoherent, incomprehensible or ambiguous message), when it is being transferred (losing parts of the message, thwarting signals and information), as well as when it is received (not paying attention or information overload of the receiver, incomprehension or wrong interpretation of a message).
Terms authoritarian and democratic communication are very important in class communication, along with the term communication climate . Authoritarian communication typically consist of using the instructor’s superior position, power or influence to determine which content and how participants should learn, while the learning itself is controlled by questions and written evaluation, and by using punishment (and rarely rewards as well) to correct the participants’ behaviour. Democratic communication is characterized by respecting the privacy, interests and independence of the participants, the possibility of mutual influence, adaptation of the instructor to the needs and desires of the participants, equality of the participants and instructor, developing a democratic culture in relationships between the participants, encouraging the participants to express their opinion and offer suggestions, as well as to listen to and respect the other participants. Communication climate is the general atmosphere in which communication takes place during the educational process, and it can vary depending on the experience and manifested freedom of expression, openness and honesty, cordiality towards and accepting of the others, interpersonal relationships, the level of cooperation etc.
Tips & tricks: For effective instructional communication take into account that informational-cognitive and emotional-social components be properly represented in the content and methods. Messages should be adapted to the informational needs and cognitive capacities of the participants, and it is also important to be aware that social aspect of instruction (socializing, group work), as well as how a participant experiences it (self-respect, feeling of self-worthiness) are important factors of their motivation. In order to receive and interpret a message, both verbal and non-verbal components are important, as it is easier and more interesting for the participants to receive comprehensive messages (e.g. a video is usually a more interesting and richer way to transfer data about somebody’s speech than text or transcript of that same speech). All that an instructor does or doesn’t do during the interaction with the participants, enables the participants to also find out something about him, and many messages will be interpreted by the participants both as just messages and as the instructor’s relationship towards them. When communication is more frequent and rich, participants will see it paying as attention to and showing interest for them, and when it is rare/sporadic or there is not any communication, they will see the instructor as not interested and will feel neglected. In the case of technically mediated communication, you should opt for appropriate media. During online education it is desirable that the communication be as much two-way as possible, and to provide, ask for and receive feedback. Finally, when forming a message do not lose sight of the information filters, but do avoid and overcome any possible negative influence of the noise in the communication channel. A democratic communication as well as communication climate, having an encouraging and motivating effect, are desirable.
