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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY ASSIGNMENT. PAUL KAREKO NDUNG’U.2011/CS/23092.1E Instructional communication is the study of communication in the classroom. Sprague (1992) defines instructional communication as “the investigation of the role of communication in the teaching of all subjects at all levels,” (p.1). This entails teacher characteristics (e.g., clarity and immediacy), student characteristics (e.g., learning styles), instructional methods, the pedagogy of communication in general, and student-teacher relationships. It is an applied context because it may be studied from an interpersonal communication perspective or a mass communication perspective. Five elements of communication according to the Shannon Weaver Model are:- 1.Channel It is essential for meaningful communication that a suitable means to transmit the message be selected. The channel is the route that the message travels on, be it verbal, written, electronic, or otherwise. 2. Source The source of communication is the initiator, or origin, that puts the model into action. It is an individual or group that has a specific reason to begin the communication process. That is, there is a message that they wish another to receive. 3. Encoder Once the purpose of the source has been decided, there must be a specified format for the message to take. This is what the communication encoder does; it takes the concept that the source wants sent out, and puts it into a suitable format for later interpretation. 4. Message The information, idea, or concept that is being communicated from one end of the model to the other is the message. Most of the time, in human communication, the message contains a distinct meaning. When the model was created, Shannon and Weaver were not concerned whether the message had substance, but rather that it was being transmitted. 5. Noise It is inevitable that noise may come into play during the communication process. Noise could be considered an interference or distortion that changes the initial message; anything that can misconstrue the message may be noise. Noise can be physical, as in an actual sound that muffles the message as it is being said, or it can be semantic, like if the vocabulary used within the message is beyond the knowledge spectrum of its recipient. In order for communication to be effective, noise must be reduced. Six essential components of the General Model of Instructional Communication. 1.Instructional Environment No two instructional environments are exactly alike. The environment includes such elements as the nature of the institution hosting the instruction, the nature of the classroom, the culture of the institution (and the surrounding population), the level of instruction (elementary through graduate school), the physical and social climate in which the institution exists, transitory factors (e.g., political environment, presence of athletic programs, size of class), and many other elements not noted here. Since most of these environmental factors are beyond the control of the teacher or the students, most of the variance created by the environment will function as error variance in the testing of instructional communication theories. The current research accepted as error variance all elements of the environment 2. Students Students introduce many aspects of variance into the instructional system. Students vary greatly in terms of intelligence, prior learning, personality, and temperament. In most classrooms, students also vary widely in terms of gender, culture, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic status, etc. All of these elements impact the way students perceive teachers and teachers' communication behaviors. As was the case with the environment, this research accepted as error variance all variance attributable to individual students. 3. Teachers The teacher introduces many aspects of variance into the instructional system. The teacher's level of intelligence, content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, communication competence, and experience are important. So are the teacher's education, personality, and temperament. All of these elements influence the teacher's choices of verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors in instruction. 4.Teachers' Verbal and Nonverbal Behaviors No teacher communicates in exactly the same way as any other teacher. Teacher communication behaviors introduce considerable variance' into the instructional process. What teachers say and what they do nonverbally constitutes a continuous stream of messages which impact the meanings which are stimulated in students' minds. Typically, individual teachers tend to have consistent communication behavior patterns which are observable by students. 5. Student Perceptions of the Teacher Sometimes students have perceptions of the teacher even before they take a given class with that teacher. This may be a function of having taken a class with them before, having met the teacher before, or they may have received information about the teacher from someone else. If the teacher is totally unknown, however, students will begin to develop perceptions of the teacher as soon as they begin to be exposed to her/him. These perceptions may be weak and stereotypical at first, but they become stronger as exposure continues. These perceptions will be generated primarily on the basis of the teacher's verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors-what the teacher says and how he/ she says it. 6. Instructional Outcomes The primary outcomes of instructional communication are concerned with learning: cognitive, affective, and in classes where appropriate, psychomotor. A secondary outcome of interest to teachers (and sometimes to those who evaluate teachers) is student evaluations of the teacher. Many other outcomes can also occur, but they usually are incidental and not of central concern to the instructional communication process. sources of information that is communicated to the learners. 1. From text book 2. from the internet 3. from personal experience 4.from religious books. JUSTIFICATIONS A teacher will only use a book written and approve by the curriculum developers to be used at a particular level of education. Internet also have proved to be a reliable source of teaching / learning materials . A teacher can also call an expert who is experienced and qualified in a particular field of study to teach /lecture the students. Some subjects such as C.R.E.,a teacher will rely on a holy book for references. role play by educational technology in instructional communication 1. It increases efficiency or effectiveness of education and contents of education. 2. Technology provides us with powerful tools to try out different designs, so that instead of theories of education, we may begin to develop a science of education. 3.To enhance the teaching and learning process 4. Gives us a new perspective on the nature of teaching and learning and indeed on general educational objectives. 5. Educational technology aims to improve education. The barriers to instructional communication. Lack of Common Experience Lack of common experience between instructor and student is probably the greatest single barrier to effective communication. Many people seem to believe that words transport meanings from speaker to listener in the same way that a truck carries bricks from one location to another. Words, however, rarely carry precisely the same meaning from the mind of the instructor to the mind of the student. In fact, words, in themselves, do not transfer meanings at all. Whether spoken or written, they are merely stimuli used to arouse a response in the student. The student's past experience with the words and the things to which they refer determines how the student responds to what the instructor says. A communicator's words cannot communicate the desired meaning to another person unless the listener or reader has had some experience with the objects or concepts to which these words refer. Since it is the students' experience that forms vocabulary, it is also essential that instructors speak the same language as the students. If the instructor's terminology is necessary to convey the idea, some time needs to be spent making certain the students understand that terminology. E.g. tree while others write three. Confusion Between the Symbol and the Symbolized Object Languages abound with words that mean different things to different people. Confusion between the symbol and the symbolized object results when a word is confused with what it is meant to represent. Although it is obvious that words and the connotations they carry can be different, people sometimes fail to make the distinction. An aviation maintenance technician (AMT) might be introduced as a mechanic. To many people, the term mechanic conjures up images of a person laboring over an automobile. Being referred to as an aircraft mechanic might be an improvement in some people's minds, but neither really portrays the training and skill of the trained AMT. Words and symbols do not always represent the same thing to every person. To communicate effectively, speakers and writers should be aware of these differences. Words and symbols can then be carefully chosen to represent exactly what the speaker or writer intends. Cont’ Overuse of Abstractions Abstractions are words that are general rather than specific. Concrete words or terms refer to objects that people can relate directly to their experiences. They specify an idea that can be perceived or a thing that can be visualized. Abstract words, on the other hand, stand for ideas that cannot be directly experienced, things that do not call forth mental images in the minds of the students. The word aircraft is an abstract word. It does not call to mind a specific aircraft in the imaginations of various students. One student may visualize an airplane, another student might visualize a helicopter, and still another student might visualize an airship. Although the word airplane is more specific. Interference Barriers to effective communication are usually under the direct control of the instructor. However, interference is made up of factors that are outside the direct control of the instructor: physiological, environmental, and psychological interference. To communicate effectively, the instructor should consider the effects of these factors. Psychological interference is any biological problem that may inhibit symbol reception, such as hearing loss, injury or physical illness. These, and other physiological factors, can inhibit communication because the student is not comfortable.