Communication Skills The Importance For Instructors To Have Excellent Communication Skills By: Mohamed Zaki Duration: ~15 minutes

“What I hear, I forget; what I see, I remember; what I do, I know”. The above saying indicates the need for communication skills in teaching. This is what we will see in the following slides..

Objective By the end of this session you will be able to: Recognize the importance of communication skills for instructors

Outline Theory and definitions The link between teaching and comm. skills Communication skills and techniques Examples Conclusion Reference Q & A

Theory and Definitions According to dictionaries, the term “Communication Skills” is defined as : “The science and practice of transmitting information” Teacher are constantly conveying new knowledge, or transmitting information How do we know that the information transfer was correct? How do we know it was well received ? I would know it was effective communication when I reach my target  and my target is to be understood How do we know it was Effective Communication?

The Link between Teaching and Comm. Skills Effective Communication is simply about being understood! The communication process achieved the desired results within allowed time So we can say: Teaching is knowledge + Comm. Skills Some students they express understating but they do not . The solution is getting regular feedback in various ways that is called two-way comm. or interactive. In-depth knowledge and communications skills Some specialists suggest they are 50/50

The Link between Teaching and Comm. Skills So, teaching is not only about knowledge The ability to eloquently break a challenging concept down into a few and simple parts is a critical skill.  Excellent communication skills will help instructors to transmit knowledge, values and skills at the same time and motivate students So, teachers need to be highly skilled in communication to excel in their profession Required for  “Lesson Plan & Course Design”  “Generation Shaping”

Communications Skills and Techniques It starts when preparing the session (Lecture Plan) to make sure the sequence is logic, time is suitable and so on. Positive attitude  Leave all negative emotions out Motivate students  Create interests and remove fear Sense of humour Jokes , funny stories Clear voice and simple language Ways of talking (word stress , pauses etc) Body language Facial expression, gestures and movement Get regular feedback Eye contact , Asking students , Listen to opinion, Redirect questions , make dialogue not monologue / two-way comm. Whatever we do to effectively transmit knowledge and achieve understating is an effective comm. skills The above are some points but not all

Communications Skills and Techniques Thought Provocation Use drawing, pictures, animations and videos Use simulation as much as you can Use real life examples Team forming Read while writing on white board Use breaks to refresh the students (Question) Learn the students names quickly and depict their learning style and preference. Make summary at the end of session The use of eLearning and other technology (Question) Minimize the barriers to communication. Other ways to improve :  Have an experienced colleague to attend and give comments Attend class to other colleagues Record the session and then critically analyze Use checklist (such as) Use handouts : some can use checklist for handouts (such as) Whatever we do to effectively transmit knowledge and achieve understating is an effective comm. skills The above are some points but not all

Example : Explaining the Token Ring LAN protocol Method #1: using simple drawing and text (not very useful) The data transmission process goes as follows: Empty information frames are continuously circulated on the ring. When a computer has a message to send, it grabs the token. The computer will then be able to send the frame. The frame is then examined by each successive computer . The computer that identifies itself to be the destination for the message copies it from the frame and acknowledge . When the frame gets back to the originator, it sees that the token has been acknowledged and that the message has been copied and received. It removes the message from the frame. The frame continues to circulate as an "empty" frame, ready to be taken by a computer when it has a message to send Picture Credit : http://www.datacottage.com/

Example : Explaining the Token Ring LAN protocol Method #2: using animation and group activity (very useful) The data transmission process goes as follows: 1- Use animation as below while explaining 2- Make class activity by forming a group 4-6 students to simulate the process using white card and pencils. Sender Receiver Acknowledgement ? 1 4 Hello, I am going to ..... Message Picture Credit : http://www.datacottage.com/

Conclusion 1 2 3 “What I hear, I forget; what I see, I remember; what I do, I know”. 1 Not very useful 2 Pictures Graphs Video gesture Expression Useful 3 Doing Simulation Activity Excellent

References teaching.uncc.edu/academic-technologies elearningindustry.com/4-reasons-social-and-collaborative-learning www.datacottage.com/ www.cartoonnetwork.com/ www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ work.chron.com/important-teachers-good-communication-skills-10512.html

Questions & Answers Thank You

Question: Constriction Time How long the students can stay concentrating with you ? Back

Question: eLearning Does eLearning tools and other online technology increase communication effectiveness ? Back

Checklist Examples Back