Words Talk: Designing an Online Communication Course to Span Cultural Divides

BCIT instructor Kathy Vance has used her experience in designing and teaching an online course in business communication as the basis for a paper that was recently published in the proceedings of the 9th Association for Business Communication European Convention.

In the paper she discusses the features of her online course and the theory and rationale behind the design. The features described are: Start with a smile, Start with a story, Short talks, Activities, E-Portfolios, and Eluminate Live! sessions.

Immediacy behaviours such as “Start with a smile” are prevalent throughout the course. Immediacy behaviours are the nonverbal and verbal behaviours such as smiling and telling funny stories that enable people to feel socially closer to each other. Teacher immediacy behaviours have been shown to increase student learning and satisfaction. The immediacy behaviours of the illustrated stories (“Start with a story”) are designed to bridge the distance between the students and the subject matter of business communication.

The Short talks are based on workplace crew talks, 5 to 15-minute talks at a job site used to increase awareness and demonstrate leadership and concern. The Short talks allow the teacher to model the kind of reading and talking that is suitable for the students’ future workplaces.

The purpose of the Activities is to ensure that students integrate their learning about business communication with their practice. In the Activities students are asked to produce a piece of communication in response to a case-study scenario or to scenarios they themselves create based on situations in their own workplaces.

E-Portfolios are used to encourage student self-reflection and feedback and to encourage students to integrate learning. Eluminate Live! sessions are used for the teacher to review course material and for the students to deliver oral presentations.

Usluata, Ayseli, Ed. Communication: Spanning Cultures, Change and Challenges. Preface by James Archibald. ISTANBUL: Yeditepe University Publications, 2008. (1) ISBN: 978975307040-9 Publication number: 50.

Vance, Kathleen. “Words Talk: Designing an Online Communication Course to Span Cultural Divides”, pp 389-404.

For more information, contact Kathy Vance: Kathy_Vance@bcit.ca