Research Podcast

For my podcast I chose one titled Podcast 11: About Communicating in an Online Corona World by the group LittleBig & Partners English Backstage Sessions. Within the 48 minutes of discussion, the hosts mostly talked about the appropriate way to communicate in online meetings such as Zoom. However, they brought up some interesting and familiar topics regarding nonverbal cues and the importance of expression within online communication.

In the podcast, the hosts highlighted the struggle of communicating online as instructors and professors. Due to students often muting their microphones and turning off their cameras on Zoom, they lose important nonverbal cues, such as facial expression, that typically gage the level of understanding amongst their students. According to our class textbook, Communicating Online, this would define the online learning platforms as a channel-lean context, meaning this form of communicating can lead to more misunderstandings (Communicating Online 16). This is plausible as in this situation, teachers may misunderstand how well their students are grasping content from the class. Misunderstandings as such can lead to students having bad grades or giving poor reviews of the professor.

On the flip side, when students turn their microphones and cameras on, the hosts of the podcasts stated that it gives them even more insight to how the student is interpreting class content. Zoom shows a closer and more personal image of the student's face and life. Not only can their facial cues be read, but depending on where they are zooming in from, the professor has a better view of what alternative outside factors can be influencing students' performance in class. For example, if the professor sees that the student in a severely messy room or hears yelling in the background of the audio, they may infer that the student is depressed or having a rough time at home. This may explain things such as a poor grade or lack of participation. This transforms this form of online learning into a channel-rich context as there are multiple channels of communication at once (Communicating Online 16).

In conclusion, the podcast About Communicating in an Online Corona World accurately depicts the barriers a teacher might face through online learning. At the end of the day, the efficiency of communication depended on the willingness of the learner. Personally, after listening to this podcast, it was very clear to me why some instructors or professors require students to turn on their cameras in Zoom meetings. It simply allows them to teach to the needs of students, which in return benefits our education.

Sources

. (2020, April 30). About communicating in an online corona world (No. 11) [Audio podcast episode]. In Backstage Sessions. LittleBig & Partners English Backstage Sessions. https://podbay.fm/p/littlebig-and-partners-english-backstage-sessions/e/1588271748

. Communicating Online. McGraw-Hill Companies. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/reader/books/9781307755855/pageid/16