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Archive for the 'COM 115' Category

Introduction to Human Communication

Improving Verbal Communication

Posted by Russ Ray on May 12, 2008

You might find this link to an online communication newsletter interesting. In particular, the graphic demonstrates the many things that can interfere with communication between the sender and receiver. For example:

  • Interest: what is the receiver’s interest in what the sender is communicating?
  • Competition: what other messages is the receiver hearing that the sender has to compete against for attention?
  • Cost/Consequences: what are the costs and consequences perceived by the receiver in focusing on a particular communication event to the neglect of other competing communications?
  • Willingness: what is the willingness of the receiver to listen at all?
  • Time: does the time it takes the sender to communicate interfere with the receiver’s needs/agenda?
  • Location: does the location make it uncomfortable or distracting for the receiver to understand what the sender is communicating?
  • Motivating Factors/Belief Systems/Sensitivity: is the sender sensitive to the receiver’s needs and attitudes?
  • Timing/Appropriateness: is the sender communicating at a time that is convenient for the receiver to hear it and is the message timing convenient to the receiver’s pre-existing plans?

There are other communications-related tidbits at the link as well, but these seemed most appropriate to the reading topics this week.

Posted in Associate's Program, COM 115, Communication | No Comments »

COM 115 - Workshop 1 Postscript

Posted by Russ Ray on May 9, 2008

Here are the PowerPoint slides from last night’s class:

 

In addition, I will be emailing you the rubrics for the team teaching presentation and the individual speeches over the weekend. Remember the team teaching presentation must be a minimum of 1 hour in length, and the speeches will be 3 to 5 minutes.

To give you an idea of how this coming week and the following week will go so you can prepare: we’ll start class off with the individual speeches. That will probably last about an hour-and-a-half. The team teaching will follow the speeches. After that will be a video and maybe a quick recap of some of the points of the reading.

Posted in Associate's Program, COM 115, Communication, Public Speaking | No Comments »

Some Things to Look at in the Meantime

Posted by Russ Ray on May 8, 2008

ASB 868, I have been woefully lax this week about providing content to your class, and while my post earlier in the week about the perils of Orwell’s 1984 happening about 25 years too late might have sparked some interesting thoughts, I want to provide content specific to your classroom experience. I think our discussions tonight might provoke some ideas, but in the meantime, you might find the tags to the right on Communication and Public Speaking of some interest to you. The problem with blogging on about a communications class is that there are so many other facets to the subject than just simply giving speeches. So, anyway, in the meantime, look in those subjects for some past articles of interest, and perhaps (God willing), I will be able to come up with some more subjects to post on this week.

I look forward to meeting all of you tonight!

Posted in Associate's Program, COM 115, Communication, Public Speaking | No Comments »

COM 115 - Web Resources

Posted by Russ Ray on May 2, 2008

As you can see to the left, I haven’t put up any links yet for your COM 115 class. One issue I had is that the link to the web site of the textbook no longer works. So, in the meantime, you might find some of the public speaking links useful, as we will start right in during Workshop 1 with presenting in front of the class (don’t worry, it’s not part of the homework and it won’t be graded).

One thing I was able to find online about your textbook is that it’s sold online by Target, just in case you were wanting to pick up some of the fancy food and furniture they sell and a communications text at the same time. My wife will be so happy when she finds this out as they are her favorite store. I am no longer allowed in Target because I continually make cracks while I am in there about how they are owned by the French.

Sorry if all that sounded weird… it is Friday morning after all. Anyway, I will be looking for more communications-oriented subjects to start putting up here in the coming weeks, so keep on the look-out, and have a good weekend!

Posted in Associate's Program, COM 115, Communication | No Comments »

Welcome ASB 868 Students!

Posted by Russ Ray on May 1, 2008

For those of you visiting for the first time from the COM 115 class in Greenwood, welcome! Our class will start on Thursday May 8, and I’m looking forward to getting into this class. I haven’t gotten to teach too many communications courses this year, so I’m looking forward to getting back to the subject.

You will find my syllabus and assignment list on the tabs at the top of this page. I’m not going to change the assignments due for Workshop 1, but I am making some changes to the course of which you will want to take note. I’m still revamping a little bit from when I last taught this course last fall, so you might want to take a “wait and see” approach for now, but everything will be finalized by next week.

Also, about my classroom blog—this is kind of an experiment of mine to see how students use a collaborative workspace in a non-online course. It’s nice to have all my classroom information organized in one place online. I’m still trying to get things set up for links and other information of note on this site, so please keep visiting daily to see what is new. If you have any suggestions of what you’d like to see on this page, please let me know, and I will see if I can get something up there. Above all else, this blog is here to serve you the student, so please offer whatever feedback you would like.

In the meantime, feel free to contact me if you have any questions, and I look forward to meeting all of you next week!

Posted in Associate's Program, COM 115, Communication | No Comments »