Introduction to skilled communication

We live in a connected society where the internet allows us to communicate with people all over the world. In contemporary communication, the active process of communication is as important as the product. The digital capture and publication of even informal communications means that the products of our communications last longer and are shared more widely than ever before. Learners must therefore be able to communicate clearly and persuasively for a variety of audiences in the academic realm as well as society.

The internet and the advent of mobile phones have revolutionized how people communicate. In 2021, 65.6% of the world's population has internet access. Additionally, the number of mobile connections exceed the 2021 world population, and 89.9% of the population own mobile phones. Cloud technology and smartphones allow people to engage in multiple forms of communication while on the move. Email, text messaging, and video conferencing are now a regular part of our everyday lives.

These powerful tools provide us with more effective and cost-efficient ways to communicate. They allow us to communicate in a variety of formats either asynchronously or in real time. All we need is a device and an internet connection and away we go! The explosion of new technologies is constantly creating new opportunities for us to communicate with people all over the world and has made it easier than ever to work remotely. These technologies certainly have enormous potential to support skilled communication, and they’re placing new demands on educators to prepare young people on how to use them.

Unfortunately, all too often, young people use these powerful tools to engage in low level chatter through single texts or tweets on inconsequential matters. However, these tools have the potential for extended communication and more meaningful discussion of important issues by allowing learners to go beyond the written word with pictures, audio, or video to add more impact to their statements.

These multimodal communication tools allow learners to select the best medium to communicate their message. For example, younger children might capture their reflections about a favorite story by making an audio recording because they don't yet have the skills to capture it in writing. Older learners might create a video to capture their understandings about a particular play or piece of poetry and post them on a school blog for others to see and respond to. In this way, technology allows young people to capture and share their views with an audience that’s outside their own school environment. This gives new meaning to the notion of extending the walls of the class. To better link our learners with the outside world, educators need to consider how to design appropriate learning activities to engage young people to become effective communicators.