Course Summary What's next? | Communication theory | edX Series
Summary
TLDRThis course explores communication as a dynamic process of meaning creation through interaction and symbolic message exchange. It delves into theory as a structured explanation of reality and emphasizes the continuous cycle of theory testing and building. The course distinguishes between objective and interpretive research, highlighting seven traditions in communication theory. It invites students to apply these theories to real-life situations and promises to enhance interpersonal and group communication skills, covering persuasion, public speaking, media influence, social media, public relations, and critical traditions, culminating in applying theory to practice.
Takeaways
- ๐ Communication is defined as the process of meaning creation through interaction and symbolic exchange of messages within different contexts.
- ๐ Theories are abstract, structured explanations of reality, composed of a set of mutually linked concepts.
- ๐ The research cycle involves continuous theory testing and building, with participants being part of this cycle even in everyday life.
- ๐ There are two main groups of theories: objective, which seeks single truth, and interpretive, which provides interpretations and understanding within specific contexts.
- ๐ Seven traditions of communicative topology are identified: cybernetic, social psychological, sociocultural, critical, rhetorical, phenomenological, and semiotic.
- ๐ค The script encourages students to consider which approach is most relevant to their recent communicative problems and to reflect on their understanding of communication.
- ๐ The course includes homework, discussion boards, tests, and essays to enhance understanding and reflection on the course material.
- ๐ฅ Week two focuses on interpersonal communication, exploring how to build, maintain, and develop relationships effectively.
- ๐ฅ๐ฅ Week three is about group communication, addressing how to make groups tighter, improve decision-making, and the role of leadership in group work.
- ๐ฃ๏ธ Week four deals with persuasion and public speaking, discussing how to construct persuasive messages and choose appropriate communication channels.
- ๐บ Week five examines media influence, looking at early media effects, cultivation effects, and the selectivity of media consumption.
- ๐๐ฌ Week six is dedicated to social media, discussing online communities, user engagement, and the impact of social media on society.
- ๐ฅ๐ข Week seven covers public relations, exploring theories and practices of relationship building between organizations and the public.
- ๐ค๐ The critical tradition, focusing on ideology and discourse, is explored over two weeks, aiming to understand communication patterns within society.
- ๐ The final week is a summary, applying theory to practice, with an emphasis on real-life examples to show the relevance of communication theory.
Q & A
What is the definition of communication according to the course?
-Communication is defined as the process of meaning creation through interaction and symbolic exchange of messages within different contexts.
What does the course describe as theory?
-Theory is described as an abstract, structured explanation of reality through a set of mutually linked concepts.
What is the ongoing research cycle mentioned in the course?
-The ongoing research cycle refers to the continuous process between theory testing and theory building, which never stops and involves everyone, even in common sense or working theories.
What are the two main groups of theories discussed in the course?
-The two main groups of theories are interpretive and objective. Objective research seeks a single truth, while interpretive research provides interpretations and focuses on understanding specific situations within a given context.
What are the seven traditions of creative topology within communicative theory?
-The seven traditions are cybernetic, social psychological, sociocultural, critical, rhetorical, phenomenological, and semiotic.
How does the course encourage students to apply theory to their own communicative problems?
-The course encourages students to think about which approach is more related to recent situations they've been confused about and to consider how theory can solve communicative problems.
What is the homework format for the course?
-The homework includes answering questions related to the course content, participating in discussion boards on a Facebook group for feedback and questions, and occasionally writing essays that will be peer-reviewed.
What is the focus of week two in the course?
-Week two focuses on interpersonal communication, discussing how to build, maintain, and develop relationships, and the key variables and points of focus in interpersonal interactions.
What will be covered in week three regarding group communication?
-Week three is about group communication, addressing how to make a group tighter, make better decisions within the group, and the role of leadership in group work.
What is the main topic of week four in the course?
-Week four is dedicated to persuasion and public speaking, focusing on building persuasive messages and choosing accurate channels for message delivery.
What is the purpose of discussing media effects in week five?
-The purpose is to explore the early effects of media, such as television and radio, on communication and information dissemination, and to discuss the cultivation effect of media and the selectivity of perception in media consumption.
Outlines
๐ Introduction to Communication Theory
The first paragraph introduces the course's focus on communication as a dynamic process of meaning creation through interaction and symbolic message exchange within various contexts. It emphasizes the cyclical nature of theory testing and building, highlighting the distinction between objective and interpretive research approaches. The paragraph also outlines seven traditions of communicative topology, encouraging students to consider which approach best suits their understanding of communication. The instructor sets expectations for the course structure, including homework, discussion boards, tests, and essays, and previews the upcoming topics on interpersonal and group communication.
๐ค Persuasion, Public Speaking, and Media Influence
The second paragraph delves into the specifics of the course's content, starting with persuasion and public speaking in week four, where the construction of persuasive messages and the strategic use of communication channels are discussed. It then transitions into the influence of media, exploring how media affects our perceptions and behaviors. The discussion includes early media effects, the cultivation effect, and the selectivity of media consumption. The paragraph also touches on social media's impact on society, the concept of network society, and the role of public relations in building relationships at an organizational level. The critical tradition is introduced as a complex but essential aspect of understanding societal communication patterns, with a dedicated week to explore it in depth.
๐ Bridging Theory and Practice
The final paragraph serves as a conclusion to the introduction, expressing the instructor's excitement for the course and emphasizing the ambitious goal of bridging academic theory with practical application. It invites students to engage with the material and anticipates a rich learning experience that will connect theoretical knowledge with real-world scenarios, reinforcing the relevance and applicability of communication theory in both personal and professional contexts.
Mindmap
Keywords
๐กCommunication
๐กTheory
๐กInterpretive Research
๐กObjective Research
๐กTraditions of Creative Topology
๐กInterpersonal Communication
๐กGroup Communication
๐กPersuasion
๐กMedia Influence
๐กSocial Media
๐กPublic Relations
๐กCritical Tradition
๐กAcademic and Practice
Highlights
Communication is defined as the process of meaning creation through interaction and symbolic exchange of messages within different contexts.
Theory is described as an abstract and structured explanation of reality through a set of mutually linked concepts.
The ongoing research cycle between theory testing and theory building is emphasized, with the audience being part of this cycle.
Two major groups of theories are discussed: objective and interpretive, with the latter focusing on understanding and providing meaning to communicative situations.
Seven traditions of creative topology within communication theory are introduced: cybernetic, social psychological, sociocultural, critical, rhetorical, phenomenological, and semiotic.
The importance of applying theory to solve communicative problems and understanding one's perspective on communication is highlighted.
The course structure includes eight upcoming classes with a focus on different aspects of communication.
Homework assignments are designed to help students focus on the content and follow the course instructions.
Discussion boards on a Facebook group are available for feedback, questions, and interaction with instructors.
A test is required to grade the class, emphasizing the importance of writing and reflection in understanding communication.
Interpersonal communication will be the focus of week two, exploring how to build, maintain, and develop relationships.
Group communication in week three will address how to create tighter groups, make better decisions, and the role of leadership.
Persuasion and public speaking are the focus of week four, discussing how to build persuasive messages and choose accurate channels.
Week five delves into media influence, early media effects, and the restructuring of information dissemination with mass media.
The cultivation effect of media and the selectivity of perception in media consumption are discussed in week five.
Social media and its impact on society, including online communities and user engagement, are covered in week six.
Public relations theories and their application at an individual level are explored in week seven.
Critical tradition, focusing on ideology and discourse, is the theme of week eight, aiming to understand communication patterns in society.
The final week is dedicated to summarizing and applying communication theory to practice, with real-life examples.
The course aims to bridge academia and practice by providing practical examples of applying communication theory.
Transcripts
[Music]
so now let's summarize a little
throughout this course we'll think of
communication as
the process of meaning creation through
interaction
and symbolic exchange of messages within
the different context
we'll think of theory as an abstract
thus
very structured explanation of the
reality through a set of mutually linked
concepts
yes we will discuss different concepts
and imply them into the big theory which
describes the reality
also we've been talking about this
ongoing research cycle
with between theory testing and theory
building
yes it never stops and you are already a
part of this
even when you're working not on
scholarly theory but on the common sense
theory
or on a working theory we need to keep
in mind
that there are two big groups of
theories
and research interpretive and objective
objective research is looking for the
single truth and
interpretive research provides an
interpretation
and sees the particular situations
within given context through
a certain lenses it's focusing on
creating understanding
and providing meaning to what's going on
within the communicative situation while
objective research
is looking for generalized laws and
the relationship between variables
dependent and independent
along with the distinction between
objective and interpretive research
we would like to focus at seven
traditions of creative topology
within the communicative theory we can
see communication as a cybernetic
process social psychological
sociocultural critical rhetorical
phenomenological
and semiotic what i want you to do here
is to think which approach
is more related to the recent situations
you've been confused about some
communicative problems which
can be solved by the usage of theory how
do you see communication in
what is the most important and valuable
characteristic of communicative process
for you in personal and as we now know
quite a lot about theory and approaches
to you the theories
and approaches to the communication we
will move on to the next
parts of our course so what's next well
we do have another eight classes
upcoming
and before i will tell you a little bit
of each one i want to
tell you about the homework yes we will
have a little bit of the homework
well you've already noticed that there
are some questions you have to answer
within the course
so this is made in order for you to
focus on the content and follow us as
we will move on with our instructions
and lectures
uh also we will have these discussion
boards in
facebook group where you will be able to
leave your comments to provide a little
bit of
feedback and ask questions for the
instructors
which will be very happy to answer each
week we will have a long test
well not very long but it would be a
test you would need to take
in order to get the grade for this class
as well as sometimes we will do some
writing because
writing is cool and writing is very
helpful
to understand what are you doing and to
reflect a little bit because
just speaking sometimes it's not enough
so we will do a couple of essays where
we'll be
checked by your peers so follow the
content of our videos
quite tightly so you can provide a fair
grading for your classmates
so what's definitely next next is week
two
week two will be all about interpersonal
communication
how do individuals interact with each
other how to
build how to maintain and how to develop
the
relationship to the proper level what
are the variables
what are the differences and what are
the
key points at which we should
focus during this interpersonal
communication
i am quite sure that with some recall to
your previous experience
and with some practice this module will
be able to enhance your interpersonal
communication skills
and bring it up to the next level
after which uh it comes with the group
communication
right in this course we would follow it
from the very
essential one to the larger one and more
complicated
uh you definitely are studying or maybe
you're working
but you must be involved somehow in the
group dynamic and the group work
so the week three devoted to the group
communication
will help us to answer the questions how
to make a tighter group
how to make a better decisions within
this group
and what is the role of leadership uh in
a group work
week four is all about persuasion and
public
speaking so we would not practice but we
we might
but we will think about the way how to
build a persuasive message and how to
choose
the channels very accurately so the
message will
reach the audience uh it's not that
simple as it
as we as we can think about it but it's
rather complex process and it includes
a lot of variables and characteristics
so rhetoric is not only about making a
good speech
or delivering this good speech but
rhetoric is also
above the process which uh the process
of delivery of this good speech
after this we talk about persuasion uh
and as a person who would like to be
persuasive
we can step into the shoes of media
and take a look how media is influences
us is influencing us so now as we know a
little bit about persuasion let's
take issues of media and try to see how
media is influencing
us and our reality uh so in this
part of the course during the week five
we focused
on the very early media effects what
happened when
television and radio came to the agenda
and
how did it change uh the ways i would
use a communicator first of all and how
the
information dissemination actually
restructured
uh with the appearance of mass media
after this we will discuss cultivation
effect of
media and the selectivity of our
perception in terms of media consumption
uh well here i would just go a little
bit behind it
yes we have been very selective in our
media consumption
which means that we tend to focus
on the media sources we already agree
with
and we try to avoid all the sources
which would provide
the alternative of being does it really
happen how to avoid it and
is audience really passive and can be
affected
we will answer all these questions
during this week five
still media would lead us closely to the
social media
we decided to put it as a separate pick
as
social media comes along with the big
transformation of the society
and we discuss the concept of network
society during the week
six we'll talk about online communities
in user engagement
how to make it working and does it
really
substitute our offline communities or
not
as public relations appear to be the
field where communication
is one of the essential focuses we talk
a little bit about the pr theories
if you are not a pr practitioner you
might still be interested
in pr week because pr as
public relations or a little bit of
promotion
can be applicable for an individual
level anyway
here we move from the level of the
individual to the communication between
organization and public relations it's
all about relationship building on just
a little bit different scale
so we discussed how the approaches to pr
have changed
how companies communicate with each
other
and how to make persuasive as well as
ethical
public relation campaign these are the
questions and the objectives of the week
six
uh moving on we would focus on critical
tradition
you've already catched a little bit of
critical it's all about ideology and
discourse
yes it's quite complicated but we are
quite sure that thinking about the
ideology
and thinking on a little bit more
abstract level
we can understand better the patterns of
communication
within the society that's why we are
focusing on critical tradition
and we would spend an additional week to
go through it
uh week nine as the last and summarizing
one
is devoted to summary and applying this
theory to practice
in the ninth week we try to bring up as
many examples from the real life as
possible so we can explain once again
why communication matters
how to use communication theory and what
is the importance of this communication
theory in your life
and professional life uh even though
each chapter each block of this course
would be finalized with some sort of
research
or some practical example how do we
apply
one particular theory within the
research throughout the research on a
real-life case
we want to bring you more examples as we
want
and this is one of the most ambitious
goals of ours during this course
to bridge academia and practice
so welcome to the course and i am really
excited about what's gonna happen next
see you next week
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