Digital communication “is the electronic exchange of information”. Essentially it is communication that has been encoded electronically to facilitate the transmission for exchange, allowing it to be stored and/ or processed by computers.
Digital Communication Forms
Over the centuries communication methods and forms have evolved. In prehistoric days communication revolved around sounds and painting on cave walls to depict stories.
The choice of form depends on the purpose of the communication and the audience involved. Furthermore the language used depends on the context within which it is communicated to the demographics and size of the audience. The choice we have is vast, but before we expand on these we should understand how communication flows. The next section will expand on this model for understanding communication.
Communication Model
This model is adapted from Shannon and Weaver (1949), but has since been elaborated upon by various other theorists resulting in this communications model as seen below.
Digital Communication forms
The Internet and E-mail
VoIP
Cell phones
Instant Messaging, MMS, and Texting
Social Media
Blogs, wikis, and Internet Forums
Digital Communication Etiquette
Although this is dealt with in more detail in Learning Unit 4, these guidelines are helpful with regard to specific types of communication forms (due to the nature of the topic there may be some overlap).
Email Etiquette
Email etiquette includes, but is not limited to, the following:
All caps equals shouting Do not use all capitals as this represents a raised voice or SHOUTING
Subject heading that is relevant The subject line must be relevant and meaningful so the recipient knows what the email is about.
Size of attachments When attaching a file be aware of the size, as this affects people’s bandwidth and data usage.
Forwarding of emails Be careful with what you forward to friends and to whom you forward the email. Chain emails are never popular and should never be forwarded onto anyone, you should simply delete as soon as you get one. Emails containing jokes should also be thought about carefully before sending it onwards, as these emails can be misinterpreted. Remember humour is very subjective.
BCC emails to groups of people When sending an email to many people at once, rather make use of the “BCC” option (Blind Carbon Copy) for their addresses, and put your email in the “To” box. This ensures that others in the group are not able to obtain another person’s email address; thereby you are protecting their privacy. If you are sending emails to multiple people at a time ensure you use the "BCC" (Blind Carbon Copy) option to enter the email addresses into instead of the "To" option. This is because this will not advertise the recipients email addresses to all of the recipients of the email, hereby keeping the privacy of your contacts.
Blog Etiquette
Blog etiquette includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Always respect copyright and intellectual property laws and regulations.
Never copy other people’s blog comments and claim these as yours. If you wish to use the comment/ s then you must either get their approval or reference your source and the author.
Think before you blog.
Blogs are open to the public, so you must consider your comments before posting them, as you may later regret them. Also note restriction options when you write your blog, especially with regards to the comments section.
Don't be abusive.
Given that blogs are public there will be people that may disagree with the topic or your opinions. Refrain from responding to comments that are abusive and avoid making such comments yourself. If you do need to criticize a comment, make sure you deal with the comment and not the person.
Stick to the topic.
Ensure that your comments on other people’s blog are relevant, if they are not start a new post.
Don't respond to blog trolls.
To ‘troll’ is a slang word for a person that repeatedly posts irrelevant messages on a blog. Do not respond to these posts, as all it will do is encourage the ‘trolling’ action.
Media Fluency
In Digital Literacy we dealt with the first part of the media fluency, which involved listening, however, there is a second part to this fluency; ‘leveraging’. Learning to listen, verbalise the message and then verify the message is the basis in being able to produce the message using the most applicable form: The medium.
If you refer back to the section of the communication model, we saw that as a sender we encode the message and then select the medium to best convey this message. This is what leveraging is about.
Collaboration Fluency
Although we looked at the collaboration fluency within the literacy section of this manual, we need to understand that collaboration requires communication, and as such it needs to be addressed in this section. We will not go through the process again, but consider how effective communication plays a big role in succeeding in collaborative projects. Therefore the communication model is critical, as is the knowledge of the different platforms that can be used in collaborating with people in different geographic areas. Using WhatsApp and SMS are great for short messages that you may want to send to the team, whereas extensive collaborative type projects might require VoIP type applications, such as Skype. Wikis are great for brainstorming, allowing others to insert their ideas or to fine-tune those ideas that have already been put forward. Emails are good if you are sending out instructions or guidelines, whereas Dropbox and GoogleDocs are great for sharing of files.
Creative Fluency
Intelligence levels have traditionally only been measured in terms of math based thinking and linguistic skills. However, there are actually several levels of IQ. Gardner (1983) came up with the following:
Visual-Spatial These people are good at solving puzzles, love reading, are good with directions and map/ chart work, enjoy drawing and painting and recognise patterns easily.
Linguistic - Verbal These people are good with words, both written and spoken, they are good at remembering written and spoken information, enjoys reading and writing, good at debating and explaining things. They often use humour in their storytelling.
Logical – Mathematical People that score high in this section are good at analysing problems and mathematical operations, they enjoy thinking about abstract ideas, conducting scientific experiments and working with complex computations.
Bodily – Kinaesthetic Those that have a high score in this area are good at body movement, actions and control. They are good at dancing, sports, creating with their hands and physical coordination. They remember things best by doing, rather than hearing or seeing.
Musical These people think in patterns, rhythms and sounds. They enjoy singing and playing musical instruments, and are quick to recognise a musical pattern and tones. They have a deep understanding of musical structure, notes and rhythms and are able to remember songs and melodies quite easily.
Interpersonal People in this section have a good understanding of other people and relate well with them. They are good at communicating and very skilled at the non-verbal cues. They have an ability to see things from different perspectives and create positive relationships with others. They are also good at resolving conflict.
Intrapersonal (often referred to as EQ – Emotional Quotient) These individuals are good at introspection and self- reflection, as well as being aware of their own emotional state and motivations. They tend to enjoy analysing theories and ideas, and have clear understanding of themselves.
Naturalistic This is the most recent addition to Gardner’s theory and is probably the most controversial. Those that score high in this are those that are very in tune with nature want to learn about other species and explore environments. They are often highly aware of subtle changes within their own environments.
The Process
Before we continue it should be noted and emphasised that creative skills are becoming a hot commodity in the market place. Companies are starting to shift their focus from the features and performance of their products to more creative ways in which to create and deliver their products. It is important to note that this process will combine the solution fluency process, as it will help you come up with a solution. Basically the two processes work hand in hand.
The creative process involves the following steps:
Identify This is the first step in the process, where you ‘load’ your brain with data and information about the problem at hand. Ask yourself what it is you need to do, what do you need to create. This is the process of giving your left- brain the data needed.
This stage is characterised by Define stage of the solution fluency process, and requires an understanding of the problem to be solved, noting the key words and forming questions around them. It also requires that you listen carefully, filter information and white noise, and critically evaluate the problem.
Inspire Now the right brain takes over, where we seek inspiration. It should be a fun process and seen as an adventure. During this stage you should fill your brain with sensory information, look at magazines, artwork, photos, websites, even walking down the street.
This stage correlates with the Dream stage in the solution fluency process. Essentially you are looking at things to be inspired, moving beyond what is known, using familiar and unfamiliar sources, experimenting and imagining.
Interpolate Interpolating in mathematics means to construct new data points within the range of a set of known data points. Merriam Webster dictionary defines it as altering, or corrupting (as a text) by inserting new or foreign matter. Jukes, Crockett and Churches define this a means to finding a pattern with known information. Similar to finding a constellation in the sky or finding making out images from clouds.
The skills used in this stage include pattern recognition, the ability to find connections and relationships, combining concepts or elements that would not normally be combined. An example, as suggested by Seelig (2012) in her book InGenius, “what would you get if you cross a dessert plate with an ice-cube tray? An ice-cream bowl that melts after it has been used so you don’t need to wash it. Or if you cross a checkerboard with a midnight snack? Edible checkers with a motto “beat ‘em and eat ‘em”.” This is just one method for coming up with something new.
This stage and the Inspire stage are interrelated where you will go back and forth between the two.
Imagine While you are going back and forth between the two stages you will start to discard extraneous information and will begin the process of honing into a possible solution. This skills that come into play in this stage include forming mental images, sensations and concepts for those that cannot be physically perceived. Essentially providing meaning and understanding to experiences and concepts.
Inspect By this stage you should have a creative idea that needs to be evaluated. You need to question if it meets the original criteria as set out in the ‘Identify” stage. Then you need to determine if it is feasible and if it matches the original definition.
Digital Communication Trends
The trends predicted for the next few years are both device related and the focus of business communications.
Wearable Technology
Wearable technology is the latest in digital communication trends with watches and glasses enabling users to communicate, play, work and socialise through the wearable technology. This is an example of the IoT referred to previously. At present there are 6 brands that have launched, or about to launch, watches that are smart watches. However, so far the only brand to bring out glasses is Google, with the Google Glass. These glasses allow you to do all the things you would normally do on a tablet or smart phone but now making it visually in front of you. Lost? Call up maps and let your glasses guide with a step- by-step guide as to where you must go!