Unit 1

Introduction to the relevance of effective communication –technology mediated communication – Its impact in professional/business/formal contexts. How technology facilitates and constraints communication. Since it crosses national and cultural boundaries how does it impact new communication groups/strategies. Cultural, political, social, gender, environmental issues involved.
Different kinds of technology aided communication – Live, recorded and graphic messages/communication. Text messages, phone calls, emails, WhatsApp messages, video conference, online platforms, podcasts, blogs, vlogs, online surveys, social media interactions, etc.
Activity: Involve students in different methods of communication to disseminate the same content (situational). Discuss and understand how the channel, tone, style, medium etc. influence the delivery and the reception of the content inevitably. Let them do another activity as groups in a similar manner – let them come up with the advantages and disadvantages and discuss the viable solutions and possibilities to address the issues raised. Give varied scenarios to make it engaging and effective.

Unit 2

Barriers of communication – constraints of technology aided communication – less face-to-face communication – Distractions, disengagement, disinterest, body language, misunderstanding/interpretations, conflicts – Information overload, inability to filter important information – ambiguity – lack of precision – lack of perspective. Interpretation of silence in communication (how it is read and understood in technology aided situations)
Activity: Let them enact scenarios, encounter various issues, and deal with them effectively. Look into each of the aspects in the unit and address them separately. One group will be judged by another group. Come up with possible ways to address the issues.

Unit 3

Effective Technology mediated communication – Significance of – context, biases. Relevance of influence, power, persuasion, management, group processes,written and oral communication, oral presentations, meetings.

Activity: Give them various professional/formal situations to draft appropriate content for communication – use technology created content & use original writing also. Let them come up with the flaws in their own content and presentation – viable solutions.

Unit 4

Role of communication in management – Management roles – planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Hierarchy in communication – how different roles demand different kinds of communication strategies – achieving the desired outcome through effective communication

Activity: Role plays – mock interviews – formal meetings – different scenarios – for each pair of students – let them come up with practical solutions to address issues – discuss strategies to create an impact and desired output.

Unit 5

Project –divide into small clusters of 5 students.

• Conduct an online survey to study a particular business/a Youtube channel/a trending pattern in reels/short videos/successful movies and their patterns/ new-age social media influencers, their content/, quality of the channel programs/the most popular shows on TV/ series on OTTs/ Conduct the same survey in offline mode. Compare and contrast the responses, patterns and output.
• Make a study through online surveys, decide the parameters to conduct the survey. Analyse the responses, segregate them, study the pattern, draw conclusions, state the relevance of the project. Convert the entire project into an engaging, informative and entertaining content – customize the content for various purposes and for various platforms – for a lecture in classroom as a study module, for a blog, for an Instagram/FB post, for a short video on Youtube.
• When you convert, what are the pre-requisites, what are the aspects taken into consideration for each of these variations? Analyse and justify the various parameters to design the content for different platforms.
• Discuss how essentially the communication differs from one platform to another – Discuss its implications – suggest improvisations –
• Conduct a viva voce.

The course enables the students to be aware of the advantages as well as the limitations of the technology mediated communication. The course makes a thorough analysis of the possible ways to overcome the drawbacks of communication done using technology. The course reiterates the relevance of context, content, tone and style in communication, irrespective of the channel of communication. The course will enable the students to practically make use of the varied communication strategies to become an effective and impactful communicator. The project work would help the students to handle a thriving real-life scenario efficiently and will help them to draft meaningful reports with attention to the nuances of communication.

• CO1 – Review the pros and cons of technology mediated communication to ensure flawless and outcome-oriented communication.
• CO2 – Determine the most suitable mode of communication between face-to-face and technology-aided communication in a professional context.
• CO3 – Apply appropriate strategies for communicating effectively to diverse audiences.
• CO4 – Analyse and drafta report on topics of contemporary relevance for disseminating information and deriving viable solutions

CO-PO Mapping

Core Reading

• Mal, Sumon. Techniques of Effective Communication. Notion Press, 2020.
• Leonardo, Nixaly. Active Listening Techniques: 30 Practical Tools to Hone your Communication Skills. Embassy Books, 2022.
• Raman, Usha. Writing for the Media. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Suggested Reading

• Garrand, Timothy. Writing for Multimedia and the Web: A Practical Guide to Content Development for Interactive Media. Routledge, 2918.
• Lincoln, Jeremy. Create Passive Income with Digital Content: Accumulate $100 in Writing, Music, Photos, Illustrations, Videos, Cartoons and Apps. Jeremy Lincoln, 2023.