EDES302 Tutorial 2B Summary

The Rhetorical Triangle

• Components: Speaker/Writer, Message, Audience/Reader.

• Relations exist between each pair of components:

  • Speaker/Writer to Message: Ethos (credibility, authority) influences how the message is crafted and perceived.

  • Message to Audience/Reader: Logos (logic, reasoning) ensures the message is coherent and persuasive.

  • Audience/Reader to Speaker/Writer: Pathos (emotional connection) requires the speaker/writer to understand and appeal to the audience’s emotions.

The Transaction Model of Communication

• Highlights co-creation of meaning through simultaneous sending and receiving of messages.

• Considers various contexts:

  • Physical context (environment).

  • Psychological context (mindset, mood).

  • Social context (norms, relationships).

  • Cultural context (values, beliefs).

  • Relational context (history, expectations).

• These can act as potential sources of noise affecting communication.

• Encoding and decoding processes are central, emphasizing the active role of communicators.

Communication Models

• Linear Model: A one-way process: Sender → Encoder → Channel → Decoder → Receiver.

  • Useful for basic understanding, but oversimplified.

• Interactive Model: Introduces feedback, turning the receiver into a sender and vice versa.

  • Recognizes that communication is not just a one-way street.

  • Noise is present, affecting the clarity of the message.

Elements of Communication

• Key elements to consider:

  • Purpose: The goal or aim of the communication.

  • Text: The actual content or message being conveyed.

  • Channel: The medium through which the message is sent (e.g., face-to-face, email, social media).

  • Genre: The type or category of communication (e.g., report, presentation, conversation).

  • Audience: The intended recipients of the message.

  • Relationship: The connection or dynamic between the communicators.

  • Language: The specific words, tone, and style used in the communication.

Recipe for Great Communication

• Ingredients for effective communication:

  • Clarity: Make your point clearly and unambiguously.

  • Brevity: Make your point quickly and concisely.

  • Context: Make your message relevant to the situation and audience.

  • Impact: Make your message memorable and engaging.

  • Value: Make your message valuable and meaningful to the audience.

• The recipe highlights Clarity, Brevity, Context, Impact, and Value (CBCIV) as essential ingredients.

Multi-media Design Principles

• Key principles for multi-media design:

  • Contiguity: Keeping related material together to enhance understanding.

  • Signalling: Highlighting important information to draw attention and aid retention.

  • Multi-media redundancy: Using layers in the presentation to complement not repeat information, avoiding overload.

  • Segmenting: Chunking information into accessible parts to facilitate easier processing.

  • Embodiment: Including a human presence helps in establishing connection and trust.

  • Coherence: Ensuring focus on the topic / purpose to maintain clarity and relevance.

Multi-modal and Multi-media

• Modes of language: Ways we share information include:

  • Speaking

  • Listening

  • Reading

  • Writing

  • Viewing

  • Producing

• Media: Tools for sharing information:

  • Text

  • Animation

  • Video

  • Audio

• The digital space enhances communication through multiple channels for conveying a message, allowing for richer and more engaging interactions.

Activity: Creating an Animated Presentation

• Activity involves creating a 3-slide "How To" presentation using animation or whiteboard programs (e.g., Canva Whiteboard, Animaker, Doodly).

• Example topic: How to make a ham sandwich

• Deconstruct and evaluate the finished product using principles from previous slides, focusing on effective communication strategies.

Analysing a Digital Poster

• Download and annotate a poster from the Week 2 tutorial section.

• Analyse the poster considering:

  • Model of communication used.

  • Purpose of the poster.

  • Intended audience.

  • Ways to make it more dynamic and engaging through visual and interactive elements.

  • Verbal / Non-verbal elements and their effectiveness.

  • Visual Elements and their impact.

  • Multi-modal presentation approaches.

  • Multi-media tools employed.

Importance for Teachers

• Why teachers need to develop multi-media design skills to create engaging and effective learning materials for students.