Communication Technology & Education

    When considering new media and it's impact on communicators, one of the first that comes to mind is educators. All levels of teachers have had to adjust their communication style to be current with the times. This ranges from preschool right through post-graduate professors.

    Long gone are the days when an elementary school teacher was limited to the paper memo sent home in the child's folder. Now teachers are sending electronic newsletters via email. Some are creating class website where they are able to share what is happening in the classroom. This information could include the curriculum as well as class photos and even videos. The advances in communication are also allowing parents more access to the teachers via email rather than waiting for a return call from a teacher or sending a note into the classroom with your child. There are changes in the classroom as well. The chalkboards have been replaced with whiteboards at a minimum, but more likely electronic boards where the teacher can have pre-designed media to share with the class or even print what was placed on the board. The following link shows an example of an electronic board that can be used in the classroom:

Panasonic Panaboard UB-7325 - Interactive whiteboard - Wired - USB - PC

   As for the changes at a higher education level, not so many years ago, education was limited to the classroom or correspondence courses. Today, there are many online courses that have had an impact on educators. These educators that once spent their time with students face-to-face now have had to adjust their style to manage online courses. These traditional educators might not choose to teach the online courses, but they still needed to adjust how they communicated with their students. Instead of posting office hours for calls or visit, these professionals now had to made choices as to how they could communicate with their students -- if they would provide an email address and what their terms were when it came to email as many people have the expectation that emails would have immediate replies.  Therefore, it became necessary to provide policies as to how quickly emails would be answered. In addition to these changes, came the changes of technology in the classroom. No more overhead projects, but instead electronic projects that would connect to a computer.

From thisTo This   

    All levels of educators have definitely been impacted by advances in electronic media and communication. Many professionals had to adapt to these changes in order to remain relevant in their careers. Hopefully, many found the changes exciting and that the changes in technology provided ways to improve the classroom experience.