It is no secret that technology has had made communication much easier. There has never been a time known to men where people located on the opposite side of the planet could have spoke while seeing each other in real time. 

Not long ago, such occurrence could have only be translated as sorcery. 

Considering almost everyone is using technology to communicate in today’s world, there is no need to point out the benefits. But as all good things come with drawbacks, it also has its own disadvantages. 

As always we are looking at the issue from the teacher’s point of view.

Technology

General reasons an English Teacher might use technology for the purpose of communication is listed below:

 

1: Preparation and storing class materials

2: Preparing visuals and Teaching material

3: Holding the class online 

The very first step would be to choose the right tool to get each of the points mentioned done and here is where the biggest issue arises. 

There are many options available for each both free and paid such as;

1: Microsoft word, pages, Evernote, Microsoft one note, Notability, Good notes,... to create and organise and Google drive, iCloud, OneDrive, Dropbox,… to store the files.

2: Google slides, Microsoft powerpoint, keynote, prezi, … to create slides and visuals.

3: Google meet, zoom, skype, … to hold the actual class online.

As you can see there are so many options available and this is not even close to a complete list! 

Having too many options can create confusion and cause less productivity, as well as the fact that learning how to use each one of these technologies to its extensive potential can be very time consuming. 

So what is the solution?

Taken from my personal experience, here are my steps into using the technology to our advantage;

Step 1: put aside a realistic time dedicated to try and error. 

Do your research and make a list of available technological tools you need, narrow it down to a list of few that you need to try. Make sure the list is as short as possible. 

Step 2: Get into the Trial mode.

See how each works for you in real time, and stick to the time you’ve allowed for the trial period. 

Consider the usability, price and how fast you can adapt the application to best suite what you need. By the end of your dedicated trial time, you have to pick one!

Step 3: Stick to your choices! 

Although we might feel the need to migrate from one application to another at some point, but it is crucially important to not get distracted by all the shiny available choices and ending up waisting time and money on ‘ How to get it done’ rather than ‘Getting it done’.  

Communication

It might not be everybody’s first choice to turn their communications virtual and done through technology, but we all know we don’t have much say in it in the time of pandemic. 

(Note for future: For anyone reading this in the future, we are in 2020-2021 now and there is a pandemic grounding almost everyone at home)

Either to keep our social life alive or to continue working, we need to continue to communicate this way, so we might as well get the most out of it. Keep your focus on positive side effects such as; working hours flexibility, location flexibility, more opportunities for creative material preparation,…

To conclude, The key to succeed is to keep a balance and stay focused on getting things done the best way you can. Avoid trying to recreate face to face experience in an online situation, instead, explore the new opportunities that the situation offers. 

Let’s make this a Conversation !

How are you making the best out of communication through technology? 

Share your answers in the comments 👇🏻