My understanding of the value of effective communication has increased. Effective communication is not as easy as I thought. Theories can be quickly picked up, but to apply it well requires skills.
To have good communication skills is definitely very important. As long as there is interaction between two or more people, communication is taking place. Effective communication would reduce friction between people and promote good relationship.
This module has exposed me to as many different kinds of communications as possible, such as writing resume, doing oral presentation, and understanding intercultural communication. However, due to the short term of the semester, these different areas were not taught in depth, though I would like to explore more on each area.
While doing the assignments, I had been over-reliant on the texbook and dared not use a style which is different from the textbook. However, now I realised that I should adopt my own style of writing so as to bring out my strengths.
I enjoyed class activities when I could exchange ideas with my peers and learn to see things from a different perspective. The learning process was also enhanced by video screenings, where we could easily picked out other people's faults and learnt not to be like the characters in the videos.
My overall learning journey has been a pleasant one so far. Hope it is the same for everyone!
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6 comments:
Dear Teresa,
Learning is a life-long process. How successful you would be in life depended on not what you have learned in the University but on what you will learn after the University. I am glad that you have expressed interests to further explore areas on presentations and resume writings.
There are plenty of resume writing classes conducted in the University. And, most of the time they are free. You have to keep an eye for them. As for improving your presentation skills, watching great speakers such as Martin Luther King making speeches online (YouTube) could help. That is what works for me.
Hi Teresa,
I agree that gaining head knowledge is a lot easier than practising the skills involved. It takes a lot of time to develop a skill. For me, after picking up the theories I find that I am more aware of how I am communicating and that awareness causes me to cultivate the skills more intentionally. So, I think we are at least one step forward compared to when the class first started.
I think it is normal to be over-reliant on the textbook because I was also. To me, the formats taught are good foundations for us to build upon so that the standard of our written documents are at least on par with professional requirements. From there, it is easier for us to move forward and adapt the formats to our own styles.
I think that it is quite a Singaporean thing to follow the textbook; we are just too used to rote learning in my opinion and thus we do so to increase our chances of scoring better. It might not be done consciously but I think it is something that has gotten drummed into us. Over time though, I am quite sure that you will be able to find your own style and adapt the things we have learnt in this module to better suit you.
I too enjoyed the various forms of teaching methods in this course; that it was not just lecture-based but there were video screenings as well as many opportunities for us to interact together for group discussions.
Anyway, it has been fun working with you during the course of this module. All the best in your future endeavours!
Hi Teresa,
I felt similar thing that "theories can be quickly picked up, but to apply it well requires skills".
As my favourite quote by Nietzsche says, I think duration is important to go further;
"It is not the strength, but the duration of great sentiments that makes great men."
I was glad to share opinions in class and blog with you.
Keep on your efforts as usual!
(I have to follow you!)
Hi all,
Thanks for your comments! Now that we have come to the end of this module, all of us will see effective communication in a different light. Hopefully, we can be an expert in effective communication in the nesr future! Let's work hard together!
Hi Teresa and Victor,
Opportunities for resume-writing and professional communication classes indeed abound in the university. However, a considerable number of these courses do not come free! For instance, the NUS Career Centre conduct classes on resume-writing, interview skills and portfolio-building every semester, yet the course fee for each is about twelve dollars. On the higher end, there are several professional communication courses advertised under "student events" in the Integrated Virtual Learning Environment (IVLE) recently and each course costs several hundred dollars! Hence, the opportunity to take this professional course as part of our undergraduate study is certainly worth cherishing!
In addition, I agree with you that Martin Luther King, Jr is one the best speakers in history. The first time I heard his historic speech "I have a Dream" over BBC World Service a few years ago, I got so intrigued that I went to do further research on him. Not only is the speech well-written, more importantly, it is well-said and well-delivered to the hearts of millions of listeners.
Here is one link with the text, audio and video versions of his speech: http://www.mlkonline.net/dream.html
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