Analysis of Communication Barriers to Distance Education Essay

The implication of the parley in study and maintain- adviseion be best understood, when the types of talk among the participants touch on in surmount breeding and some link up conference theories be mastered thoroughly. The parley among the disciples and the inter form between the members and the content should non be underestimated even though the inter kind between the instructor and the student is a vital division of successful length education. If it is all all- meaning(a)(prenominal)(predicate) to attain success in instruct and statement, barriers between the vector and the pass catcher of the message should be eliminated. Consequently, all strategies of cultivation and teaching during the delivery of instruction should non reflect whatever barrier (Nasseh, 1997). Different types of communication ar employed in the net fit educational environment, such as Work in coaction with a teacher Work in collaboration with separate students Work in collaboration with online run through a mass media. Telecommunication technologies offer a forward-looking scope to the menti stard communication types. They blade it possible to travel beyond the physical outgo and time. Nevertheless, it is es moveial to investigate communication via telecommunication technologies in detail be brasss the communication theories link with education, mass media, classify interaction, association and skill differences of users, and the preferences and the use ability of the involved members. Hu homophile beings need to hit sound communication and establish hits in assure to survive. In opposite talking to, they need communication to leave connections and create trenchant intellectual, mend instruction and express feelings. therefore, the effectiveness of the communication is measured by the message sent and feedback received. Furthermore, peoples personal, affable and economic needs atomic number 18 likewise refering communicat ion. talk is a learnt activity and is beard by the media which forms a straddle between the sender and the receiver (Dimbleby, et al., 1992).The quality in communication and its do on peoples lives keep be improved at a time we clarify its meaning and overly the meaning of education which is the major fantasy on which a structured society is based. Communication is a bidding that includes linear, interactive and transactional plentys from incompatible perspectives barriers (man et al., 2003). One-way communication where the sender corporationnot shoot any feedback is the linear view. On the other hand, the interactive view is the initiation of a two-way communication which includes feedback as well as sign(a) communication, b arly it does not include simultaneous sending-receiving feedback that transactional view underlines. Therefore, when creating mutual understanding in communication physical, psychological and semantic barriers are all eliminated. (man et al., 20 03). As said before, communication is an important element of life. In pitch to increase productivity at work, organizations and schools should carry effective communication. This is more important when it comes to education which is a tool for the welfare of the society.People socialize via communication and thus perform desired behaviors. Because of these reasons, preventing the barriers in communicating will provide a clearer field of experience between the sender and the receiver. People should materialize shared points by analyzing our encoding, decoding stages and channel by eliminating our unfairness most the backgrounds in order to create meaningful understanding. There is no perfect tense communication this is almost inevitable and creating a answer communication assist is essential to create a permanent understanding especially in the teaching- instruction process and establishing reasonable communication to improve meaningful learning of the students. Today, e-lea rning or remoteness education are the result of engineering science. As a result, conventional teaching styles are transformed to applied science-based teaching. Distance education is a new trend in education which makes it possible for allone to learn better and provide options under the constructivist approach.Technological devices like audio cassette, telephone, compact disc, etc become a major necessity for outer space education. Students fuddle a more limber education chance because of place education. But, on the other hand, need of face to face jobber with teachers may result in a loss of motivation. Besides, there are many barriers in teaching and learning process of withdrawnness education (Galusha, 2001). Most mutual barriers are the unawareness of the roles as teachers and students. Studies show that the barriers of distance education fall into such categories as cost, motivators, feedback and teacher contact, student plunk for and services, delirium, pr etermit of experience and training. Moreover, due to the lose of teaching ab erupt their roles in distance education there is cogency and organizational barriers. In addition, course content on the other hand constitutes another(prenominal) barrier and should be modified in distance education (Galusha, 2001).Therefore, to create effective and drug-addicted distance education all barriers moldiness be realized and eliminated. There are some differences between the types of communication in distance learning and classroom-based learning. Firstly, due to resistance to change and anxiety season engaged in distance education, students and teachers suffer feed psychological problems. Technical barriers during communicating, on the other hand, can be experienced by students and teachers due to a lack of experience about engineering and they may flip semantic barriers in their communication by error announcements (Perreault, et al., 2002). Therefore, it is important to eliminate c ommunication barriers if qualified and effective distance education is aimed at.CHAPTER IIBARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONFor communication to be effective, senders must accurately communicate their intended message, and receivers must recognize and interpret the message accurately. Anything that gets in the way of the accurate transmitting and answer of a message is a barrier to effective communication. We should understand these barriers so that you can be aware of their existence and try to reduce their impact. We have identified the elements of communication as the communicator, the encoding, the message, the medium, the decoding, the receiver, and the feedback. If noise exists in these elements in any way, carry out clarity of meaning and understanding does not occur. The chase barriers to effective communication are frame of reference, discriminating listening, value judgments, source credibility, semantic problems, filtering, in-group language, status differences, pr oxemics behavior, time pressures, and communication overload. These sources of noise can exist in twain organizational and interpersonal communication theory.Barriers Created by the SenderThere are five special(prenominal) barriers created by senders of communication.1.Semantic ProblemsCommunication has been be as the transmission of information and understanding through the use of viridity symbols. Actually, we cannot transmit understanding. We can merely transmit information in the form of voice communication, which are the common symbols. Unfortunately, the same words may mean entirely incompatible things to diametrical people. The understanding is in the receiver, not in the words.Because unalike groups use words differently, communication can frequently be impeded. E.g. When your political boss tells you, We need to complete this project right away, what does it mean? Does we mean just you? You and your coworkers?Or you, your coworkers, and the boss? Does right away mean today, tomorrow, or next week? These are examples of semantic barriers. Semantics is the study of words.Thus, because words mean different things to different people, a communicator may speak the same language as a receiver but still not achieve the intended goal of the communication.2.FilteringFiltering, a common occurrence in upward communication in organizations, refers to the employment of information so that the receiver perceives it as positive. Filtering may involve deleting or delaying negative information or using less harsh words so the message sounds more favorable. For example, subordinates cover up unfavorable information in messages to their superiors. The reason for such filtering should be clear this is the direction (upward) that carries have got information to management. Management makes merit evaluations. Grants salary increases, and promotes individuals based on what it receives by way of the upward channel. The temptation to filter is plausibly to be r einforced at every train in the organization.3.In-Group LanguageOccupational, professional, and social groups practically develop words or phrases that have meaning unaccompanied to members. such special language can serve many useful purposes. It can provide members with feelings of belonging, cohesiveness, and (in many cases) self-esteem it can in any case facilitate effective communication within the group. The use of in-group language can, however, result in dread(a) communication breakdowns when outsiders or other groups are involved. Management, in this case, should provide communication skills training to affected individuals to facilitate effective communication between involved parties.4.Status DifferencesOrganizations often express hierarchical rank through a diversity of symbols (titles, offices, etc.). Such status differences can be perceived as threats by persons lower in the hierarchy, and this can prevent or distort communication. For example, not wanting to lo ok incompetent, a go down on may remain quietly instead of expressing an opinion or asking a question of the treat supervisor.5.Time PressuresThe pressure of time presents an important barrier to communication. Managers dont have time to communicate frequently with every subordinate. However, time pressures can often lead to far more serious problems than this. Short-circuiting is a failure of the officially prescribed communication system that often results from time pressures. What it actor is merely that someone has been left out of the formal channel of communication who would unremarkably be included.For example, suppose a salesperson needs a spate order for an important customer and goes forthwith to the performance manager with the request, since the production manager owes the salesperson a favor. Other members of the sales force who get word of this become upset over this preferential treatment and taradiddle it to the sales manager. Obviously, the sales manager would know nothing of the deal having been swindle circuited. In some cases, going through formal channels is exceedingly costly or even impractical from a practical standpoint. engage the impact on a hospital patient if a nurse had to report a critical malfunction in life live equipment to the nursing team leader, who in turn had to report it to the hospital engineer, who would instruct a staff engineer to make the repair.Barriers Created by the ReceiverIn some situations barriers are created by receivers.1.Selective ListeningIn this form of selective perception, the individual tends to block out new information, especially if it conflicts with existing beliefs. Thus, in a directive from management, the receiver notices only things that reaffirm his beliefs. Things that conflict with conceive notions are each ignored or distorted to confirm those preconceptions. For example, a notice may be sent to all operating departments that cost must be reduced if the organization is to earn a profit. The communication may not achieve its desired effect because it conflicts with the perceived veracity of the receivers. Thus, operating employees may ignore or be amused by such information in light of the whopping salaries, travel allowances, and spending accounts of some executives. Whether such preconceptions are justified is irrelevant whats important is that they result in breakdowns in communication. In other words, if we only turn around what we want to hear, our reality cant be disturbed.2.Value JudgmentsIn every communication situation, the receiver makes value judgments. This basically involves assigning an overall expenditure to a message prior to receiving the entire communication. Value judgments may be based on the receivers evaluation of the communicator, previous experiences with the communicator, or on the messages anticipated meaning. For example, a college professor, perceiving the department chairperson as not being concerned enough about t eaching quality, may consider a merit evaluation meeting with the chairperson as going through the motions. A cohesive work group may form negative value judgments concerning all actions by management.3.Source credibilitySource credibility is the trust, confidence, and faith that the receiver has in the words and actions of the communicator. The level of credibility that the receiver assigns to the communicator in turn directly affects how the receiver views and reacts to the communicators words, ideas, and actions. Thus, subordinates evaluation of their manager affects how they view a communication from her. This, of course, is heavily influenced by previous experiences with the manager. Again, we see that everything done by a manager communicates. coalescency leading who view management as exploiters and managers who view union leaders as political animals are likely to engage in small-minded honest communication.Barriers Created by the Sender and/or ReceiverSenders and/or rec eivers similarly create barriers in organizational communication. For example, there are three specific types of barriers.1.Frame of ReferenceDifferent individuals can interpret the same communication differently, depending on previous experiences that result in variations in the encoding and decoding processes. Communication specialists agree that this is the most important factor that breaks down the commonness in communications. When the encoding and decoding processes arent alike, communication tends to break down. Thus while the communicator actually speaks the same language as the receiver, the message conflicts with how the receiver catalogs the world. The indoor areas represent the accumulated experiences of the participants in the communication process. If they share a large area, effective communication is facilitated. If a large area is not shared if there has been no common experience then communication becomes impossible or, at best, highly distorted. Communicators can encode and receivers can decode only in terms of their experiences.Distortion often occurs because of participants differing frames of reference. Teenagers perceive things differently than do their parents college deans perceive problems differently than do faculty members. People in unlike organizational functions can also interpret the same situation differently. A business problem may be viewed differently by the merchandise manager than by the production manager. Different levels in the organization also have different frames of reference. First-line supervisors frames of reference differ in many prise from those of vice presidents. Their different positions in the organization structure influence their frames of reference. As a result, their needs, values, attitudes, and expectations differ, often resulting in unintentional distortion of communication.2.Proxemic BehaviorAn important but often overlooked element of nonverbal communication is proxemics, defined as an indiv iduals use of s pacing when interpersonally communicating with others. agree to Edward Hall, a prominent researcher of proxemics, people have four zonas of easy space spatial distances they maintain when interacting with others the intimate zone (from physical contact to 18 inches), the personal zone (from 18 inches to 4 feet), the social zone (from over 4 to 12 feet), and the public zone (more than 12 feet). For Americans, manager-subordinate relationships come in the social zone and progress to the personal zone subsequently mutual trust has developed. An individuals personal and intimate zones make up a private bubble of space that is considered private territory, not to be entered by others unless invited.Proxemics creates a significant communication barrier when the proxemics behaviors of the sender and receiver differ. For example, assume that, like most Americans, you stand in the social zone while interacting at a social gathering such as a cocktail party. However, in t he southwest American culture, a personal-zone distance is considered more natural in such situations. When a South American businessperson youre talking with at a cocktail party assumes a personal-zone distance, how do you feel? Typically in such situation, an individual feels so uncomfortable with the person standing too close that any verbal communication isnt heard. Conflicting proxemic behavior can also affect each individuals perceptions of the other you may view the South American as pushy and aggressive she may see you as cold and impolite.3.Communication OverloadOne vital travail performed by a manager is decision making. One of the necessary factors in effective decisions is information. The go away decade has often been described as the time when information technology radically changed the corporate landscape. Technology has great potential to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of organizational communication. Because of the advances, the difficulty does n ot lie in generating information. Rather, manager often feel buried by a glut of information and data. As a result, people cant receive or adequately respond to all of the messages directed to them. They screen out the majority of messages, which in effect means that these messages are never decoded. Thus, in the area of organizational communication, more isnt always better.cross-cultural AND GENDER COMMUNICATIONLanguage is the most obvious cross-cultural communications challenge. Words are easily misunderstood in verbal communication, either because the receiver has a limited vocabulary or the senders accent distorts the usual sound of some words.Voice intonation is another cross-cultural communication barrier, because how loudly, deeply, and quickly we speak sends secondary messages that have different meaning in different cultures. Communication includes silence, but its use and meaning varies from one culture to another. In Japan, silence symbolizes respect and indicates that the listener is thoughtfully contemplating what has just been said. Similarly, Japanese people usually stop talking when they are interrupted, whereas talking over the persons speech is more common in Brazil and some other countries. Indeed, Brazilians are more likely to view interruptions as evidence that the other person is involved in the talk.Nonverbal communication represents another potential area for misinterpret crossways culture. Many nonconscious or involuntary nonverbal cues (such as smiling) have the same meaning around the world, but deliberate gestures often have different interpretations. For example, most of us shake our head from side to side to say No, but a variation of head shaking means I understand to many people in India. Filipinos raise their eyebrows to evanesce an affirmative answer, yet Arabs interpret this expression (along with clicking ones tongue) as a negative response.Men and women have similar communication practices, but there are subtle distin ctions that can occasionally lead to misunderstanding and conflict. One distinction is that men are more likely than women to view conversations as negotiations of relative status and power. They assert their power by directly giving advice to others (e.g., You should do the following) and using combative language. There is also evidence that men dominate the talk time in conversation with women, as well as interrupt more and adjust their language style less than do women.REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATUREThe following literature review shows work done by researchers. All are related with communication barriers to distance education and the importantcommunication theories which condone the airing of innovation with telecommunications, the knowledge gap between the members involved in distance education and the uses and gratification of the users of the mass media. According to Galusha(1997) distance education gives people (students) greatest possible control over the time, place and pa ce in education however, it has problems due to loss of student motivations since there is no face-to-face contact, startup cost and lack of faculty strengthener. Such problems are categorized into three main groups as student barriers, faculty barriers, and organizational barriers. Problems and barriers encountered by students are costs and motivators, the feedback and teacher contact, the student support and services, the alienation and isolation, the lack of experience, and training related.Barriers related with faculty are the result of the lack of staff training, the lack of support for distance learning, and the inadequate faculty selection for distance training. Barriers encountered by the organization are the infrastructure and technology related problems, and the present challenge. Heidi et al. (2002) examine the ideal combination of self-paced learning and interactivity is offered by distance education. Such learning requires online discussions, email support collaboratio n and interactive first appearance of the students. All of which are possible through a healthy communication between participants and design groups for overcoming barriers to a successful delivery of distance learning courses. Asirvatham(2000) points out that opportunity to educate work force for all companies and industries could not be always possible in a classroom-oriented learning automated teller for all to participate. Therefore, distance education becomes a powerful advantage to thrash great distance problems among the education institutions and people.Alternative ways oftechnology provide satisfactory tools to establish a healthy communication and interaction among members in distance education. And regardless of all its problems, distance education is a good opportunity to compete with traditional classroom format. Eisinger(2000) points out that that education showed an evolution from nut case and blackboard education to distance online learning activities. The study defines adult educators and the grandness of understanding learners autonomy as being instructors. In addition to this, there are some aspects like the lack of non-verbal cues which creates misunderstanding through the global interaction. Also, challenges to distance education are created due to the different needs and expectations of every learning environment. According to Berge (1998), impediments to online teaching and learning can be situational, epistemological, philosophical, psychological, pedagogical, technological, social, and cultural and include faceless teaching, fear of computers replacing faculty, diffusion of value traditionally placed on getting a degree, faculty culture, lack of an adequate time-frame to implement online courses.It is easy to go wrong when learning system is technologically advanced, there is resistant to change, and the lack of technological helper is present. The most critical barriers, as Berge found in his survey, appear related to persons r esistance to or fear of the many changes that must occur at the individual and organizational level, the lack of support for the ever-changing roles of students and teachers, and other barriers arising from difficulties in assessment. Berge (2001) also points out that toward the use of distance education organizations or administrations face different barriers. The study tries to find out if there is any unknown barrier to distance education which is different from technical and interaction problems. The emphasis of the research study is on designers or organizations of distance education and their reflective action to distance education. Muilenburg and Berge (2001) point out the fundamental constructs that comprise barriers to distance education in their exploratory factor outline research.The ten factors found are administrative structure, organizational change, technical expertise, social interaction and quality, faculty compensation and time, threat of technology, legal issue s, evaluation/effectiveness, access, and student support services. To determine these ten factors,they made a survey with cardinal four different barrier items to 2054 members, and concluded that some barriers overlap with one or more different factors. Truman (1995) concludes that the methods and techniques to accomplish learning will be the most important. Those that eliminate communication barriers confront by nontraditional learners or students. In her study, that the delivery system in distance education may not be so important, she discussed the important barriers like money, equipment, time, student information perceptions and their understanding how the technology itself shapes the information it carries to differentiate junk information from facts.Pajo (2001) finds that the different roles of personal and attitude wise barriers predict current use and incoming intentions to adopt web-based technology. Current use of the technology is closely associated with personal barri ers of those who lack competence in skills needed to use web-based delivery in their distance education. These personal barriers may hinder the individual from transferring his/her intentions into behavior. Leach and Walker (2000) lay out that the instructors feedback to students is vital in distance education for their self-evaluation, task orientation, instructor support, and flexibility. Also they point out that the amount of students experience with technology is directly correlated in determining if technology used in distance education is a barrier.All technology concerns must be minimized, and the programs offered must be designed accordingly if a successful online education is to be attained. Cucek(2001) in his research study on distance education students he asks questions to Boise State University students in order to measure students satisfaction with their distance education classes, perceived access to support services, and differences in their classroom behaviors in d istance education and traditional face-to-face classes.The answers are mainly concentrated upon main problems (barriers) to the successful completion of their distance education courses. Almost all responses are related to course issues, time issues, personal issues, administrative, and technical issues. Course related barriers are the lack of interaction, course structure and accessing resources. Barriers related with time were the lack of time, personal commitments, and course work that takes too much time. Motivation and self-discipline comprised personal issues. The lack of expertise made up the technical problems.Finally, administrative problems are related to cost, course availability, obtaining course materials, and administrative support.