Developing Your Communication Skills | Origin: ED106
This is a general discussion forum for the following learning topic:
Enhancing Student Learning --> Developing Your Communication Skills
Post what you've learned about this topic and how you intend to apply it. Feel free to post questions and comments too.
I learned how important clear, intentional communication is in keeping students engaged, especially through purposeful movement, varied voice, and using memorable examples. I plan to apply this by being more mindful of my pacing, body language, and vocal delivery so my instruction stays clear, engaging, and easy for students to follow.
I learned that supporting students with learning disabilities often involves flexible accommodations across presentation, response, timing, setting, and materials. Simple adjustments can significantly improve access to learning without lowering expectations. Being proactive, responsive, and structured helps create an equitable learning environment where students can demonstrate their true abilities
I learned that effective teaching starts with intentional self-assessment being mindful of my voice, clarity, confidence, and presence so my communication truly reaches students. Instruction requires mastering the core “recipe” of goals and structure before creatively adapting techniques to enhance learning. By setting small, deliberate improvement goals (like movement or delivery), I can steadily strengthen my instructional impact over time.
Engagement with adult learners is multi-facetted. It is more than just delivering content and involves drawing on past experiences of adult learners, giving examples that are meaningful and various other strategies to keep students interested.
Developing effective communication requires mastering proxemics by moving throughout the room to break the "podium barrier" and maintaining high self-monitoring to eliminate distracting fidgeting. I plan to apply these techniques by consciously varying my physical location to include all students and utilizing intentional gestures rather than holding markers or clickers.
I like the idea of moving around the room to keep students involved in the conversation.
By moving around the class room you can connect with more students and not just those at the front of the class room
Moving around makes students less nervous and allows students to pay more attention to you without being behind a desk.
mention how to interact during the lecture with the students was so helpful
Fidgeting is one of my main issues. I make sure to set the slide clicker down and gesture with my arms vs a digital white board in my hand.
Keep the students engaged by moving throughout the classroom, making sure the tone in my voice is light and energetic and my concepts are relatable to draw in the students.
Movements exemplifying the information as I am presenting it rather than distracting movements that take away from the presentation requires a conscience effort to maintain the applicable flow and timing. I personally need to concentrate on not going to fast both in speech and in movement and no fidgeting.
self note to be aware of fidgeting with hands while speaking, i tend to have a whiteboard marker in hand. or mouse, take more time to walk around and occupy other areas of classroom behind screens especially
Keeping the audience engaged by manipulating the way you talk and moving around the room (floating) are great techniques I will look to use.
If you are a strong lecturer, don't let others tell you not to lecture. Some of the best faculty can build learning within their lecturesd and would not be considered a sage on the stage.
Floating around the classroom and using different tones of voice really keeps the students attention especially if you ask questions to students randomly to keep them on their toes to include repetition
Nelia Diaz The movement And gesture are an essential part of teaching ,actions speak louder than words.
To use pace, pitch and volume more effectively.
making eye contact and gestures can help your audience stay engaged
