MODULE 6

TOPIC: COMMUNICATION AIDS AND STRATEGIES

USING TOOLS OF TECHNOLOGY

Module Overview: This module is designed for Criminology students to expose to mass media and visually
oriented. And able to use presentational aids (visual, audio, audio-visual or multimodal materials) in a speech
for the purpose of helping the audiences understand some points of their speech.

Module Outcomes:

At the end of the module the students should have;

 applied appropriate strategies for effective communication in context

 conveys idea through oral, audio- visual, and we based presentation or different target audiences.
 evaluate the impact of technology upon various modes of communication; and

Module Content:

PREPARING AUDIO VISUAL PRESENTATION

COMMUNICATION IN SOCIAL MEDIA

COURSE Content

Activity Description Time

Overview
1 Interactive Discussion/Power point presentation through 30 minutes
Messenger
2 Video Clip Presentation 10 minutes
3 Discussion 20 minutes

DISCUSSION

We live in a time when communication is visual and verbal, and the used of visual aids can further
strengthen the message we want to convey. Be it a student or a professional, everyone experiences speaking
before an audience and in these days, there is no better way to speak before crowd without using visuals
materials to accompany the talk.

The application of technology to further your cause is a challenging undertaking to begin with. Living in
a digital climate requires us to become more sensitive to their uses to be able to stay on track. In
communication, one is now given an array of options by which messages are conveyed.

Preparing Audio-Visual Presentation

 When we said speak of audio-visual (AV) aids, these refer to devices with both a sound and a visual
component which are used for presentation and dissemination of knowledge. Slide tape presentations, films,
and television programs are some examples of audio-visual presentations.

There are various types of audio-visual material ranging from film strips, microfilms, slides, projected
opaque materials, tape recording and flashcards. In fact, students nowadays love to watch an educational
movie than to read a book. Thus, teachers have started incorporating audio-visual aids, i.e. video presentation,
power point slides show, etc. in the classroom sessions

Advantages of having Audio- visuals

Audio- visuals aids are very useful for the teaching process as they make an explanation of a difficult
topic into an easy one. Below are some of the benefits of audio-visual aids;

1. They catch the audience attention and help them to get involved into the learning process without
problem. They help present the materials in an attractive way so that it is more meaningful for everyone
to process the subject.
2. They help the audience better understand the intended message or topic. The visual aids can help
emphasize the important points. The message becomes immediately apparent.
3. They make the audience remember the concept for longer period of time. They make the presentation
more memorable and thus, increase the chances that what the speaker said will be remembered.
4. They make the class more interesting, dynamic and effective. The colourful and animated visuals can
trigger the imagination of the audience and heighten their interest in the subject matter.
5. They help students to experience things virtually or vicariously.
6. They provide opportunities for effective communication between the speaker and his audience.
7. They help in maintaining discipline in the class since all the students’ attention is focused in learning.

Guidelines for Using Visual Aids

They key preparing effective audio-visual aids is to remember that they are only aids. Their role is to
add a visual dimension to the points that the speaker wants to convey. The audio visual aids cannot make those
points for the speaker, they can only reinforce them, and the following below are some guidelines:

1. Avoid too much information on any single visual.

2. Use boldface type in a font size that can be easily read.
3. Use sand serif type because it produces a sharper image for slides and transparencies.
4. Limit the fonts you use to two per visual.
5. Avoid all caps.
6. Use a type-size- and font- that contrasts distinctly with the background.
7. Avoid visual that use too many colors- more than four on any one aid.
8. If you are preparing slides or transparencies for video conferencing, use the plain background and a
color- such as yellow or light green- and black text. Color can enhance a visual but it can also reduce
the effectiveness of the message. Use good judgement is visual design.
9. Templates available in programs such as PowerPoint are tempting but they may not be readable
when text is placed on them.
10. Avoid making your audience study your aids. If they are busy trying to decipher your visual aids,
they will not be listening to you.
11. Bar graphs, circle graphs, simple diagrams, pictures, and lists are standard types of visual aids.
Whatever aid you decide to use, limit the aid to only the concept, data, or point you are trying to
make. Use bar graphs, line graphs, or circle graphs rather than tables, particularly if the table has
more than one column. Tables are harder to interpret than a graphic presentation of the content.
 12. Keep the time limit for your presentation in mind. About 10 to 15 slides are adequate for short
presentations, equivalent to 15 minutes.

COMMUNICATION IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Social Media

 It is about conversations, community, connecting with the audience and building relationships.
 It is not just about broadcast channel or sales and marketing tool but authenticity and open dialogue
are the key.
 Social media not only allows you to hear what people say about you but also allow you to respond.
 The rise of social media has changed the communication. The increase in in the speed of
communication has created a sense of urgency and need to share the things among people.

The Importance of Social Media in Communication

Social networking offers a platform where business can freely interact with their clients. Effective
communication is importance to both small and large business entities in a way that you can determine the
target audience and convey your message to them with the use of social media.

In social media, it is easier to make a large number of friends within a short time only. You can easily
make conversation with everyone you would just meet.

In social media, you can easily communicate with just a click to your family in far places.

FORMS OF COMMUNICATION

1) TELEGRAMS

It is a messaging app that helps you access the messages from any android or iOS devices as all your
chat messages are stored in a cloud and it can be used on multiple devices

Advantages of Telegrams

1. It has a high security than any other messenger app. The secret chat using encryption technique is an
example for security and privacy. It is fast and your recipient gets the data as quickly as you click the
send button as well as you can send and receive video files up to 1024 MB and share multiple images
and photos.
2. Telegrams offer extremely fast messaging service. It has instant support available on Telegram so that
the users can contact the company for any kind of questions.
3. It has no ads and it is completely free. There is no usage cost company asking after a certain period. It
stores the data in the cloud and it has unlimited cloud storage. You will never lose the data that you
shared.

Disadvantages of Telegrams

1. It can’t know the status of the contacts and it can’t easily figure out the opposite person is online or
offline.
2. It is need to open the app for receiving messages which makes the “instant messaging app” with no
sense and it has no voice messages.
3. It has no multiple selections when you want to send more than one file.
 4. It is not possible to select the multiple files and it can’t upload pictures in some mobiles.
5. The contact list is based on phone number and it requires contact permission on mobile devices.

2) TEXT OR SMS MESSAGES

 SMS stands for (Short Messaging Service).

 SMS on the mobile phone allows you to send short (up to 160 characters) text messages to
someone else’s mobile phone.
 Most people take their mobile phones everywhere; it can be effective for time sensitive
messages.
 People tend to read virtually every text they get unlike junk mails, spams that can be ignored.
 The Messages have to be short; you don’t have much space to get your messages across.
 People respond negatively to the unwanted texts. Make sure you have their permission to send
them text messages.

3) HANDWRITTEN LETTERS

 A handwritten letter is seen as a more personal form of the sender is personally taking the time of their
day to write a letter.
 A handwritten letter is not used as often as e-mail.
 Through a handwritten letter, using a pen or a pencil on paper is a cheap way to communicate with
others.
 Letters can take several times days to be delivered to the sender. Letters can also be misspelled and lost
easily resulting to the writer to rewrite the letter or erase any words written by a pencil, which could
result in smudge marks and can appear dirty and unprofessional.

4) E-MAIL

 It is a system for sending messages from one computer to another compute

 It is a message that is sent electronically from one computer to another.
 Emails are delivered fast when compared to traditional post.
 Emails can be sent and received from any computer anywhere in the world that has an internet
connection.
 Emails can be sent to one person or several people.
 The recipient needs access to the internet to receive email.
 Viruses are easily spread via email.
 There are spams (unsolicited emails, junk mails) in emails

5) FACEBOOK

 Facebook is the most powerful social media and social networking site
 People can use Facebook to connect with friends, family, work colleagues and even meet new people.
 Most people who know how to use computer and internet have a profile on Facebook.

Facebook for Business

 Anyone can take advantage of Facebook to maintain good relationship with others who identify with
certain tastes or products. This is very important because as a business, anyone can sell or promote a products
or services to a highly targeted audience, thus increasing the possibilities of making money in the internet.
 Facebook allows the establishments of partnerships between various projects. Moreover, using a
Facebook Fan Page you can increase your brand value and social media presence for your business. If used
properly, Facebook can help you find new leads and clients

Facebook for News and Information

 The real advantage of Facebook is that it is a real-time social networking site. This makes it one of the
best sources to stay updated with the latest news and information.
 Major news usually goes viral on Facebook and most of the brands use it to announce important things
regarding their products or services.
 Sometimes, Facebook posts can also cause irrelevant information and false misconception of ideas.
Facebook Privacy

 Never give out too much personal information in your Facebook. We should keep in mind the privacy of
our personal data. After it is placed online, we lose all control.

 Many unknown users end up publishing private images and status publicly.

 Some people usually keep their Facebook Friend Lists visible to the public, and this helps the Facebook
stalkers find more information about someone.

Fake Facebook Profiles

 Facebook is full of fake profiles. There is no limit to these profiles. Most of them are created by stalkers
or marketers looking to gain more friends and use it for their marketing purposes.

Facebook is Time Consuming

 Being stay updated about what the friends are doing, people spend too much time on this social
networking site.

 Facebook offers many entertainment applications and games which engage users to great extent and the
Facebook chat and video chat are other time-consuming features.

6) TWITTER

 It is a free social networking; micro blogging service that allows registered members to broadcast short
posts called tweets.

Advantages of Twitter

 Twitter is easy to use; users can follow other people to get the news and updates.

 Twitter has many users; users can find many people and make many friends.

 Twitter is one of the best ways to stay connected with the famous people.

 Twitter is free for the advertisements; users don’t have to face the problem with bunch of
advertisements like the other social networking sites.

 Twitter is fast; when you publish on it, the people following your business will receive the tweet
immediately.

 Business owners can update their customers on all the latest news about their business by using
Twitter.
 Anyone can use Twitter to help the followers know about your new business, product, service, website,
blog. Users can tweet or re-tweet, users can mark favorite, can send tweets by mentioning a specific person,
and can send messages.

Disadvantages of Twitter

 Users can’t upload the videos in Twitter; users can only add the links of different sites. It is not effective
for photo and video sharing, it is not ideal for visual content and it is mostly text-based.

 It has a limited tweets; twitter provides only 140 characters tweet.

 Twitter has many inactive and fake accounts; twitter has billion users, most of them either active or not
used regularly. There are many twitter accounts that are fake, they are made to cheat or harass someone.

7) INSTAGRAM

 It is one of the most popular mobile photos, video sharing application.

 It is a new method of sharing pictures online through social media sites.
 It is a great way of making or meeting friends.

Advantages Of Instagram

 It is easy and fast to post picture or video on instagram; it is a fun way to share the life with friends and
family, users can also share it to Facebook and twitter. It increases the artistic ability by taking pictures.

 It improves the communication with people; users can exchange the information with friends and with
family.

 The best feature of instagram is the high visibility of a post, wherein every post of images can appear in
the newsfeed or home of the followers, the hashtag strategic also enable the capabilities of instagram.

 The business through instagram, can start with small community of costumers and it will grow rapidly
through the visual marketing where in every product, the images makes it the costumer easy to know about the
product instead of just a plain text of information. The post of images will remain forever as long as the user
will not remove it from the account.

SUMMARY

With the rapid rise and spread of Internet Connectivity, the old forms of communication have given way to new
ones that make communication easier and faster. Technology tools in communication such as social
networking sites, for example, are used to connect to distant family and relatives or old friends, to meet new
ones, or to share the most trivial to the important information or ideas. Each tool has its own strengths and
weaknesses. Whatever tool is used, it is important to always be responsible in conveying ideas or delivering
messages.