Topic outline
Communication & Collaboration
"You can't not communicate." (Paul Watzlawick)
Communication connects people. The need to communicate is driven primarily by the need to pass on information and to obtain information. Spreading information, ever faster and more effectively, is something that people in ancient times have already tried their hand at. As early as the reign of Emperor Augustus, a system was created with the cursus publicus - a state news and transport system - which accelerated the transmission of news. A quantum leap in communication came with the invention of telegraphy in the 1830s and, subsequently, with telephony. Telephony had teething problems at the beginning, as the sound quality was perceived as poor and many people simply perceived it as impersonal. It was not until the First World War that the telephone became accepted as a medium of communication. However, it was to take decades before it was fully accepted - namely until the 1970s.
Communication via the Internet did not take so long. The Arpanet (1969), the forerunner of the Internet, was followed by e-mail applications (1971) and finally the World Wide Web (1989). While around 677 million people worldwide used the Internet in 2002, the figure had already risen to 3.6 billion by 2017. Relevant to this development was and is the fact that Internet content is relevant to almost all areas of people's lives, whether for personal development or for everyday professional life. The Internet enables the most diverse forms of communication within social coexistence. However, this requires a certain know-how in order to realize communication processes in a responsible and targeted manner.
Materials for this module- Manual (pdf)
- Curriculum (pdf)
- Learning materials (wiki)
This module is divided into the following subsections:
- Communication
- Negative effects of modern communication
- Messenger services
- Content creation & collaboration tools
- Manual (pdf)
Communication
Communication via the Internet developed rapidly. The Arpanet (1969), the forerunner of the Internet, was followed by e-mail applications (1971) and finally the World Wide Web (1989). While around 677 million people worldwide used the Internet in 2002, the figure had already risen to 3.6 billion by 2017. The decisive factor for this development was and is that the content of the Internet is important for almost all areas of people's lives, whether for personal development or for everyday professional life. The Internet enables the most diverse forms of communication in social interaction. This requires a certain amount of know-how in order to implement communication processes in a responsible and targeted manner. The broad field of digital communication offers various forms of communication, such as synchronous communication (real-time communication) via Skype, video chats, etc. as well as asynchronous communication (real-time communication). as well as asynchronous communication (non-synchronous communication) via e-mail, forums for sending a message, SMS, etc. These forward-looking forms of communication not only overcome time and space, but also pose challenges for their users.
Negative effects of modern communication
Hate Speech
The translation of the term Hate Speech means hate speech and includes both criminally relevant and non-criminally relevant statements that devalue people or even incite hatred and/or violence against them. Legally, these statements include criminal offenses such as incitement to hatred, insult, defamation, coercion, threats, and public solicitation to commit crimes.
The Council of Europe, which launched the No Hate Speech Movement initiative, defines hate speech as follows:
"(...) the term 'hate speech' shall be understood to mean any expression that propagates, incites, promotes or justifies racial hatred, xenophobia, anti-Semitism or other forms of hatred based on intolerance, including intolerance expressed in the form of aggressive nationalism and ethnocentrism, discrimination and hostility towards minorities and people with a migrant background." (Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers, Recommendation No. (97) 20)
Cybermobbing
Communication options via social media and messenger services have become increasingly important in recent years. As useful and beneficial as these means of communication
they also confront society with risks. Cyberbullying in particular is increasingly becoming the focus of public debate. Cyberbullying (hereinafter referred to as cyberbullying) is to be understood de facto as bullying in virtual space.59 The shitstorm, to which insulting, aggressive, threatening statements on the Net are attributed, is also a form of cyberbullying. Other forms of abuse of such means of communication are known as cyber-stalking, the permanent following of people, or happy slapping, the publication of videos filmed with a cell phone showing beating attacks.60 Cybercrime, such as data theft, credit card fraud, etc., also fall into the category of violence on the Internet. Cybergrooming involves approaching people on the Internet to establish sexual contact - a form of sexual harassment.
Messenger services
Instant messenger services have become one of the most important means of communication worldwide. The significant increase in users, supported by the widespread use of smartphones, has completely turned people's communication behavior upside down in the 21st century. Whereas telephone calls used to be indispensable for communication, today it's short messages via WhatsApp and Co. These providers enable extremely flexible communication that is independent of time and place - as long as there is an Internet connection. Messenger services have become an indispensable part of our everyday lives, both in the private sphere and in business and professional communication. Unlike analog means of communication such as telephony, messenger services also enable the transmission of videos, images and documents.
The aim of this chapter is to get to know a variety of messenger services and to develop strategies for evaluating the services for use in private and professional environments.
Content Creation & Collaboration Tools
In the advertising industry, content creation has always been the name of the game, whether it's to increase awareness or to attract new customers. But never before has it been so easy to reach very large populations on such a large scale as it is today. Social media channels are the new drivers of content distribution. Today, anyone can produce their own content and distribute it instantly. Be it via their own website or via social media platforms, for example their own YouTube channel.
The word content comes from the English language and means content. The Anglicism stands above all for content from the media and the Internet. The German Duden defines content as "qualified content, information content especially of websites".
The word "collaboration" comes from Latin and is composed of con (with) and laborare (to work). It primarily means "to work together." In addition, however, the term also describes the process of several people actively working together, usually on an equal footing, on a common task without strictly defined boundaries.
"Collaboration refers to cooperative work among individuals with a common goal."
"Collaboration is the work of two or more individuals on a common material that has been deliberately planned to achieve a common group goal. To achieve this group goal, communication, coordination, and cooperation are necessary between the actors involved"