Debbie D. DuFrene

The Social Networking Arena: Battle of the Sexes

Social networking via texting, Facebook, Twitter, and similar media is enormously popular with students, though it often leads to communication challenges along gender lines. Research supports the fact that men and women have divergent expectations for social networking and use it differently. Students can benefit from classroom experiences that raise their awareness of communication challenges associated with social networking and encourage them to assess their own areas for improvement.

YouTube Video Project: A "Cool" Way to Learn Communication Ethics

THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION embraces new technologies as a natural way of accessing and exchanging information, staying connected, and having fun. YouTube, a video-sharing site that allows users to upload, view, and share video clips, is among the latest “cool” technologies for enjoying quick laughs, employing a wide variety of corporate activities, and also communicating relevant, engaging instructional content for today’s students. This article describes a YouTube video class project that is a natural fit with today’s students because it involves cutting-edge social media while addressing a critical component of professional development— communication ethics. This project encourages critical thinking, creativity, and applied learning in a team environment using a “cool” new media tool.

The Structure and Content of the Introductory Business Communication Course.

environment (Means, 1983), and employers rate interpersonal communication skills as high among competencies necessary to successful job performance (English and McCormack, 1984). The business communication instructor is faced with the challenge of developing and/or refining these critical skills in an extremely condensed time frame. Although instructors typically feel that at least two courses are needed to adequately develop required skills (Johnson, 1983), the majority of four-year institutions still require only one course in business communication, the majority of which is typically devoted to written communication (Johnson and White, 1984). Because many students present in the business communication course lack basic skills in punctuation and grammar, the instructor must somehow address these basic skills in

Bringing Outdoor Challenge Education Inside the Business Communication Classroom.

Outdoor challenge education has gained a dedicated following since its inception in the 1940s. Outdoor programs provide a framework for organizations to improve teamwork, problem solving, risk-taking, self-esteem, and interpersonal communi cation. The advantages of outdoor-based programs include high participation in learning by trainees, opportunity to experience real emotions and adopt new pat terns of thinking, ability to promote experimentation in problem solving, and pro motion of group awareness and trust. Many advantages of outdoor education can be maintained when a program goes indoors. Indoor adaptations are safe and nondiscriminatory; they can be conducted anywhere regardless of weather, can facilitate easier transfer of learning to the workplace, and are less expensive. Using the outdoor model, teachers can devise challenge activities for classroom use. Such activities provide variety and the opportunity for experiential learning in the busi ness communication classroom.

The External Ethics Audit: A Guided Experience in Self-Directed Web Inquiry

This paper reviews the literature related to internalethics audits and describes a class project thatinvolves the preparation of an external ethics auditvia web-based self-directed student inquiry. Theactivity promotes higher level thinking includingcritical exploration, analysis, synthesis, andevaluation. The assignment includes the followingcomponents: (1) consideration of ideas concerningcomponents of successful ethics programs, as presentedin identified background readings (available infull-text over the Internet); (2) identification ofrecommended elements for building a successful ethicsprogram and an ethical corporate culture; (3)location, via the Internet, of the corporate code ofethics of a selected organization; (4) analysis of theadequacy of the ethics program of the selectedorganization as compared to recommended elements; (5)investigation (through additional reading, interviews,etc.) of the corporate culture of the selectedorganization; and (6) preparation of an ethics auditinvolving the comparison of the selectedorganizations code of ethics to its actual corporateculture and behaviors, and including the areas thatare well addressed by the organization and those thatneed further attention.

Effective Co-Authoring for Business Communication Academicians

Co-authoring offers a viable alternative to solo work for business communicators endeavoring to achieve scholarly productivity. While many in our discipline recognize the value of collaborative writing activities for students, the inherent advantages have not been thoroughly examined for the academician. Co-authoring is used in this article in a general sense; we see it as being achievable in a number of ways. For instance, team members may collaborate on each section, actually writing the paper together; or co-authoring may be accomplished by dividing a project into separate parts that

Best Practices for Launching a Flipped Classroom

Popularity is growing for flipped classroom instruction, which replaces lectures with out-of-class delivery of streaming video, reading materials, online chats, and other modalities. Face-to-face class time is spent on instructor-student and student-student interaction, including small group problem solving and discussion. Classroom flipping has its advocates and critics. Because of the theoretical and applied aspects of business and professional communication instruction, courses in the discipline seem ideally suited to flipped instruction. This research reports on perceptions from instructors who have employed the instructional model, summarizes the insights gained, identifies best practices, and makes recommendations for future research and application.

Persuasive Appeal for Clean Language.

THE PUBLIC USE OF LANGUAGE historically seen as pro1 HE ’ fane and obscene is increasing in American society. Television and movies have become inundated with profanity, and profane language is rampant in radio talk shows, sports, and other social arenas. Business communication students can benefit from a heightened awareness of the social impact of profanity and a broadened understanding of the growing public backlash against profanity, as supported by many educators, social activists, and employers. Students also need to know that inappropriate lan. guage can cause a multiplicity of problems, ranging from the projecting of a negative image for one’s self and the organization to the creation of a hostile work environment. One way to expose students to the problems associated with profanity is to tie the exploration and discussion of the issue to the persuasive writing assignment that is common in many undergraduate business com, munication courses. This article discusses such an assignment.

Navigating Change Employee Communication in Times of Instability

Employees often perceive periods of change—no matter how warranted or beneficial—as crises, exhibiting both cognitive and emotional reactions including feelings of insecurity and uncertainty, even fear, chaos, stress, betrayal, grief, and anger. Management must have a clear strategy for communicating with employees through change, as employee expectations for open and honest communication are increased in times of shift and uncertainty. Open, honest, and regular communication is essential to keeping employees motivated and productive. Benefits of effective communication in times of change include higher employee satisfaction and engagement, lower turnover, and stronger long-term commitment. Solid internal relationships also strengthen ethics-related outcomes such as fraud reduction and reputation management.

Business Communication: A Major Whose Time Has Come.

communication. Harris and Bryant report that 84 percent of the Fortune 500 companies surveyed have a communication manager. Moreover, the position has existed for a substantial period of time and is typically accorded high rank within the corporation (Harris & Bryant, 1986). All business practitioners need strong communication skills. In Wood and Mattox’ 1989 survey of 300 executives from 35 states, business communication was listed as the most relevant course in the business cur-