Tag: Uncategorized

This week in Situated Communications, We had a workshop which took place in wooded area beside the university. This was a workshop where communication was necessary as there was team work involved but also we had to use our communication wisely as we were in an environment that was different to previous workshops and lectures. The main task was to build and create a den in teams of 6 or 7 and use our communication skills to discuss the task within our groups but to also communicate outside of our groups through communication and presentation.

In terms of group and leadership, I personally don’t think that our group had a team leader as well all contributed our thoughts and ideas and worked together to ensure that all thoughts were taken into consideration. I think we chose this style as many of us had never worked together before and by working together without someone leading allowed us to get to know each other more and feel more comfortable in the group setting. I personally don’t feel like anyone was excluded from the group because of this method as I have previously mentioned, everyones thoughts were listened to and we all made decisions together ensuring that no one was feeling left out and to make us all as equal as possible. My challenge in this setting was that I had only really communicated with 2 or 3 of my team members and I know that sometimes I can be quite awkward and struggle to communicate in new surroundings, however I think I done quite well as I had communicated with every member within the first 5 minutes of the activity and this has made me feel more confident for future group tasks.

During this task, we were paired with another group where we had to present our den and explain our thought process and how we worked as team. While listening to the other group, I think they explained quite well as they made their main points clear which allowed us to make connections between what they were saying and the den in front of us and also they projected well in the outdoor environment. Their explanation was clear as they used volume, fluency and expression which helped me to engage into their presentation. I think the group just needed some extra preparation time as they hadn’t allowed themselves enough time to plan out their points between them and get a general plan of who was explaining which part of their den and teamwork.

In the context of the outdoor environment, our communication skills were not effected greatly as the weather was good and their was no high winds or rain, however, when using the equipment and moving twigs and logs etc. the noise could be quite loud so we had to project our conversations. When comparing to a classroom environment, we made a point about how timing would have been slightly different and also there would be more materials within the classroom which may have benefitted our creation. If the environment had been windy, I think talking would have been more difficult as the sounds would have been distracting and you would have to have a greater volume so that others could hear you well. When listening I think the environment could distract you as you may be looking at other teams and seeing their dens and also the wind or rain would be very distracting as you may want shelter and also the noises may be louder than on a sunny day.

A part of this task was to negotiate with other groups. Our group tried twice and failed both times. The first time, all groups already had all the materials that they needed and we had nothing to offer them that they wanted and it was hard to persuade them. The second time, we tried to negotiate team members help and none of the groups were needing help as it was nearing the end of the task. I think the most challenging thing about these negotiations was that there was limited materials and groups had already chosen materials which they knew were essential for their dens and that the timing of your negotiation had to be perfect as if you left it too late, teams were not willing to try and negotiate back.

Overall, I enjoyed this workshop and I feel my communications skills have benefitted greatly as I have started to become more confident when talking to others.

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

On Monday 24th of September we explored the outdoors and made ourselves a den in our allocated groups. In my particular group we didn’t have a team leader as we all wanted to have specific roles and help each other rather than one person deciding what everyone was to do. My role in the group was to break apart the boxes with another group member to create a wall, whilst other members of the group created the roof and other walls. As our group decided to work individually on different tasks it meant we could manage our time usefully and then start planning on what to do next as we had extra time. However i do believe the most challenging part of our group was deciding who was going to do what role as we were all new to outdoor learning and none of us really knew what we would be good or bad at but overtime we began to realize who was suited to what role. For example i started off breaking the boxes however i did struggle to do this and swapped with another team member to doing the roof as i found this easier and also made the group task go by more effectively.

 

Once we all finished our dens we then got partnered up with another group to explain how we built our den and how we decided to work as a team. The team we were with did a great job at explaining how they built their den for example the told us why the used string and cardboard for their door as it made the door swing like a normal door would. However i did feel like they struggled to explain how the group came together and what their roles were during the task. Out of the 5p’s i feel the group covered most of them very well however i feel their preparation could have been slightly better however the group did say that they struggled with time creating their den which effectively shows that they recognise how to change this in the future. For my group out of the 5p’s i feel we struggled with presentation too as we quickly had to figure out what to say and it was dificuilt to explain the den. This is also something i found particularly difficult when it came to explaining the den with my group as we often do things without actually thinking about it especially when making a den is something you don’t do often so this task helped me get a little better at explaining why i dd something. for example my group decided to each explain a part of the den and i explained the location of our den and that we put it in this area as there was ready natural materials nearby.

 

Working in an unfamiliar environment meant that we had to change the way we spoke. Luckily due to our location choice we had much less wind than the other groups did but even with the slightest wind meant we had to speak slightly louder to ensure everyone could hear me, not only the wind but the distance was different to being indoors as people in my group could be further away than when indoors which also meant raising my voice to be heard. In the outdoors we also had to keep an extra eye open as their are many objects covering people such as trees so when going to communicate you had to go out your way to see the person rather than in an indoor classroom setting where everyone is relatively visible. One of the ways to make communication easier outdoors would be to gather everyone round close by when something needs to be said or go close to the particular person to be heard. When explaining our den to the other group i noticed myself using a lot more hand gestures to direct my audience in what i was saying for example i had to say that in our location we found nearby broken off branches which we used as walls and as i said this i pointed out the broken tree branches original location and then pointed to where we moved them to. When listening to the other group speaking about their den i did find myself losing concentration to the surrounding groups talking around us as we were all particularly close at this point.

 

For our negotiation stage as a team we decided to send off two of our members to take on this task as they felt most confident to do so. We sent away two materials for use in swap for just one in return, we thought this might help us gain a good material for out den but unfortunately out negotiating did not work out and we had to use our own materials. We believe our negation didn’t work due to the material of our offer being polystyrene meaning they it was a cautious material to swap for.  The most challenging part of this was saying no to the other groups offers a i almost felt kind of rude but this is what we had to do for out den.

Overall the outdoor experience helped me understand that it is vital to adapt our communication skills in different environments to ensure we put across all information we give out effectively to keep the children engaged and also for them to enjoy the lessons outdoors.

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

On the 24th of September, we took part in an outdoors workshop as part of the situated communication module which looked at communicating in different environments. We had to work in small teams of about 6 or 7 people to build a den with a limited number of resources provided.

In our own group, there wasn’t an official group leader selected but it was obvious who took on the role. She was very forward from the beginning and knew exactly how to go about creating the den and was able to delegate different tasks to everyone to make sure we were all included but also so that we used our time effectively. I think this worked really well for our group as none of us were really familiar with each other so it allowed us to get on with the job and not waste time because everyone would’ve felt a bit awkward and wouldn’t have wanted to voice their opinions.  The most challenging aspect of working in the group for me was feeling like I was contributing enough. I was taking part and helping the team but it felt like when everyone else finished their task, they easily moved on to something new and I felt like I struggled to know where to go and that sometimes that was because I wasn’t close to the people in the group so I didn’t wasn’t to intrude on someone and then upset them.

Part of the task was to explain to one of the other groups how we built our den.  The other group explained their construction relatively simply and clearly but they didn’t put a lot of thought into it. It was more simple statements rather than explanations and I found my attention drifting towards other areas as the group wasn’t very captivating.  However, the main point of the explanation task was to come across clear so that you were understood and the other group definitely achieved this.

The environment definitely had an impact on the way we communicated, within our group and then to the other group when discussing our den.  I noticed from myself that if the information wasn’t particularly interesting or wasn’t presented in a way that made it interesting, I would end up looking around and paying more attention to the trees and different noises that surrounded us rather then the group doing their presentation. So this made me realise that when we done our explanation we had to do something different which is why we decided to split the explaining between all the members o f the group. This meant it the information didn’t just come all from the one person which sometimes, if its a lengthy piece of info, can be quite boring and by adding that to the distractions created by the woodland, people lose interest quickly.  One way to also try and overcome being distracted whilst listening is use demonstrations. This way the group is focused on watching something as well as listening which I thought helped to keep peoples attention.

We also received a negotiation task, which for our group, was to try and negotiate an item from another team that appeared vital to their den. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful. We tried to swap an item of our own in exchange for something of theirs but nobody would budge. We tried a friendly approach and tried to make the other teams pity us so we could get some good materials but everyone was in the mood to win. Another tactic we could’ve tried was to be confident and just keep pushing rather then give up at the first hurdle. However, that method wasn’t a first choice on the day probably down to the fact that not everyone knows each other and you don’t want to create a bad impression with the people you’re spending the next four years with.