USING VIRTUAL INTERACTIONS TO ENHANCE THE TEACHING OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS

Global technological changes have reconfigured the lives of university students significantly. Today, students are immersed in web technologies in an uncharacteristic way; blogging, chatting or twitting. Consequently, this generation of students brings different technological experiences and interests to universities, compelling lecturers to rethink the way they design and deliver course materials. The digital world has therefore had visible implications for the development of curricula and the process of teaching and learning in universities including Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) – South Africa. Although there is a growing interest in virtual teaching and learning at CPUT, traditional methods are still useful given the differences in learning styles and technological experiences of its students.

In this article I have reflected on the way I used virtual interactions and other computer-assisted activities as a complementary strategy to teach communication skills to first-year Information Technology (IT) students at CPUT. The article is based on my personal experiences and observations as well as student reflections and feedback after engaging in different online and classroom-based activities in the same course. In this context, using both approaches complementarily has been rewarding in many ways. Firstly, it has been able to cater for the diversity in my classroom. It has also promoted peer interaction and participation, making the process of teaching and learning more collaborative and exciting. Thirdly, it has facilitated the achievement of the specific and critical cross-field outcomes of the course.