Angelica Abalos September 3, 2021

Section 26 (T/F; 12:00-13:30) Speech Communication

Formative Assessment #1: Reflective Essay

Answer the following questions:

1. What makes communication effective? Is it through digital technology? Prove your

answer.

2. Does technology serve human purposes? How does it affect us? To your family,

friends and loved ones

People can communicate and interact with people who are not in their near vicinity due

to technological advances. According to Robinson (2021), It takes more than exchanging facts

to communicate effectively. It's all about understanding the reasons and feelings that lay

underlying the information. You must be able to not only send a message but also listen to

everything the other person says in order to feel acknowledged and understood. In addition,

there are five different approaches to having an effective conversation. "Understanding the

need, Learn to Listen, Manage Passive Communication, Consider Non-Verbal Image, and

Know Your Audience" (Brooks, 2014) are those ways to communicate.

Communication and technology are not mutually exclusive. With the evolution of

online communication, technology can aid communication skills by allowing people to learn

written communication to audiences. With technology as a standard in most office work

environments, employees and managers must learn new ways to communicate in-person during

meetings and daily work routines. (Dispatch, 2018) It appears that digital technology

communication has had such a negative impact on communication that people have forgotten

to speak to others in person. When conveying a message or information, make sure the

individual to whom you're speaking understands it. As someone who interacts with others

through digital technology, I can tell you that expressing your feelings through the sentences
Angelica Abalos September 3, 2021
Section 26 (T/F; 12:00-13:30) Speech Communication

you use in chats is difficult. Other people's understanding is different from what they read in

messages. Misunderstanding even a little phrase in a message could lead to ineffective

communication.

I have heard or read this somewhere that technology is something invented to make

human life easy. Our smartphones are one example of technology that has become a part of our

daily lives. That these phones are becoming a necessity already and living without them is not

like living at all. Given our current situation, where we are facing a pandemic, we are far from

our friends and families. This technology is helping us a lot in communicating with them. We,

as humans, have this purpose in communicating with them; some people believe that not being

able to interact with others makes them lonely, which can lead to depression.

Because technology is constantly growing, it has a variety of effects on us. It can help

us communicate with individuals who are far away, but it also tends to distance us from those

who are close to us. We are only four people in our family, but I feel as if we are a long way

apart. Even if we are only a room apart, we sometimes just talk to each other on Facebook

Messenger for the sake of convenience. We're used to talking to other people on our phones

but talking to each other feels weird. Privacy is also something that bothers me because I can

open up to friends more than my family. In life, everything has its advantages and

disadvantages. All we have to do now is figure out how to find the right balance in this

circumstance. "Everything that is overused can create harm," as they say.

Angelica Abalos September 3, 2021
Section 26 (T/F; 12:00-13:30) Speech Communication

References.

Brooks, S. (2014, August 5). 5 ways to make communication more effective. TTI Success

Insights. https://blog.ttisi.com/5-ways-make-communication-effective

D. (2018, August 27). Technology has the ability to foster better communication skills, not

hinder them. The NYU Dispatch. https://wp.nyu.edu/dispatch/2018/08/27/technology-

has-the-ability-to-foster-better-communication-skills-not-hinder-them/

Robinson, L. (2021, July 15). Effective Communication. HelpGuide.Org.

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/effective-

communication.htm#