Digital Communication Barriers

Digital Communication Barriers

Dr .P.Selva Mariammal, Dr.S.Murugan

Librarian, Providence College for Women (Autonomous), Nilgiris Librarian, Sri Paramakalyani Arts & Science College, Alwarkurichi.

ABSTRACT

The concept of communication is a complex process of exchanging information, thoughts and feelings between individuals using a common system of signs, symbols or behaviors. This process consists of several components, including sender, receiver, context, medium, message and feedback. For communication to occur, a message (information, thoughts and feelings) is transmitted by the sender (also called the encoder) through a suitable medium in a given context to a receiver (also called the decoder), who then provides feedback

Keywords – Digital literacy, education, reading, study, on-line communication system design, digital library use.

INTRODUCTION

Higher education institutions are going through major changes in their education and operations. Several influences are driving these major changes. Digital transformation, online courses, digital-navy students, operational costs, and micro and nano degrees are just some examples of these influences. Digital technologies show a range of tools selected to include formalized learning environments in teaching in higher education, and students utilize these tools to promote their learning. Digital literacy, according to the 'American Library Association', is ''the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.'' 6 (https://study.com/academy/ lesson/what-is-digital-literacy- definitionexample.html). Digital literacy encompasses a wide range of ''new'' technologies, even the technology everyone is using to access data/ information. A digitally literate person is the one who is able to find the right tools such as internet, mobile tablets and smart phones to consume information and to share and create content for others. Digital literacy is important in a technology-dependent world.

LITERATURE REVIEW

HTS Theologies Studies / Theological Studies (2019), reveals that, communicating with others mainly through digital means without adequate non-verbal cues would influence meaningful interaction between people. Access and availability makes it the preferred mode of interaction for many people, because face-to-face communication is not always feasible in the fast moving digital world.

Rogers C. R. (1991), In part one, psychotherapist Carl R. Rogers looks at what he believes is the main barrier to communication: the tendency to evaluate-to approve or disapprove of-what another person is saying. This natural urge can trip up communication between two people or two countries. The gateway to communication, then, is to check this evaluative tendency-to listen with understanding. This means empathizing with what another person is feeling and not just saying.

Lunenburg F. C.Schooling (2010) seems reasonable to conclude that one of the most inhibiting forces to organizational effectiveness is a lack of effective communication (Lutgen-Sandvik, 2010). Moreover, good communication skills are very important to ones success as a school administrator. A recent study indicated that recruiters rated communication skills as the most important characteristic of an ideal job candidate (Yate, 2009). In this article, I will help you to better understand how school administrators can improve their communication skills. To begin, I define what is meant by communication and then discuss the process by which it occurs.

Digitalization is of utmost importance especially for emerging economies of developing countries. Nations that are not able to digitalize fast enough confront the issue of digital inequalities.

What are some common digital communication barriers that affect team collaboration?

• Lack of clarity

• Distractions and interruptions

• Cultural and linguistic differences

• Technical issues

• Emotional detachment

1. Lack of clarity

   One of the most common digital communication barriers is the lack of clarity in messages, instructions, feedback, and expectations. To avoid this barrier, you should use simple and precise language, avoid jargon and ambiguity, provide context and examples, and confirm understanding and agreement.

2. Distractions and interruptions

   These can include external noise, notifications, multitasking, or personal issues. Distractions and interruptions can reduce the attention span, concentration, and comprehension of team members, leading to errors, delays, or miscommunication. To overcome this barrier, you should create a conducive and comfortable workspace, minimize distractions and interruptions, and respect the availability and preferences of your team members.

3. Cultural and linguistic differences

   A third common digital communication barrier is the diversity of cultural and linguistic backgrounds among team members. While this can enrich the team's perspectives and creativity, it can also create misunderstandings, confusion, or conflict due to different values, norms, styles, or expressions. Cultural and linguistic differences can affect the tone, context, meaning, and interpretation of digital communication, as well as the level of trust, rapport, and feedback among team members.

4. Technical issues

   A fourth common digital communication barrier is the occurrence of technical issues that can hinder the quality and reliability of digital communication. These can include poor internet connection, low audio or video quality, incompatible devices or software, or cyberattacks. Technical issues can cause delays, disruptions, or loss of data or information, affecting the productivity, efficiency, and security of team collaboration. To overcome this barrier, you should ensure that you have a stable and secure internet connection, use reliable and updated devices and software, and follow the best practices and policies for digital communication.

5. Emotional detachment

A fifth common digital communication barrier is the lack of emotional connection and engagement among team members. Digital communication can reduce the social cues, nonverbal signals, and personal interactions that convey emotions, feelings, and attitudes. This can make digital communication more impersonal, formal, or cold, affecting the morale, motivation, and satisfaction of team members. It can also make it harder to detect and address the emotional needs, challenges, or conflicts of team members. To overcome this barrier, you should use positive and supportive language, express appreciation and recognition, and provide constructive and timely feedback

Table – 1

Table – 2

Challenges with digital or computer mediated communication Computer-mediated or digital communication lacks the richness of, for instance, using tone, body movement, gestures or facial expressions to convey messages. The lack of nonverbal cues makes CMC more impersonal in nature. It can lead to loneliness because people often communicate whilst sitting in isolation in front of their digital devices.

Communication barrier an overview

Probaganda, redundant data

Table – 3 Communication barrier an overview

Table.4

Digital Institution for centuries, universities served as the primary location for producing and disseminating knowledge. A competing ecosystem centered on the internet that fulfills the same role as these elements has posed a threat in recent decades. The ability to access knowledge from anywhere in the world is no longer limited to academic institutions; rather, it can be found in a variety of platforms, applications, encyclopedias, and open-source web browsers, which is a hallmark of the digital age and enables people to learn about a wide range of topics. For higher education institutions, this new environment poses a challenge rather than a danger. There is little doubt that academic institutions are active in Industry 4.0 in addition to the manufacturing sector. Innovation is the process of bringing together many fields of knowledge and creating something new from them, even though ancient expertise is preserved in digital libraries that collect the roots on which development is founded. According to an institutional perspective, higher education institutions are more likely than other academic institutions to charge a particular tuition for each subject, explore every field, form links, and close the gaps between them.

BARRIERS TO DIGITAL TRANSPARENCY

Many governments around the world are striving to employ digital means to become more transparent.

Data quality barriers include inaccessible or inaccurate data, information sharing or re-identification from combined data sets causing privacy violations, lack of unified ontologies and language misconceptions causing data misinterpretation, lack of centralized databases causing data quality issues, and difficulties of integrating data from heterogeneous sources.

Economic barriers include high costs of maintaining big data infrastructures and tools for big data analysis, lack of reliable Return-on-Investment (ROI) studies, unreliable architecture plans leading to unpredictable cost increases, and limited organizational budgets.

Ethical barriers deal with data bias and the resulting discriminatory decisions by data-driven algorithms as well as privacy issues related to uncovering human habits through mass surveillance, among others.

Human barriers include lack of workforce able to handle big data and related projects, low quality of decision- makers and decision-making using big data analytics, and lack of data-driven and evidence-based work culture.

Organizational barriers include lack of information sharing plans, unclear ownership of data, data quality issues causing mistakes or allowing misconduct by personnel, unavailable data, lack of information sharing policies causing information asymmetry, the opacity of algorithms and the inability to inspect them, and lack of awareness about the benefits of big data.

Political and legal barriers include lack of privacy policies, mass surveillance causing lack of data protection, and lack of stable regulatory frameworks creating legal issues.

Technical barriers include the need to process vast volumes of data; data volumes causing user overload; lack of methods for managing big data systems; difficult integration between big data and legacy technologies; untimely data delivery; underperformance of big data systems caused by bandwidth limitations and the lack of architecture plans; security breaches caused by the leakage or hacking of data; security risks caused by the unavailability of logs

to carry out forensic analysis; data silos lowering data quality; problems with data accessibility; and lack of user- friendly big data tools.

Usage barriers include difficulties in adapting visualizations to different audiences, and users' information overload causing data quality issues.

CONCLUSION

This article proposes design principles for digital transparency, which can help overcome a set of well-recognized barriers to such transparency. The principles should also be tested in practice considering different economic, human, political, and legal contexts and barriers that were not considered in this research.

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