Professional communication tools in higher education: a case study in implementing slack in the curriculum.

Menzies, Rachel; Zarb, Mark

Abstract

This Innovative Practice Full Paper presents a study which considers the implications of embedding professional communication tools within the computing curriculum. Computing students are comfortable using various communication tools such as social media applications in their personal lives, but are rarely trained or monitored when transitioning to using these tools professionally. This is despite the fact that these tools, such as Slack, Jabber and Microsoft Teams are rapidly becoming an expected staple of their professional toolkit. 243 students were invited to use Slack as their primary communication mechanism for set taught modules with staff and their fellow students across two institutions in Scotland. This allowed for an understanding to be developed of computing students' attitudes and experiences when using these communication tools, as well as a reflection on staff experiences. A number of recommendations are made for the inclusion of these tools within computing in Higher Education curricula.

Citation

MENZIES, R. and ZARB, M. 2020. Professional communication tools in higher education: a case study in implementing slack in the curriculum. In Proceedings of 2020 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Frontiers in education conference (FIE 2020), 21-24 October 2020, [virtual event]. Piscataway: IEEE [online], article ID 9273906. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE44824.2020.9273906

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: 2020 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Frontiers in education conference (FIE 2020)
• Start Date: Oct 21, 2020
• End Date: Oct 24, 2020
• Acceptance Date: May 11, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Dec 4, 2020
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jan 18, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 18, 2021
• Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Series ISSN: 2377-634X
• ISBN: 9781728189611
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE44824.2020.9273906
• Keywords: Community of practice; Professional communication tools; Slack
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1107275