1) Face to Face

2) Machine Assisted

3) Mass Communications

Machine Assisted

The source and receiver do not have to be in the same physical space.

As the cartoon on the right shows, machine assisted communication has brought the world together.

The eight steps in the communications process become more complex

Sender
One or more people

Encoding
This takes many different forms, combining mental and technological encodings. For example, in this class, your test has to be encoded into a word processing document.

Mechanical encodings add complexity to the communications process and increase the risk of failed communication. The more times a message is encoded, the greater chance that noise or decoding errors will effect the message.

Channels - Mechanical / Technological
Telephone, E-mail, Instant Messaging, Canvas

Messages
Could be private or public, depending on the choice of channel.

Messages are easily terminated by ending contact with the channel

Decoding
Is as complex as encoding, with great possibility of noise

Receiver
Could be known or unknown. The chance of unintended receivers increases with each encoding.

This video shows how the danger of unintended receivers increases with the use of technology as a communications tool.

Feedback
Immediate, delayed, or none

The lack of feedback can be unsettling. When you send me a test, how do you know I got it? To ease your concerns, I'll send a reply which lets you know the test was received.

Noise
Environmental - Semantic - Psychological

This video shows, in thirty seconds, the range of dangers in machine assisted communications. There are problems with encoding, decoding, senders, receivers, and noise.