Business Communication Skills for Managers introduces important elements of successful communication, gives examples of effective communication and offers students opportunities to practice the same. The textbook covers the essentials of communication including professional writing, visual aids, presentations, speeches, phone and online communication, and both getting hired and finding new hires.
There are 15 chapters in the textbooks. Each chapter is divided into 6 to 8 section including "Why It Matters" and "Putting It Together"sections. This review will focus on Chapters 1 through 6.
Type of Material:
Open (Access) Textbook
Recommended Uses:
Homework
In-class
Technical Requirements:
Internet Browser such as Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Students will be able to:
differentiate between different forms of communication
use the appropriate communication techniques based on the target audience and purpose
discuss the importance of data in business
describe professional standards for using visual media resources for business purposes
differentiate among types of reports
Target Student Population:
Students enrolled in college upper division, graduate school Business Management, Strategic Communication, and Organizational Behavior and Development courses would be interested in the learning material.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
Introduction to Communication
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
The information is clear and concise.
The information is current and relevant, especially the section about how to avoid bias in writing and how to use visual media to increase the impact of messaging.
There are self-control questions at the end of each theme.
Note that there is also a chapter on the use of social media which is outside of the scope of this review.
References are included to support the material and links to additional materials for more information are included.
Concerns:
The modules consist of several shorter sections, some of them are too short to give a comprehensive understanding of the concept.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
The learning objectives are clearly stated at the beginning of every chapter and subsection.
Prerequisite knowledge, such as technical terms, is identified and defined.
The information in the learning object can be assigned as pre-reading for a lecture, homework, or review in courses which involve report writing, social media posts, visual media and oral presentations.
The practice questions could be compiled and used to measure student learning outcomes. Otherwise students can use the practice questions as a self-assessment.
It ensures good comprehension based on simple real-life examples. The tests allow to check the knowledge and understanding of the acquired material.
Concerns:
No prerequisite knowledge is described.
It is difficult to understand the connection between different concepts, for example, research and finding a job – how these are connected and what is the logic behind it.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
The textbook is easy to access and there are right and left arrows that can be used to navigate between the pages.
The site also has bright colors and the learning object also has colored graphics, charts, and embedded video to increase its visual appeal.
The practice questions and answers are embedded throughout the text to engage the user.
The accessibility features include a reader and a "Readability" tab, which allows the reader to adjust the text's features such as contrast and font size.
Concerns:
Very simple design
Creative Commons:
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