Promoting communication and inclusiveness in the IT classroom

Abstract

The demographics of the IT industry have changed dramatically during the last decade with a significant reduction of women and minority representation in the IT field. Additionally, employers of IT graduates have repeatedly requested that educators place an increased emphasis on soft skills, such as speaking, writing, teamwork, interpersonal communication, and intercultural sensitivity. The challenge for IT Educators is to create classrooms that are inclusive of all students and emphasize critical soft skills without sacrificing technical content. By adopting a pedagogical approach based on a model for intercultural sensitivity and adapted to specifically address the IT classroom, IT Educators can model the very soft skills that we wish to instill in our students. This paper recommends strategies for encouraging these communication skills and creating an inclusive environment.

A Literature Review of Empirical Research on the Effects of Digital Games on Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences / Pregled literature o empirijskim istraživanjima o utjecaju digitalnih igara na stilove učenja i višestruke inteligencije

“…Howard (2005) suggested strategies for the development of communicational skills and the inclusive environment, taking into account the learning styles, interactive games, and collaborative learning. Kapp (2007) discussed the informal methods of transferring knowledge to the players and their application in the organizations.…”

“…Howard (2005) je predložio strategije za razvoj komunikacijskih vještina i inkluzivnog okruženja, uzimajući u obzir stilove učenja, interaktivne igre i suradničko učenje. Kapp (2007) je razmatrao neformalne metode prijenosa znanja na igrače i njihovu primjenu u organizacijama.…”

Students respond to IT ethics

“…Although I incorporate many activities involving soft skills, such as speaking, writing, listening, and group interaction within my technical courses [7,8], I had not previously taught a writing, reading, and discussion-intensive course. The literature reports that students in discussion-intensive ethics courses were not always prepared to fully participate in class discussions [5,14] and that some students suffer from "free-riding" and do not contribute to the class discussions [1].…”

Facing the challenges of teaching IT ethics

“…Although I incorporate many activities involving soft skills, such as speaking, writing, listening, and group interaction within my technical courses [6,7], I had never taught a writing, reading, and discussion-intensive course. The IT ethics course was scheduled for one evening a week -what would we talk about for nearly three hours at a time?…”