How to Foster Face-to-Face Communication in a Digital Era: Insights from My Wicked Problems Project

My Wicked Problems Project - Kyra DeLoach

Have you ever tried to help someone who doesn't want help? That's how I could describe the last few years of my position at my institution when it comes to student communication. Students constantly come to me with issues with their roommates, classmates, friends, or even professors that are clearly from an issue with face-to-face communication. They want help, but often they don’t know where to start. Most students are not comfortable with confrontation– this is something I hear very often.

The last few weeks I have been on a journey to solve a Wicked Problem: How can I get students more comfortable with face-to-face communication in a digital world? I have used technology: surveying and researching to come up with solutions to this problem that so many educators have students affected by. 

I put all of my findings in a video that you can watch here or at the top of this post. Through my research, I found interesting perspectives from educators at my institution, and feel like I got to the root of where some of this lack of face-to-face communication starts. I look forward to continuing to have intentional conversations and planning to assist my students in the future with this problem.