COMM 220 PUBLIC SPEAKING
Communications Professor, Mike Traugott spent last summer attending a workshop on adapting course content to web based learning environments. A seasoned professional at the UC Santa Cruz, Mike has decided to use Sakai to teach his course on public speaking next fall. The course is capped at 30 students in order to give each student sufficient time to practice speaking in front of a group.
The course focuses on research, writing and delivery skills for oral presentation in a variety of settings, including academic, professional and multi-cultural. Equal consideration is given to speech preparation and delivery with critical thinking, argument forms and audience analysis emphasized. Issues of speech anxiety are also addressed using audio and video technologies.
Pedagogical challenges to address in the online environment:
- This course requires students to write and share a short biography of themselves and
their interest in public speech as an art form - This course requires students to prepare a public speech and receive critical peer feedback on their speech organization, planning, and format
- This course requires students to deliver several public speeches in different venues. Speeches must be analyzed and reflected upon in light of feedback provided by the instructor (or other audience)
- This course requires students to engage in a role-play debate that tests their speaking
and preparation skills.