Hello and welcome to module four. This is the final learning module for our course on the dynamics of group communication where we'll be focusing on technology. It's obvious that technology is a huge part of the modern landscape of group work across every industry sector and professional and civic context. More and more, our groups and our group communication involve some aspect of technology to coordinate our work, to mediate our interactions, to manage our knowledge and information, to help us analyze data and solve problems, and even to help us make better decisions. Portable devices are now just part of the environment, as common as the tables and chairs that are ubiquitous throughout our professional and public spaces. Wi-Fi is now just part of the atmosphere we breathe, taken for granted like oxygen. Technology is simply how we do life in the 21st century. Technology has afforded us so many wonderful opportunities to do things in our groups we never would have thought possible just a short while ago. And there are so many apps, and programs, and gadgets, and platforms to help our groups connect and accomplish our work. But we don't just want to marvel at all the new technologies or keep chasing after the latest devices. After all, technology moves quickly and we'll never keep up as this ad from Best Buy poignantly demonstrates. It is the newest, even newer. Everything else is obsolete. I just want this one. 4D TV? Stupid. You got the wrong TV silly head. We also don't want to be nostalgic for the good old days, refusing to acknowledge the evolving landscape and adapting our work as better technologies are developed. Instead, we want to develop a framework for thinking critically about technology as it relates to group communication so we can make wise choices in response to whatever technological environment we're placed in and whatever new programs or devices we have the chance to adopt. We can't begin to anticipate all the apps and platforms you'll be required or have the chance to use in your groups, so it's useless to focus on any one particular technology. But there are some basic principles of technology and human interaction that we can apply to a variety of situations to help us use technology more effectively and to enhance our group communication. That's what we'll be focusing on in this learning module. First, we'll explore the idea of virtual work, a nice way to conceptualize the ways in which technology shapes or group work and how the modern landscape of organizational life has evolved as new technologies have emerged. We'll also consider some of the implications that come from groups working remotely with members dispersed across multiple locations. Then in our next video we'll look at the ways groups are using technology today, from standard conference calls and online meetings to wearable technology, gamification and both virtual and augmented reality programs, groups are doing some fascinating things with technology. Some of this is fattish and it isn't much of an improvement on good old face to face meetings. But other trends represent real breakthroughs that enhance the quality of group communication and improve group work significantly. After that, we'll learn about some theoretical models related to media richness and message capacity that can facilitate a deeper understanding of technology and group communication and help us explain what happens when humans interact and those interactions are mediated through digital devices and applications. Next, we'll turn our attention to some further considerations of technology and group communication including one lesson on practical considerations and a second lesson on conceptual considerations covering several things we should always be mindful of when our groups utilize technology to accomplish our work, which is very often. Finally, we'll wrap up with a final video on the fascinating topic of sociomateriality, cutting edge thinking about the entanglement of social and material factors that constitute our experiences with technology and group communication. And that will conclude module four, giving us a solid foundation to understand many important aspects of technology and group communication and to make better decisions about how we utilize technology in our group work. So let's get started. We'll begin with our next video on the topic of virtual work. See you soon.
