How Communication Noise Erodes Quality and Undermines Learning
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Date
2020
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Emerald Publishing Limited
Abstract
Purpose – Communication, which is the cornerstone of knowledge creation and transmission, is sometimes
undermined by noise often described simply as errors but hardly interrogated as communication noise.
Therefore, this paper aims to explain noise from the perspective of communication (content creation, decoding
and transmission) with a view to drawing attention to the broad consequences for effective learning.
Design/methodology/approach – One aspect of communication noise (errors in textbooks) was
purposively selected and an exploration of the Web through the Google and Yahoo search engines generated a
purposive sample of 456 valid documents. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the documents was
undertaken using content analysis method.
Findings – Findings indicate that communication noise is common in textbooks used in many countries,
that semantic and factual errors are more frequently experienced, and that the adverse effects touch on
teaching, learning and other aspects of life.
Originality/value – Scholarly conversation on noise relating to knowledge creation and transmission has
revolved mainly around environmental noise in and around libraries and classrooms notwithstanding that
communication noise may be more harmful to quality learning than environmental noise. This study,
therefore, successfully draws attention to this under-researched phenomenon which is currently adversely
affecting effective knowledge delivery all over the world
Description
Keywords
Distance learning, Communication noise, Knowledge delivery, Textbook errors, Content creation