Two theoretical aspects of communication that informed and influenced me throughout this internship would be: Model of Persuasion specifically Ethos, and The Uses and Gratification Model, which centers around media.
The concept of ethos was something I kept coming back to throughout my internship. Ethos can be summed up as one’s credibility. When making instructional videos or teaching any skill, your audience has to trust that you are an expert worth listening to. This required me to understand and master the technologies I was teaching. I had to appear as credible. I did this by not only confirming the right steps to take, but why they’re important and how the technology can help students. For example: When teaching how to view assignment feedback based on a rubric, I did not only discuss how to find the feedback but why it was important for students to frequently check their professors responses. It has the potential to make the students not only understand the material better but their professors’ expectations. This brief explanation helps build audience satisfaction.
The second theory revolves around media. The Uses and Gratification model suggests that individuals use media to satisfy various emotional and intellectual needs. So when creating a tutorial, establishing those needs helps me understand my audience better. Students use the media I have been creating to help them better understand digital academic tools, that is their need. However, there is also a need from faculty. They need these tutorial videos so they do not have to explain the same steps to every student. So making sure that I hit every aspect of the desired technology was something to consider when making tutorials. Establishing the entirety of my audience and their specific needs, influenced the way I created my videos.
