4. Communication and working with others

Communication has been a key aspect of my work. In a professional setting I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with designers, developers, managers and clients. Within the teaching environment, I have interacted with students, teachers, colleagues, administrators and department/school leads. In research-oriented roles, I have communicated and worked with supervisors, stakeholders and research participants and also had the chance to present my work to a wider audience. 

I value working alongside people from a wide range of backgrounds and specialisms, as this diversity consistently strengthens the quality of projects and learning experiences. In my practice, I have collaborated with a variety of specialists and I have found that being open to others expertise is essential. These experiences have reinforced my belief that effective learning technology work depends on empathy, active listening, and a willingness to adapt. I continue to approach collaborations as opportunities to both contribute my own expertise and learn from the insights of others. I have listed below some of the projects I have worked on that were supported by others. 

Conducting and Co-ordinating an Educational Conference

During my Master's at NUST, I was the Master of Ceremony and part of the co-ordinators for a UNESCO conference entitled "Promoting Teacher's Reflective Practices in ICT-Pedagogy Integration" that took place at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS) at NUST, Islamabad. The 3-day conference involved speakers from various educational contexts, both in person and virtually. I was responsible for conducting the anchoring duties, sharing and following the agenda, introducing speakers, adjusting to technical issues, communicating with other organisers and maintaining session transitions. This was a challenging as well as enriching experience, as it allowed me an opportunity to develop my communication skills in front of a large audience and dealing with unexpected changes. One example in particular stood out - where a speaker delivering a virtual session, was unable to share their screen with the audience. This technical issue had to be resolved at that very instant, in front of the audience, and thus required that I maintain my composure and follow through with the scheduling of the sessions. To address the issue, I requested the speaker to continue with her talk while I would manually switch her shared slides on the screen as per her directions. This was an unexpected challenge but one that worked out perfectly fine in the end. Other instances were of last minute changes between speakers, Internet issues, and transitioning between the sessions. The conference was well-received and I was presented with a certification of appreciation for my efforts. 

The experience allowed me to explore a skill-set I was unaware of previously. It started with the confidence the conference organisers had in my ability to manage and conduct the sessions. Prior to this, I had minimal experience of public speaking and so, I found ways to develop my confidence and clarity in speech, as I understood I was representing my department and institution at that platform. The experience of anchoring the conference successfully and receiving appreciation from the department and participants, instilled a new type of confidence and motivation in me. This opportunity significantly contributed to the development of my public speaking skills, which has since then helped me in my teaching roles. 

Research Practice

My involvement in educational research projects has significantly enhanced my ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with others. While conducting my research work, I communicated with various schools in order to recruit participants for the study. This included meeting with several school leads and teachers, via in person and through email correspondence. I was expected to present the research aims, processes, and findings in a clear manner. For this, I needed to refine technical information according to the audience I was presenting to on the basis of their understanding. 

The process of research developed my communication skills, particularly active listening, respect and empathy. I had the chance to communicate with principals, teachers, young students, administration staff and parents.  I realised the importance of putting myself in the other person's position - to speak/communicate in a way that they would feel valued, respected and understood. I aimed to have the overall benefit of the experience to be shared, and not just for my research purposes. I attempted to design research content with the intention that the participants would also benefit from the experience, perhaps through engagement or knowledge. 

In addition to participant communication, I periodically developed my research with the guidance of my supervisors. This meant monthly meetings and sharing all relevant updates with them. Along with in-person meetings, I maintained communication with my supervisory team through emails, virtual meetings and through cloud tools, such as Google Docs, to share and discuss the writing. Preparing for the viva voce was another form of communication that required me to present and defend my research to the academic panel, which further helped develop my capacity to share my thoughts and findings. I researched on preparing for the viva, attending sessions and practiced with my supervisors. I learnt how to structure responses clearly, listen carefully to questions, and address them thoughtfully and patiently. My previous experience of regular discussion with my supervisors significantly helped here, as I had developed skills of speaking in a collaborative setting, with multiple speakers. This included taking reasonable time to speak, actively listening to others and providing other speakers with sufficient time to formulate their thoughts and questions.

Higher Education Teaching

Over the past few years, I have had the amazing opportunity to interact with a diverse set of learners through my teaching experience in Pakistan and the UK. In this time, I have developed my teaching and communication skills to best address the various backgrounds and learning preferences of the students, as per the academic level and course content. I focused on promoting student participation by creating a friendly and relaxed environment through my manner of speaking and body language, and often asking probing questions from the students to promote a healthy and open environment for discussion. In some instances, I would notice however, that some students would still be hesitant to speak up during the discussion sessions. I was encouraged by the UDL principle of allowing multiple means of expressions and so used digital technology to address these challenge. I explored cloud based collaborative tools, such as Google Classroom and Padlets, and built class activities around these. Positive comments through the students anonymised feedback, as well as from module coordinators, suggested that my approaches worked well (comments shared below). 

During my time teaching, I was able to develop a deeper understanding of how communication lays the foundation for effective learning. Lecturing to bigger groups (up to 20 students) required me to structure and present material clearly, where in smaller groups, I found that closer interactions would lead to more discussion and dialogue, giving me an opportunity to understand the learners better, by listening to their perspectives and ideas. I found that this helped me develop approaches to explain concepts on the basis of the learners and class setting. I learned how to adapt my language, pacing, and use of digital resources to meet the specific needs of learners. I also often sought structured feedback from students, which helped me develop my learning activities and teaching approaches in the class. This opportunity helped me better understand how learners engage with content and how I could adjust my teaching to support them. I recognised that communication in higher education is not one-way transmission, but an ongoing process of dialogue that enables mutual understanding and creates a conducive environment for learning, in order to support learners' with idea formation and critical thinking skills. This insight has strongly influenced how I collaborate with colleagues and students and I continue to develop my skills and learning in this regard. 

Research Presentations

I have had the chance to present my research work on various occasions. I presented my research poster (attached below) at the PhD Festival at Ulster University. I discussed my research work in detail with a wider audience and people from a variety of subject areas. I also presented findings of my study at the NI Innovation Forum, held on the 22nd of June, 2023 at Ulster University, Belfast campus. This forum was part of the Education Network (NI) C2k managed ICT service and consisted of classroom practitioners and educators from the education organisations supporting schools in NI, such as Department of Education (DE), Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) and Education Training Inspectorate (ETI). The purpose of the forum was to promote, through research and information sharing, the role of digital technology in schools. 

Presenting within academic settings significantly developed my communication and collaboration skills. Feedback from audience highlighted alternative perspectives and practical applications to my work, which allowed me an opportunity to reflect and revise some aspects. Through these exchanges I realised the importance of communication within academia and the importance of dialogue and discussion. The experience reinforced my ability to communicate in such settings, including the way I respond and provide feedback to other presenters/speakers. Interacting with fellow attendees also allowed opportunities to develop and build my network. 

Critical Review on E-Learning content

Another experience I had that involved communicating and working with others was when I provided feedback on e-learning content prepared and developed by the Association for Academic Quality (AFAQ). AFAQ is a Non-profit organisation providing diverse range of educational services in Pakistan, including curriculum development, textbooks, teacher trainings and support wholistic development of schools. Through this opportunity, I was able to critically evaluate their e-learning content and provide my insight on the interfaces and navigation of the learning experiences, as well as on the integrated interactive worksheets, animated eReaders, ebooks and audio stories. I approached each of the e-learning segments as a learner, and progressed through the course entirely. I assessed the content through the learning objectives, instructional design, quality of the content, interactivity, accessibility and learner experience and assessment. I summarised these findings into a report, supported by visuals and provided suggestions to address the identified limitations. Through this experience, I learned the importance of critical reviews and how effective it is when framed as a collaborative project, involving various stakeholders, particularly learners, early in the review cycles to ensure timely and impactful feedback that could shape the learning experience. 

Reflection

My experiences have helped me develop stronger communication skills and achieve greater collaboration through teaching, presentations, and working with colleagues on various learning projects. Within higher education teaching, I learned to adapt and present complex material for diverse learners, using discussions and feedback to understand students' perspectives and develop my teaching approaches to achieve learning outcomes. Presenting my research within academic settings, further strengthened my ability to communicate research effectively, while also highlighting the value of feedback and cross-disciplinary dialogue. I have also found that developing projects collaboratively with subject matter experts, instructional designers, developers and support staff has been crucial, as it ensures a diversity of perspectives and strengthens both the design process and the final outcomes. These experiences have reinforced the importance of communication as a two-way process, where listening and responding are as crucial as presenting and sharing information. I hope to continue participating in sessions and communities that provide me with a wide array of knowledge and experience, be that within the scope of education as well as digital technology. I intend to apply these insights within all aspects of my work, ensuring that it supports meaningful engagement and collaboration.