Communication has been an essential part of every interaction of the externship, and this reinforces why focusing on a variety of communication tools and strategies for students is essential.

Over the course of the externship experience, the author has been expected to use multiple communication tools to complete work, share files, and communicate with others. On any given day, there is an expectation that email, Slack, Discord, Facebook, Google Docs, and Zoom will be used for some level of communication. One Google Docs real-time and asynchronous commenting and document review require attention. Emails both internally and externally are a part of communicating with team members and external parties. Zoom and other live video meeting tools are used to share updates and talk strategy. Facebook and Discord are used to share tasks and moderate participation by external parties on a variety of topics. Slack is used to run real-time internal chats and asynchronous project/product updates for internal teams. Much of the day is spent in some level of collaborative participation with teammates, managers, and external parties.

This, in and of itself is not surprising; anyone with experience or knowledge of the software development industry would expect to see a variety of tools being used to work with internal and external parties. What is interesting is just how different the expectation for communication is from what commonly occurs in schools. "Professional social media and related communication tools are a crucial aspect of employment as a computing professional. However, there is limited evidence of how students may use such tools within Higher Education settings" (Menzies & Zarb, 2020). This set of findings can be applied to secondary levels as well, as secondary institutions are often even more locked down due to privacy and security concerns, especially in states like Colorado that have specific laws like the The Student Data Transparency and Security Act (Colorado Department of Education, 2020).

In order to teach high school students how to effectively communicate on a variety of platforms on a daily basis, thoughtful implementation plans must be made that mirror the kinds of checks and balances that are included in industry. It may not be enough to have students occasionally email or participate once a month on an asynchronous platform or discussion board. In fact, much of what is being reinforced through this externship regarding communication is centered on the need to have consistent project status updates on platforms that allow for threaded conversation with small workgroups. Online editing and commenting tools are a critical component of the work and a reliance on video and screenshot updates necessitates the teaching of both screenshot tools and screencasting tools in the curriculum, something the author has been working to include since 2019. In addition, project management approaches that help to identify tasks and track progress are essential to include at the secondary level if students are supposed to be prepared for the world of work when they graduate. Based on the experience with this externship, not only do students need to focus on communication across a wide variety of tools and formats consistently, but they also need opportunities to communicated with different populations in different ways about different aspects of their work.

It is clear that the current approach of the author's classroom is covering the right bases, but it is equally clear that the expectation of the classroom may be lacking in both accountability and consistency. Microsoft Teams, what is currently used in the classroom, allows for file sharing, online commenting, threaded conversations, and shared content creation, all of which are covered in industry use of Slack and Google products. Additional products like Microsoft Tasks/Planner provide ongoing project management support. Webex is currently used in the classroom to provide internal and external meeting opportunities. Screencastify and the Snipping Tool/Snip and Sketch Tool are used to provide the same kind of video and screenshot communication seen in industry communications. Social media tools like Facebook and Discord have been limited in the classroom setting, which, while understandable from a safety perspective, severely limits student understanding of how to professionally use these tools, another conclusion drawn from Menzies and Zarb's research (2020). Just having access to the tools is not enough though, students having the requirement to learn how to use those tools consistently for a purpose is also needed if they are going to be prepared to jump into a professional workplace.

Works Cited

Colorado Department of Education. (2020, April 13). Data Privacy and Security. Colorado Department of Education. Retrieved July 12, 2022, from https://www.cde.state.co.us/dataprivacyandsecurity

Menzies, R., & Zarb, M. (2020, October). Professional communication tools in higher education: A case study in implementing Slack in the curriculum. In 2020 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.