Media and Communication Technology

Written and reviewed by Anjali Sharma, Biology & Home Science faculty at UniDrill (M.Sc. Botany, Banaras Hindu University · 8 years teaching). Based on NCERT Home Science Class XI (Human Ecology and Family Sciences Part I), Chapter 6.

Is a baby's cry really communication?

A baby cannot speak, yet within minutes of crying she gets fed. Nobody wrote a message, no phone was used, and still a source sent a message, a receiver understood it and an effect followed. That small scene holds this whole chapter. Communication is not only speeches and smartphones. It is any exchange of meaning, and the rest of the chapter is about the ways, levels, channels and machines through which we do it.

What communication really means

Communication is the process of thinking, observing, understanding, analysing, sharing and transmitting feelings, ideas, facts and experiences to oneself or to others, through many mediums and in many settings. The word comes from the Latin communis, meaning common.

Why the Latin root matters. Sending words is not enough. A message is communicated only when the receiver understands it the way the sender meant it. If an Anganwadi worker says "give ORS" and the mother hears "give water", the words travelled but the meaning did not. Effective communication is a conscious effort to create shared understanding.

Four ways to classify communication

CUET treats these four bases as separate "families". Learn which family each term belongs to.

One way versus two way. In one way communication the receiver gets the message but cannot answer at once, or never can: speeches, sermons, radio, TV programmes, a website you only read. In two way communication every party shares and exchanges, silently or aloud: a phone call, chatting online, a talk with your mother.

The six levels of communication

Why inter personal is called the ideal type. Two reasons make it special. First, the sender and receiver are close, so it is easy to persuade and motivate. Second, the response is instant and strong, so the sender can correct course on the spot. A village health worker who explains polio drops to a mother at her doorstep gets a frown, a question or a nod within seconds. A poster cannot do that.

Why mass communication feedback is weak. The audience is huge, scattered and unknown to the sender, and is separated from the sender in time and space. A TV channel cannot hear each viewer, so feedback arrives slowly, in summed up form and at high cost, for example as viewer ratings.

Organisational levels are about people. Even in intra and inter organisational set ups, departments do not talk to each other. It is always human beings working in them who communicate, so the human factor matters.

Pause and predict: a Class XI student quietly runs through her answers in her head while waiting outside the viva room. Which level of communication is this, and is it one way or two way?

Check your answer: intra personal, because she is communicating with herself. It is a mental process of observing, analysing and drawing conclusions, which is why it is classed by level rather than as speech.

Verbal and non verbal: two channels at once

Why this matters in a village. An Anganwadi worker's smile, her seating on the floor with the mothers and her use of songs all carry meaning before a single health fact is stated. The spoken part and the unspoken part work together.

Senses and memory: why a dance beats a textbook

Have you noticed that you remember a folk dance you watched far better than a paragraph you read about it? The reason is the number of senses involved.

The more senses are involved, the clearer and more lasting the learning. That is why a cooking demonstration in which the learners also cook beats a lecture on cooking.

Two views. For the exam: learning improves as more senses are used, with 10, 20 to 25, 30 to 35, 50 and 90 per cent as the fixed series. Another reading: these percentages are best taken as a teaching rule of thumb about how involvement helps recall, not as exact laboratory measurements, and the lesson is to design activities where learners also do something.

How communication happens: the SMCRE model

The classic description is: who says what, to whom, when, in what manner, under what circumstances and with what effect. The SMCRE model turns it into a cycle.

The cycle in one line: Source → Message → Channel → Receiver → Effect (feedback) → back to the source if the response is not what was wanted.

Why the cycle can repeat. If the audience does not respond as hoped, the sender rethinks and recasts the message and the whole process runs again. A teacher who asks questions at the end of a lesson is collecting feedback. Letters to the editor and television rating points (TRPs) are feedback too.

Two kinds of channel. Inter personal channels are individuals and groups. Mass media channels are satellite, wireless and sound waves.

Beyond the textbook. For the exam: feedback is the last element and the response that closes the cycle. In reality: on social media a message and its feedback, in the form of likes, replies and shares, can arrive within seconds. The loop that took mass media days is now very short, but the model is the same: if the receiver does not respond as intended, the sender must recast the message.

Pause and predict: a gram panchayat announces a vaccination camp by loudspeaker, but few families attend. Using SMCRE, which element should the panchayat re examine first, and why?

Check your answer: the feedback (effect) shows the message did not work, so the panchayat re examines the message and channel. The loudspeaker may not have reached homes, or the date and place may not have been clear. Fixing that is exactly what the repeat of the cycle means.

What is media?

If communication is the process, media is the means that uses various methods of communication to disseminate and share ideas, thoughts, feelings, innovations and experiences. Even the air is a medium when you talk, because sound waves need something to travel through and cannot pass through a vacuum.

Mass media versus technology. Mass media always uses modern technology, but having technology does not always mean mass communication is taking place. Mass media is, by definition, for large, mixed and anonymous audiences. Satellite transmission, computers and wireless technology are all part of media today.

Traditional and modern media

Folk media map. CUET likes match the following questions here, so the table below is worth learning region by region.

Puppetry is also a message carrier. Sutradharika (string puppets) is common in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and Chhaya Putli (shadow puppets) in the southern parts of the country. Fairs, social rituals, ceremonies and yatras carry the feelings and traditions of diverse communities, and drum festivals of the North Eastern and other tribal communities pair rhythmic drumming with dance and song.

Two views. For the exam: traditional media alone were not sufficient or well equipped for modern audiences, so new media technologies were popularised. Another reading: many extension workers argue that the two work best together, with a folk performance drawing the crowd and a modern medium such as a phone or video adding detail. The folk form builds trust, and the modern medium adds reach.

Nine functions of media

Remember the set as nine. Exam options such as "surveillance" or "profit" do not belong to it.

Communication technology

Communication technology is the set of technologies developed and used to handle information and aid communication, including hardware, organisational structures and social values through which people collect, process and exchange information. The data may be analogue (electronic signals) or digital.

Two technologies that changed everything. Radio commands a universal audience across geography, income, education, age, sex and religion. With small transistors it reached the remotest parts of the country, and on the spot or simulated broadcasts overcome barriers of time and space. Television was introduced in India in 1959, mainly to affect education and promote rural development. Production tools such as magnification, sound amplification, superimposition, split screen, fading and zooming make its impact stronger. Pij village in Gujarat acquired a TV transmitter that carried local language programmes along with common programmes from Delhi via satellite.

Modern communication technologies for extension

Bluetooth in detail. It carries voice and data at 1 Mbps, which is three to eight times the average speed of parallel and serial ports respectively, and it can pass through solid, non metal objects. It allows wireless control and communication between a cell phone and a hands free headset or a car kit.

Beyond the textbook. For the exam: Bluetooth is a low cost, short range RF link. In reality: the name comes from the nickname of a medieval Danish king, Harald Bluetooth, who is remembered for uniting tribes; the technology was named for its aim of uniting different devices. It has nothing to do with a blue tooth, which is the joke the textbook opens with.

Why the human touch stays. More people use these technologies every year, yet face to face talk remains essential, and every person needs basic skills for effective communication.

Exam traps

60-second revision

Where this chapter connects

• Previous: Introduction opens the Human Ecology and Family Sciences fields, of which communication and extension is one.
• Next: Concerns and Needs in Diverse Contexts uses communication tools to reach families in different community settings.
• Class XII link: Development Communication and Journalism and Corporate Communication and Public Relations build on the SMCRE model and the media functions.