Tech Tuesday: LaunchPad gets even more Interpersonal

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With a new co-author, a new chapter on Gender Communication, new Making Relationship Choices case studies, and new Video Assessment tools, Reflect and Relate, along with its corresponding LaunchPad, offers more interpersonal communication coverage than ever before.

The resources available in LaunchPad truly do live up to the title of the book. Students work through reflection activities such as journal entries and self quizzes, and then relate to the material with our flagship offering – Making Relationship Choices case studies, featuring “The Other Side.”

Making Relationship Choices activities immerse students into a situation they’re likely to experience in real life – Choosing Between Friends, Struggling with Family Transitions, and Dealing with Mixed Messages. Students are provided with a communication concept for background, then are presented with the “Case Study,” which lays out the scenario. Then, they are taken to “Your Turn” – 5 short answer questions that require reflection on the situation. Next, we see “The Other Side,” a video in which the other person involved tells his or her side of the case study story. As in many real-life situations, this video shows information which wasn’t available when crafting a response to the Case Study. The video reminds students that even when we do our best to offer competent responses, there always is another side to the story that we need to consider. Lastly the student is asked to take an interpersonal competence self-assessment to evaluate their previously submitted responses and is given a chance to think about what he or she might have done differently. New to the 5th edition are MRCs for Gender Communication and Workplace Relationships.

Also new to the 5th edition is our video assessment program, which provides students with the space to view, analyze, and practice interpersonal communication skills. Both instructor and students can record, upload, embed, or live-stream video to share with the class and analyze together. Multiple comment-delivery options are available including text, audio, and video to deliver powerful feedback. Customizable visual markers allow the user to pinpoint critical aspects of video being discussed. The possibilities are endless.

Other resources available in this LaunchPad include Journal entries for topics such as Ineffective Listening Behavior and Self Quizzes that look at skills such as Evaluating Empathy. Our video library contains 60 clips that show communication concepts in action, such as “You” Language and Avoidance. Of course, we also have a full test bank, pre-made quizzes, and our popular LearningCurve adaptive quizzing has been completely updated.

To learn more about LaunchPad, schedule a one-on-one session with your Learning Solution Specialist: Macmillan Learning Support Center