By Rick Kenney, Hampton University
BEGIN WITH THE BASICS, AND FOLLOW THROUGH WITH ETHICS
I began teaching social media in an online journalism course a little over a year ago. I determined from the outset that I would make ethics the linchpin. I incorporated readings and discussions about core values of traditional media and conventional reporting. Because of our curriculum’s emphasis on ethics and neglect of multimedia skills, the students caught on quickly to the theoretical but needed help with the practical. We stumbled together toward the semester’s finish line, leaving me thinking they knew how and when to use social media but not what to do with it. Still, it was a start for them, and it was progress for me.
Social Media is changing everything. Nowhere is this more evident than on our college and university campuses. Yet there are unique challenges in incorporating social media into an established and tested curriculum.
AEJMC asked teachers to share some of their best practices for incorporating social media into the classroom, including suggested articles, exercises, tools and more. The following is a collection their best ideas and experiences.
Showing posts with label Mashable. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mashable. Show all posts
Social Media in the Classroom: The Twitter Project
By Lisa Marshall, Muskingum University
Personal Purpose of Social Media Twitter Project
As a professor in a communication department that has historically focused on more traditional speech communication concepts, I wanted to integrate an interactive perspective to studying and analyzing media content with my cross-listed Speech Communication/Journalism/Digital Media Design 210 course “Media History and Effects” this spring. Since the course combines both historical and current concepts about Media Literacy and the impact of different mediums on society, I thought this was an excellent chance to pilot the interactive social media project. Students were charged with the “Twitter Project”—signing up for the service and interacting on Twitter at least once a day throughout the entire semester. Topics were open, to creating a new post extending a discussion from class, posing a question to me or their classmates about the course, to sharing cool websites that illustrate and support basic class concepts. The idea was to integrate course content into the shared space and make the (to me) large class feel more intimate and connected—hoping that energy would translate into the classroom. This was my third time teaching the course. With past classes, I felt disconnected from students who did not directly engage during in-class discussion—so I hoped for a more personal experience between students—both among one another and myself with the Twitter Project.
Personal Purpose of Social Media Twitter Project
As a professor in a communication department that has historically focused on more traditional speech communication concepts, I wanted to integrate an interactive perspective to studying and analyzing media content with my cross-listed Speech Communication/Journalism/Digital Media Design 210 course “Media History and Effects” this spring. Since the course combines both historical and current concepts about Media Literacy and the impact of different mediums on society, I thought this was an excellent chance to pilot the interactive social media project. Students were charged with the “Twitter Project”—signing up for the service and interacting on Twitter at least once a day throughout the entire semester. Topics were open, to creating a new post extending a discussion from class, posing a question to me or their classmates about the course, to sharing cool websites that illustrate and support basic class concepts. The idea was to integrate course content into the shared space and make the (to me) large class feel more intimate and connected—hoping that energy would translate into the classroom. This was my third time teaching the course. With past classes, I felt disconnected from students who did not directly engage during in-class discussion—so I hoped for a more personal experience between students—both among one another and myself with the Twitter Project.
Social Media in the Classroom
By Ben Eveloff, St. Xavier University
It is a very exciting time to be teaching Social Media at the University level. The developments we have seen in the last few years have fundamentally changed the way we look at the field of communication. The continued evolution of these technologies, in accordance with Moore’s law, will greatly affect the field of Communication at a rate never seen before. This is why it is essential not only to teach the most up-to-date practices and uses of specific social media, but also the fundamentals that will hold true as social media platforms come and go. Below, I will outline strategies I use to teach social media and emerging technologies.
It is a very exciting time to be teaching Social Media at the University level. The developments we have seen in the last few years have fundamentally changed the way we look at the field of communication. The continued evolution of these technologies, in accordance with Moore’s law, will greatly affect the field of Communication at a rate never seen before. This is why it is essential not only to teach the most up-to-date practices and uses of specific social media, but also the fundamentals that will hold true as social media platforms come and go. Below, I will outline strategies I use to teach social media and emerging technologies.
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