Christmas is now over, and with the hustle and bustle finally slowing down, and final grades submitted and the fall semester behind me, I can now take the time to share some good news!
I am teaching a New Media and PR course next semester!!
Yes, yes it’s true. After being jealous of my colleagues who were tasked with revamping the PR curriculum at UMD to include social media, I have been asked to teach two sections of COMM352 as there has been an influx of students registered for the course spring semester. And I couldn’t be happier.
This is seriously is one of my academic dreams come true. Though I was very grateful for the opportunity to get my feet wet as a PR instructor this past semester, news editing didn’t seem PR enough for me – it seemed more like journalism. And I wasn’t equally as passionate about the material as I would have hoped.
But teaching a course in new media…yes please sign me up! Not only is it an emerging research interest and area of study of mine, but social media has also played such a huge role in my personal life. Because of SM, I have made so many new friends, kept in touch with old ones, and expanded my professional network. And the fact that I can now share my knowledge with UMD students is thrilling and quite exciting.
So to current PR students and PR instructors out there – what should I include in my course this spring? How can I structure this course so that it is the most helpful and useful that it could possibly be? In other words, what constitutes YOUR ideal course in new media and PR?
I think it’s very important to teach PR students about the lines betwen personal and professional social media (especially in regards to Twitter and Facebook) and how to distinguish between what channel you are using for what reasons.
I’m so excited for you and know you’re going to do so great!!
By: Truc-Lan on December 27, 2010
at 4:43 pm
A very good point Truc-Lan! I think it is definitely important to teach students how to be strategic with their social media use, whether it is for a company or for their own personal use. I’ve seen way too many organizations who just randomly start a Twitter page or Facebook fan page without really knowing WHY they are using it. It’s important for pros to know what is the best reasons for using each channel.
Hope all is well with you and thanks for the comment!
By: Rowena Briones on December 27, 2010
at 9:48 pm
Congratulations Rowena! I know how much you have wanted to teach a class like this and I know you’ll do great!
By: Stephanie on December 28, 2010
at 8:06 pm
Thanks Steph! I’m super excited and can’t wait to start teaching a course on something I’m really passionate about! If you have any good tips or resources please feel free to send them my way!
By: Rowena Briones on December 28, 2010
at 8:11 pm
[...] seniors need help being good writers. As was relayed in a previous post, I taught COMM352, a new media and PR course at UMD. Even though this class was all graduating [...]
By: Going for the Doctorate: Reflections on My First Year as a Ph.D. Student « PRismatic Perspectives on May 24, 2011
at 7:26 pm