Alex's Thanks and Learnings

As you read this, I am not actually at the computer. In fact I am in Chicago right now, at a conference, and thus unable to join you all for the last few days of class. (I hope that you're being nice to Joanne while I am gone!)

Be assured though that I will be reading your reflections once I am back this week. Every one of you in this class has been a pleasure to spend time with, and each of you has brought some great learning and experience to the table. This class was meant to help you to explore the vast realm of Social Media, and through exploration to gain familiarity and understanding of how this landscape of tools can profoundly change the way we communicate with each other.

Even so, I have to admit that Joanne and I have learned almost as much from you as you likely have from us. Discussing this point, we decided that before this class was out, we would thank you for the experience and share what we took away from the class. This post contains my thoughts; Joanne will be posting hers as well.

The biggest thing that I think I have learned from our short time together is just how quickly these mediums can be learned. It was very amusing and heartening to see many of you shift your viewpoints to ones similar to our own, not because we prodded you to these conclusions, but because you "thought your way there."

Another point that came home to me is that, even to someone who is as steeped in Social Media as I, there are huge aspects of this field that are as yet unfamiliar to me. It seems that any given hour researching some Social Media tool or platform leads to yet another new one I had not heard of, or yet another new way of using them.

As we draw to a close, again, I want to thank each and every one of you for the pleasure of being part of our class, and any of you who wish to stay in touch, you know how to do so! (And on a side note, although the class is ending, Social Media is endlessly fascinating to me, and we barely scratched the surface of many topics, so feel free to drop me a message if you want to continue the conversations we have begun.)

Lastly I want to make one "plug:" the Communication Studies department here at Marylhurst has both a facebook page and a new blog called Conversations. I invite you all to become a fan, and subscribe to the blog.

Social Media Project Deadline Reminder

Hello, Everyone!

It's hard to believe our class, Introduction to Social Media is almost over. We have four days left with a couple of assignments due prior to the weekend, so I am sending this quick reminder to you.

Please be sure and post a description of and a link to your social media project by Friday evening, April 23. This deadline is important to meet because your classmates need an apportunity to look it over and comment before the end of the course. We want to be sure there is ample time for them to do so.

As Alex already pointed out, your project doesn't need to be finished. In fact, it will probably always be a work in progress, but you should have something there and ready to go by Friday. (A description of what we're looking for is posted below so if by chance you're just getting started, please read that over.)

Keep in mind that if you're working on your project and have questions, don't hesitate to contact us via Angel Course Mail and we will be happy to help you.

Your thoughts and reflections on this course are also due on Friday so that others have an opportunity to comment on them. Everything else has a deadline of Sunday.

You have all stepped out and embraced social media a great deal over the past two and a half weeks, so we are really looking forward to seeing what you come up with for your projects!

All the best,
Joanne

Week Three Assignments

Welcome to Week 3! This week we will wrap up this course.

Below are the assignments for Week 3 of our course (April 19th – April 25th). Please pay careful attention to the due dates as some assignments are due on Friday, April 23rd!

FIRST – IMPLEMENTING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT:

This week you will do more implementation of your Social Media Project. Please tell us about your project in the discussion forum on our Angel site.

AND OF COURSE … DISCUSS!

We would like you to discuss your reflections on the class, and also on each other's projects. There is a discussion forum on our Angel course site for this purpose: please post there.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES & ASSIGNMENTS:

1.) Please post a description of and link to your project on Angel. This post is due Friday, April 23rd. If your project is not 100% complete that is okay -- nothing in the Social Media world is ever completely finished! -- but you need to have something up and running by Friday.

Remember, if you are having any trouble or fear you are falling behind, contact myself or Joanne via the Angel Course Mail system.

2.) Please post your thoughts and reflections on the course on Angel. Consider the following as possible discussion points:

How your perceptions of Social Media have changed

What role if any you see for Social Media in your life

What new things you have learned about Social Media in this course

Any other reflections or "aha!" moments you have had during the last three weeks.

Your reflection is due Friday, April 23rd.

3.) Please respond to at least 2 classmates’ projects. Please consider them from various aspects, such as:

Social Media etiquette

Privacy

Developing community

Power and control

Attention (and managing distractions

Digital literacy

Societal impacts

Post your comments on the Discussion Forum in Angel. This assignment is due by Sunday, April 25th

4.) Social Media in 2010

To continue to inform your thinking about social media communications, read 10 Ways Social Media Will Change in 2010. Post any key take-aways from this article in our Discussion Forum on Angel.

It''s been a fun two weeks and I'm sure that Joanne and I will enjoy this last week just as much! Onwards with projects and discussion!