One of the activities I had my social media class do this semester involved social media analytics. More employers are expecting to have students not only know the various social media tools out there, but how to apply them and analyze the various components of them for clients.

So, is there a program out there that allows students to get certified in social media? Well, there is a program out there available for professors to use in the classroom, and it is called Hootsuite University. I have to thank Dr. William Ward from Syracuse for sharing this information with me – this is a great program for professors to incorporate into their social media classes. Thanks! 🙂

All of my students were asked to complete the certification from Hootsuite University.  They were able to watch videos, complete worksheets, and complete several exams on topics covered in the curriculum. Once they were able to complete this, they were listed among certified professionals in Hootsuite based on location.  Here is the list of students who are now certified in Hootsuite from my class.

One of the other components of this assignment for my students in my social media class was to write several blog posts about their experience with the certification process. This was an opportunity to share their experiences with the program and what they learned from the experience and how this will help them enhance their overall social media skills.

Lizelle discussed the various components that were part of the Hootsuite certification process and how this helped her understand and gain practice with social media analytics both in class and in her intership with athletics. Kara emphasized some of the benefits she took away from participating in the program as well. Natasacha wrote a great blog post (thanks also for the kind shout out too! :)) about the program and what she took away from the certification experience.

Overall, I was very pleased with the process with Hootsuite University.  Their customer service representatives were great – they have a Twitter handle titled Hootsuite_Help that was very professional and quickly responded to my questions about the program.  Thanks Hootsuite! 🙂

I would highly recommend incorporating this program into social media classes for sure.  This was the first time I did this for my social media class at the University of Louisville, and I will continue on with this in my future classes. It is important for professors to continue to look at tools and educational experiences that will help our students be marketable in the workplace – and Hootsuite University is one of them.

Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen