I wrote a post a few days ago where I talked about the various class hashtags to follow for the upcoming year. We are seeing a lot more emphasis being put on professors to be innovative with how they are using social media in the classroom. I am seeing this even at the University of Louisville. In fact, I am going to be doing a workshop in February on how to integrate social media into the classroom for faculty and staff.
Along with the class hashtags, I wanted to see who were the main professors teaching social media to follow for the upcoming year. I decided to make a list of these, and then I realized I had a LOT of names here.
So, I decided to focus on the top 15 to follow for PR professors who are teaching social media classes for 2015. If there are others that I have missed, please let me know!
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There were some similarities I saw among all of these professors when it came to not only what hashtags they were using, but what they were doing on Twitter specifically that made them stand out from the list. Here were a few observations I had:
- All were pretty much using or familiar with Hootsuite University. This is an awesome program for professors and all of these professors are either integrating this into their classes, or they are having their students at least get practice with Hootsuite as a monitoring platform.
- All were actively engaged on a social media platform: All of the professors have a strong presence on social media – mostly Twitter, but we saw professors take advantage of other platforms like Instagram, Google+, Facebook, and even Tumblr. It was great to see the differences as well as the creative ways each professor was integrating social media for their classes.
- All have a nice mixture of professional/personal updates: That’s what is great about having a professor on social media – students are able to see the professor not only as their teacher, but also as a human being. Sure, some of us tweet and take pictures of coffee [That’s me!] but that shows the students we are relatable and a person. I’ve met the majority of these professors in person [some only virtually], but I get a sense that I know them based on what they have shared online.
- All are changing and adapting to the changes in social media: Each of these professors are constantly adapting and changing their syllabi to fit the growing needs of the students and practitioners. This is what is great to see here – they are all very in tune with what are the leading trends and issues facing brands, PR professionals, and even marketing. This is exciting to see here especially for the students who are entering their classes. They will be getting the most updated materials and insights.
Overall, I think these professors are must follows when it comes to looking at what university students are doing in social media classes. There are a lot of classes out there to be connected with, and these professors are certainly leading the way in this new arena for PR, Marketing, and Advertising professionals.
So, I would recommend not only reaching out to each of these professors, but follow their class hashtags. Each professor is very engaged and I am sure if you had questions about their classes, assignments, and even tips to getting started, they would be really approachable and helpful.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen