We have finished the semester, which marks another year of teaching completed. As I am ending my seventh year at the University of Louisville, it also marks my fifth year (sixth year overall) teaching social media.
This semester has been a jam packed session for me. Not only was I teaching my undergraduate social media class (#Freberg18), but I also launched a brand new graduate level class this semester (#FrebergSM). Both classes had individual and group projects with two different clients. We had the chance to work again with the Louisville Bats (Tony Brown is an AMAZING pro and super supportive of our class) and the Louisville City FC (Tiffany and Scott have been great to work with).
Both classes had great feedback to give about their experiences. All of the students mentioned how the syllabus for the class was intense (well, both syllabi were about 30 pages in length!), and they embraced coffee as a major food group. I was actually able to convert a few students to become coffee drinkers by the end of the semester.
Mission accomplished!
Each class had to do their own client presentations – which involved a formal presentation and proposal to submit. I find this is a great deliverable for the clients, but also allows the students to have a sound project in hand once they graduate or go forward with their studies. It also provides the students with the opportunity to show their knowledge about social media, and get the experience to consult on various topics.
This was something that I felt was very important to do for #FrebergSM. We had two separate individual assignments to give them the experience they need to be able to get a start in consulting. The first one was a workshop exercise. They were able to pick a topic they would present to the class (the mock audience for a conference, trade show, luncheon, etc) and treat it as a way to showcase their expertise on a subject.
The next was an actual consulting project on personal branding, social media analysis, and strategy. They had to pick a client or person to help out with on social media. This exercise helped them give them the confidence they needed to venture out in this particular area within the industry.
After reflecting and submitting final grades for both of these classes, I took the time to do my own reflections of the classes. Here are some of the things I personally have learned as a social media professor:
Teaching two separate social media classes is somewhat manageable. When I was asked to create an advanced class, I was like – my undergraduate class is pretty advanced, so how am I going to take it to the next level? I found shifting the class to be more individually based and focused on the personal branding/consulting model seemed to work. I also found the undergraduate class taught the balance between team work and individual work, whereas the advanced class was heavily individualized.
As a professor, you always learn something new each semester. It’s interesting to see what is in, what’s out, and what are some challenges and case studies that need to be noted. Last year, it was all about Snapchat and Spectacles. This semester, it was live video and Instagram Stories. Teaching social media does keep you on your toes and you have to be adaptive.
Certifications worked extremely well for both classes. I used Hootsuite (fifth year in a row) for #Freberg18, and HubSpot and Brandwatch for #FrebergSM. My students loved Hootsuite and HubSpot, but there were some challenges in getting access to Brandwatch for some of my advanced students initially. This was something they noted in their reflection papers, so I will keep note of this when I teach the class again in the future.
Guest speakers were a huge hit. We had a TON of speakers come in for both classes. There were so many that really sparked a lot of interest amongst my students, and I am forever grateful to those who took the time to share their experiences, tips, and best practices with my students. Major thanks to you all!
If The Rock tweets you, this establishes instant credibility amongst your students. You never know when a celebrity will respond to you. I have been a fan of The Rock for many years, and I have said he has one of the best personal brands on social media. So, I mentioned this online in Cinnabon’s Twitter chat, and he responded and called me Dr. Karen. You can be reassured this tweet will be added to all of my future syllabi for the future! But in reality – this established a clear lesson to both classes. If you are able to integrate social media in a strategic way, you never know what may happen.
New experiences and partnerships emerged from what was shared online. This was new for me this semester. We had the chance to be featured on Cinnabon’s #SweetTalk Twitter chat, and this was a first for me. This was a huge highlight for me as a professor – and I am forever grateful to the great team at Cinnabon for allowing my class to be featured guests. This showed them the power of engaging online with a brand, and they could add this experience for their resumes. Brands and other professionals WANT to partner with classes – so I think it’s important to note this and see if you can start formulating partnerships with brands you want to be aligned with for your classes.
Overall, I was very honored to have some great groups this semester. It was an honor to be their professor this semester. I have a packed schedule teaching this fall, and then the next time I will be teaching social media will be in Spring 2020 (#Freberg20)
Wait, WHAT?!! What are you saying, Karen?
You are NOT teaching #Freberg19?!!!!
Not to worry, friends. I am going on sabbatical – that is all! However, I will be doing something that is related to teaching social media (more details on that soon!) and will have a very strong emphasis on social media strategy for my upcoming fall PR and crisis class. We have a BIG client we will be working with as a class (again, more details on this soon!).
Lots of exciting things happening. To the graduates who are going to become alums of UofL and #FrebergAlums: Congrats! You are going to set the world on fire and I couldn’t be prouder! I am excited for each student who was in my class and their future professional opportunities.
Hope you all have a great day!
Best Wishes,
