I really like doing guest lectures, especially those that are conducted using some form of technology. I have primarily used Skype, but I did something new by conducting a guest lecture using a new platform.
I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Amber Hutchins and her social media class at Kennesaw State University via Google+. I have used the platform and social networking site for virtual office hours for classes and meetings, but I have never used it for a guest lecture. I thought that it was a wonderful opportunity to speak with students about social media, but in particular visual storytelling.
This guest lecture opportunity came about actually through social media. 🙂 Amber and I have been corresponding via Twitter and Facebook primarily, and we also share the enthusiasm for infographics and Pinterest, so this was a great topic to cover for students that is timely, relevant, and strategic for PR purposes.
Amber asked me to talk to her students about how brands and individuals can use visual platforms like Pinterest and Instagam for PR purposes. I thought this was a great and fun topic to cover, and what was exciting was how Amber was able to record the guest lecture using Google+ Air. This way, other students who were not able to join the hangout were able to tweet and review the content and write posts about it. I thought this was very cutting edge to offer for students in social media. Here is the YouTube video of my guest lecture presentation with Amber and her students:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sFcQBNg-3s[/youtube]
I was extremely impressed with the level of engagement, professionalism, and strategic insight displayed by Amber’s students in her class. They were asking very important and relevant questions via Twitter for me (by using the class hashtag #pr4415) before class, and I was trying to answer them on my phone as I was heading to my classes at the University of Louisville. The students in the hangout were very professional and enthusiastic about the topic – it was fun chatting with them before and after the guest lecture.
Also, I have to give a big shout out to Amber – she is truly an innovator in the field when it comes to PR research and teaching in social media. She is one professor who is setting the trend to not only exploring social media use in the classroom, but also in her research – a must follow for Twitter for the latest updates and conversations on social media and PR.
Thank you again Amber for this wonderful opportunity and keep up the amazing work with your students and in social media.
Hope you all are having a great day.
Best Wishes,
Karen
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