In Strategic Public Relations Communications (J452/552), I require that my students blog. Over the course of 8 weeks, they will post 15 different posts and comment at least once a week on other people’s blogs. Having kept my own blog for nearly five years and also managing client blogs for about three, I know that just a handful of posts does not give you a sense of scope or scale for what it takes. Yes, twice a week is a lot, I know. We’re about mid-way through the term now. If you want to see this term’s student blogs, take a look here.
This is (more or less) my assignment description that I share with students. I always love feedback!
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Objective: To become familiar with blogging for personal and professional purposes, including linking, images, commenting and trackbacks; to begin to build a dialogue and connections with communication (PR, Marketing) bloggers.
More than just an online diary, blogging is a powerful way to build dialogue in your industry and establish your expertise.
Your blog should focus on your “theme,” but not exclusively so. You’re welcome to explore other ideas and may find some additionally interesting topics via each week’s prompts. I hope your “theme” will provide some focus and consistency, but it shouldn’t be limiting.
Requirements:
- (week 2) Set up a personal blog using Blogger or WordPress. Select a name, register for a blog, set-up template, profile, blogroll and widgets.
- You must have a blogroll with a minimum of 10 blogs
- (week 2) Write an introductory post that provides an overview of your blog including: purpose, topic, interests and experience (a sort of cover letter for blogging). Write an “about me” section/page.
- (week 3 – 10) Write two posts per week for 14 posts total.
- one post should be in response to a prompt from Kelli. See: http://prosintraining.com/2009/01/ducklings-take-plunge-first-linky-love.html for example prompts. Linky loves will (ideally) expose you to new voices and new ideas and require that you think about trends and issues.
- one post is on a topic of your choice
- (week 4) Add a code of ethics to your blog
- (week 4 – 10) Leave one comment on a PR, marketing or advertising blog of your choice per week. You may comment on classmates’ blogs, but you must have 5 comments on outside blogs.
Additional Requirements:
- Each post much include at least one link and an image.
- Response posts much reference the writer of the original post (ex: in a recent post, so-and-so said…) and have an “in-text” link.
Things to keep in mind:
- The blogosphere is a conversation. When you link to, or mention, people in your blog, they will know.
- Keep the conversation civil and be professional.
- Professional doesn’t mean boring or without perspective; it does mean that you don’t attack or belittle someone’s opinion.
- You cannot blog anonymously.
Comments
27 responses to “Why & How My Students Blog”
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kelli Matthews, Susan Currie Sivek. Susan Currie Sivek said: RT @kmatthews: New from PRos: New from PRos Why & How My Students Blog http://dlvr.it/GWRcb […]
[…] You can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the studentsR… […]
[…] You can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignme… […]
[…] You can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignme… […]
[…] A new slate of student bloggers in my J452: Strategic PR Communications class are taking to the blogosphere! Please welcome them. If you’re interested in the why and how of this assignment, you can get the skinny here. […]
[…] Ahhhh, fall. But I digress. I found some great stuff this week to share with my J452 students. You can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignme… […]
[…] What that said, here are this week’s linky loves (with some from last week). As always, you can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignmen… […]
[…] As always, you can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignmen… […]
[…] As always, you can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignmen… […]
[…] students were rock stars this term. They all completed the blog assignment and did so with flying colors. I had lots of favorite posts and enjoyed reading their blogs. But I […]
Great assignment! I enjoyed this a lot while I was taking this course. I think it would be an added benefit to report on the analytics of the blog at the end.
[…] We’re kicking off a new term of student bloggers & a new series of “linky love” (best of) posts. This term, I have the pleasure of co-teaching with Mandy Drakeford, so each week’s collection of links will include some favorites from both of us. As always, you can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignmen… […]
[…] As always, you can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignmen… […]
[…] Here’s our best of’s for the week. As always, you can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignmen… […]
[…] Mandy & I have pulled some great links together this week to finish off the blogging assignment with a bang. As always, you can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignmen… […]
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[…] response to a blog kernel and the other is a topic of their choice. As laid out in SOJC instructor Kelli Matthews’ blog, posting twice a week is a huge commitment but it gives students a real sense of what it takes to […]
[…] And every week, I share a sliver of what I read on a weekly basis, choosing things that I think are interesting, clever, relevant or just important for students to read. You can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignme… […]
[…] This is our second round of “best of” posts for my students in Strategic Public Relations Communications. You can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignme… […]
[…] This week’s links are a bit of a hodgepodge. You can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignme… […]
[…] Whether you chat about sports or not, I think most of you will find something that piques your interest. You can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignme… […]
[…] media platform to use, but I just can’t wrap my mind around that concept. Upon doing our Linky Loves (check out the link to see what it’s all about) for the week, I came across a blog post from […]
[…] This week’s links feel very random, to me, but each interesting on its own merits. You can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignme… […]
[…] I was browsing through this week’s Linky Love, one of the links caught my attention; six ways non-profits can use Instagram for fundraising. It […]
[…] My Strategic PR Writing students blogged twice a week for seven weeks this term. It’s a feat to get all those posts done! I picked a “best of” from each blog to share with you. You can learn more about the background on the students’ assignment here. […]
[…] In my strategic public relations writing class, students have been blogging for two weeks, so they’re finding their own groove. You can learn more info about these “linky loves” and the background on the students’ assignme… […]
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