(Note: There is something wonky going on with the formatting here, and I can’t figure it out. I’m sure it has something to do with the CSS.)
Last semester, students in my Public Relations Campaigns class were responsible for maintaining a class blog on trends and issues in PR. The main goal of the assignment was to allow them to get their feet wet in social media, encourage them to read a variety of PR blogs, gain experience writing in a format unfamiliar to most of the students, and provide a forum in which they could discuss professional topics. I taught two sections of the course, and each section was broken into teams for their larger client projects. Teams from both sections contributed to the blog, which was also a way for them to interact amongst themselves despite being in different classes.
I didn’t provide many guidelines for the assignment, since my main purpose was to get them writing, and I didn’t want us to get bogged down in rules. Teams were required to post once a week, and individual students to comment on at least two posts by other teams. They were required to include at least one link, preferably to a public relations blog, and to explain the significance of their chosen topic to public relations. That was basically it. As a result, the quality of the posts was uneven, but at the end of the semester most of the students noted that they had enjoyed the assignment and learned a lot from it.
Next semester, the assignment is going to change considerably. For one thing, we are in the process of creating a microsite for our PR program within the larger school web site, and the student blog will be featured content. This greater visibility means that readership is likely to be wider, bringing in casual visitors to the site, potential students, local practitioners, and others. Furthermore, due to recent curriculum changes, more students coming into the class are likely to have a basic understanding of the mechanics of blogging and some experience with maintaining at least a personal site. And finally, although I incorporated plenty of social media into the course last semester, this time around I want to make sure that SM practices are even more deeply embedded into the course content and assignments. Somewhat paradoxically, I’m convinced that doing so will help prevent some of the “have hammer, will find nail” effect that leads students to attempt to incorporate social media strategies and tactics into their campaigns in ways that don’t really suit the client’s goals and objectives.
Since I try to give very detailed explanations of my assignments, outlining both the purpose and my expectations, I’ve been working on the assignment sheet for the new and improved class blog. What better place to look for feedback than among fellow PR bloggers? Details of the assignment are tucked away below, and your input is welcome.
Class Blog Assignment Details
Purpose of the assignment
Blogging is one important way in which public relations practitioners take part in conversations within the field, establish their expertise, and represent their organization to fellow professionals and the public at large. The blogosphere is a place where tribes form, grow, change, and dissolve.
The purpose of the JMC417 blog is to highlight and reflect on trends and issues in the public relations field. It is prominently linked from the new PR microsite within the Cronkite School web site. It is therefore your job to turn this blog into a valuable resource for the public relations community, as well as to represent our Public Relations program.
Reading widely among professional blogs will deepen your understanding of blogging cultural norms, and ensure that you stay abreast of changes and new developments in the profession; writing regular posts will give you practice in the genre and allow you to reflect thoughtfully on current topics; commenting on others’ posts and responding to comments on your own will help you become active, engaged participants in the online PR world.
Details of the assignment
General requirements
Being an effective blogger involves three main areas of skill and activity:
- Writing engaging, thought-provoking, and intelligent posts that encourage others to respond.
- Responding to those who comment on your blog.
- Engaging with others in the blogosphere.
This assignment therefore also has three parts:
- Each team is required to post once a week, before 11:59 p.m. each Monday night. You may decide amongst yourselves who writes the post each week, or whether to collaborate. The category for the post should be your team name; use appropriate tags. See below for requirements and grading criteria for each post. Everyone on the team is responsible for making sure that a post is published by the weekly deadline.
- Someone from the team must respond to each comment made on the blog, whether by classmates or outsiders. Again, you can work out amongst yourselves how to handle comment responses.
- You must comment on at least two blog posts each week, also by 11:59 pm on Mondays. Early in the semester these comments may be limited to blog posts by classmates, but I will eventually require you to comment on posts within the broader PR blogosphere. I may also sometimes specifically assign a blog post or series of posts to comment on. Email me links to your comments as you make them, using the subject line “JMC417 Blog comment.”
Posting specifics
Each blog post must:
- Link to at least one post in another blog (the blogroll is a good starting point for source material). Additional links are encouraged. If the post you are referring to addresses other online material, please include all links necessary to help your reader follow the conversation. Use meaningful link text.
- Identify all people and organizations named, with links and brief descriptions.
- Express an opinion or point of view on the issue addressed.
- Ask a question to encourage discussion.
- Be unique: do not link to the same items or address identical topics as other posts in the JMC417 blog. Search the blog before posting to avoid duplicates. If you are particularly interested in a given topic that has already been posted, you are free to participate in discussion in the comments thread.
Assessment criteria
Posts will be graded on:
- Meeting the basic criteria outlined above, for starters. Additionally:
- Presentation. Writing should be clear, professional, and grammatical. Links should be worded appropriately. Bolding, bullets or numbered lists, white space, and other formatting elements should be used to enhance the readability of the posts. Tags and categories should be accurate and reflective of content.
- Relevance. Topics need to relate to public relations practice, research, and/or education, and the relevance should be clear and explicitly described in the post. Timeliness is an added bonus, but topics of ongoing significance are also acceptable.
- Engagement. Posts should thoughtfully address the chosen topic using concepts addressed in class, internship experiences, or other reference material. The point of the blog is to engage in conversation, so make sure you have something worth saying. Readership is diverse, so explain any references to theories or other specific concepts from class to ensure that everyone can follow your post without effort.
- Persuasiveness. By “persuasiveness” I don’t mean that you necessarily have to “sell” a point, or avoid voicing your own doubts and indecision regarding the complex issues you may wish to write about. However, your opinions should be supported by evidence, including links wherever possible.
Comments will be graded on:
- Presentation. Comments should be written clearly and grammatically.
- Relevance. Comments should pertain to the post topic.
- Engagement. Comments should respond thoughtfully to the post, and contribute substance to the conversation.
Blogging will be worth a cumulative total of 15% of your grade for the semester. Post and post response grades apply to the entire team; comments are graded for individuals.
This is excellent, Dawn! The guidelines are very clear and specific as well as the evaluation criteria. Will you have a point system (like 1-10) or some kind of rubrics to grade each post? I found that students do need specific directions like these so they’d learn to blog effectively. So thanks very much for sharing your work. This will help me improve my teaching too!
Like you, last semester I had a blogging assignment in my PR writing class and I only require 5 postings the whole semester. I didn’t give them any specific guidelines like you have here. I just told them to blog and comment on PR related topics, just to have them be familiar with blog writing. Even with only 5 postings and 6 comments, some students still did not embrace this new platform and didn’t see the purpose of the assignment. It was more like a burden to them. Having team members share the responsibility of blogging as you outlines might solve the problem. That way you won’t have a lot of blog entries to read and grade. I taught two sections of PR writing with 15 students each, so by the end of the semester, I had more than 300 posts to read!
Thanks again for this great contribution.
Hello! I like this outline a lot better than the one we had (not that our blog was not good experience…because it was!) I think it’s great that you are making the blog a significant part of the grade. This way it forces students to make it a priority.
Suggestions: In the being of the class make it clear that you are trying to give them a real world experience of managing a client, blogging, keeping up with the news, participating in social media and educating yourself (case studies). I think this should all be laid out to the students in the beginning of the semester. I think this because I was a little blind sited when you brought up blogging in our class because we were already a couple weeks into the semester.
Also I think making each team comment on each comment on there post may be a bit much. Just a thought…
Overall well done! I like review your work for a change 🙂 I hope all is well and you had a great holiday. I really enjoyed your class and I think your students this semester will enjoy it even more!
Gee – Thanks! I’m glad you found the assignment helpful. Each post will be worth X points (I’m still tweaking the syllabus), and to earn the full points allotment, students will have to meet all of the criteria outlined in the assignment sheet. That way, the grading policy is clear.
I think my students took several weeks to really start to embrace the class blog, so I can see how having a smaller assignment with fewer required posts might never take them past that resistance barrier. Since the campaigns class is so labor-intensive already, I thought sharing the task among members would keep things more manageable.
It’s always a surprise just how difficult it can be to incorporate blogging into the classroom. I’m sure I’ll keep tweaking the assignment over time, as I gradually figure out what works, and what doesn’t.
Hi Erika! I hope you’re enjoying life as a college grad.
This assignment is a lot more detailed than the one your class had, because that was mainly an experiment. This time, the blog will be publicized as part of the program, so I need to make sure that it meets certain parameters. That’s also why I have to make sure that comments are answered, because that’s a key part of maintaining a blog, especially since in this case it will be serving as a PR vehicle for the school. Responding to comments means maintaining relationships with stakeholders and potential stakeholders.
You’re absolutely right that I need to bring it up at the very beginning of the class. I was trying not to overwhelm everyone by bringing up everything at once, but I think in the end it just created more confusion as people kept thinking, “what, there’s more?!” Live and learn…
Thanks for commenting, and I hope you’ll continue to keep in touch. And of course, you’re welcome to check out and comment on the class blog this semester once it starts up again. 😉
Your web page does not correctly work in safari browser
Hmm, what part isn’t working for you? It seems fine in Safari for me. The formatting of this entry is off because of CSS issues I haven’t had time to check out, but that’s true across browsers.
Can you be more specific about the trouble you’re having, so I can try to fix it?
Excellent framework to work within. I am lecturing at diploma level in Perth, Australia in PR and find what you are doing here resonates with my own class in that I have only really just introduced the group of students to using Wikis and Blogs. With a fair deal of success.
Similar to yours, I requested establishing a blog, weekly writing with deadlines set, weekly reflection and commenting on two others’ blogs. This brought around a great deal of appreciative commentary in that they were all very supportive of many professional and personal issues.
Love your site and, with your permission and references (naturally), I really would like to use some of your ideas in my next semester if OK with you!
Thanks again
Keith
Dawn, I must appreciate the detailed description you have provided. I can understand the fine teacher you are..:)
BTW, the page opens fine in safari for me too.
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