FDOC*

*First day of class…

Many of you know that Saturday was my first day teaching a 14 session course on social media at McMaster University.

And while I’ve guest lectured many times, presented at conferences and meetings, done keynote addresses, I don’t mind saying I had opening night (day?) jitters.

Walking into the class I felt much like I did as a student. Except my desk was facing the other direction. It put my own education in a slightly different perspective.

With a course on social media, one of the challenges I think we’ll face is the ‘body of knowledge’ is very new and constantly evolving. On the positive side, I’m trying to reflect that in the course and cover/discuss emerging trends, issues/crises as they happen.

So even though there’s a course outline and framework (and for anyone from the university who happens to read this, yes, we will cover it!), the dynamic and evolving nature of social media is going to play a big part.

One thing I did was create a Ning community for the class; everything’s going to be on it including the outline, suggested reading, assignments, my notes, photos, videos, RSS feeds of the student blogs (each student is going to have one), discussions, events. The only thing that won’t be there are the marks. I hope it becomes a virtual classroom that goes on beyond our formal hours with lots of conversation and shared ideas and information.

And even though I’m the instructor, I feel I’m going to come away from the experience having learned a lot, too.

About Martin Waxman

Martin Waxman, MCM, is a digital communications strategist. He conducts AI research, leads digital and social media training workshops and speaks at events across North America. He's co-founder of two PR agencies, president of a consultancy and has worked in the industry for nearly 30 years. Martin is a LinkedIn Learning instructor, teaches digital strategy and social media at McMaster University, the Schulich School of Business, University of Toronto SCS and Seneca College. He's a member of the Institute for Public Relations Digital Media Research Center and a past-chair of PRSA Counselors Academy. He has a Master of Communications Management (MCM) from McMaster-Syracuse Universities.

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