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Status

Open

Estimated Completion Time

18 weeks

Overview

You can learn about the ins and outs of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest in this course. Plus you will learn how to use them for your benefit personally, academically, and professionally. If you thought social media platforms were just a place to keep track of friends and share personal photos, this course will show you how to use these resources in much more powerful ways including business applications.

During this course, you will learn career-related skills and earn a badge for this accomplishment. A badge is a digital certification of your career-related learning that you can share on social media or with higher education platforms, colleges, potential employers, peers, and colleagues. Select this link to learn more about badges.

Course Requirements

Physical
  • Tablet, laptop, or phone
  • Audio recording device like a cell phone
Software
  • Word processing software
  • Graphic design programs like Google Slides or Canva

    Major Topics and Concepts

    Unit 1: Social Media Past and Present

    1. Define social media
    2. Identify various types of social media
    3. Outline the steps in the rise of social media popularity
    4. Explain how social media and the hardware we use to access it have changed over time

    Unit 2: A Closer Look at Social Media Platforms

    1. Understand how social media usage fulfills basic human needs
    2. Analyze the history of various social media platforms
    3. Investigate how to navigate social media platforms
    4. Discover how to make use of social media security features

    Unit 3: Digital Citizenship and Personal Relationships

    1. Explain why social media is a popular form of personal interaction and identify best practices for using it ethically and safely
    2. Utilize the features of Facebook and Instagram designed for interpersonal communication
    3. Effectively use the features of Twitter designed for interpersonal communication
    4. Describe best practices for using social media as a source of news

    Unit 4: Social Media for Students

    1. Explain how Facebook can be used to collaborate with fellow students and team members
    2. Describe how to use Twitter for research, including locating sources, following experts, communicating with colleagues, and learning about current trends in a given field of study
    3. Identify and evaluate YouTube videos for their educational value
    4. Identify and evaluate the usefulness of blogging as a tool for learning

    Unit 5: Social Media and Professional Networking

    1. Describe how social media can benefit your professional career
    2. Utilize LinkedIn to find jobs, make professional connections, and learn more about your career

    3. Use Twitter to learn from other professionals and stay informed about trends in your industry

    4. Analyze and evaluate how to make responsible decisions about using Facebook for personal communication vs. professional goals

    Unit 6: Developing a Personal Brand

    1. Discuss the importance of building an online personal brand
    2. Analyze effective brand models to create your personal brand
    3. Use a blogging platform to create brand persona
    4. Recount a brief history of social media marketing

    Unit 7: Social Media Marketing

    1. Describe how Facebook can be used for marketing and use the platform’s tools to promote brand values, products, and services
    2. Illustrate ways to use Instagram for marketing and use the platform’s tools to promote brand values, products, and services
    3. Articulate ways to use Twitter for marketing and use the platform’s tools to promote brand values, products, and services
    4. Define ways that YouTube and Pinterest can be used for marketing and use the platforms’ tools to promote brand values, products, and services

    Unit 8: Thinking Critically About Social Media

    1. Describe how social media benefits us individually and as a society
    2. Identify drawbacks of social media
    3. Create goals and a best practices plan for your future personal and professional use of social media
    4. Consider future trends in social media

     

    Credits .5

    Competencies

    • Social Media
      Students will demonstrate an understanding of social media by describing types of social media, summarizing the rise of social media, and explaining changes in social media.
    • Social Media Platforms
      Students will demonstrate an understanding of social media platforms by analyzing the history of social media platforms, summarizing the navigation of social media platforms, and explaining the security features on social media platforms.
    • Digital Relationships
      Students will demonstrate an understanding of digital relationships by describing best practices for using social media ethically, explaining the use of social media features for personal interaction, and summarizing the use of social media features for interpersonal communication.
    • Scholarly Uses of Social Media
      Students will demonstrate an understanding of the scholarly uses of social media by explaining the use of Facebook for collaboration, describing the use of Twitter for research, and evaluating the educational uses of YouTube and blogging.
    • Professional Networking on Social Media
      Students will demonstrate an understanding of professional networking on social media by describing the benefits of social media for a professional career, and evaluating responsible decision-making for communicating on social media.
    • Personal Brand Development on Social Media
      Students will demonstrate an understanding of personal brand development on social media by explaining methods for personal brand development on social media, analyzing branding models on social media, and summarizing a brand persona on social media.
    • Social Media Marketing
      Students will demonstrate an understanding of social media marketing by describing the use of social media platforms for marketing and explaining the use of social media platform tools for marketing.
    • Impacts of Social Media
      Students will demonstrate an understanding of the impacts of social media by describing social media benefits, summarizing social media drawbacks, and summarizing the future of social media.

    Pre-Requisites

    None

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