This January I had the opportunity to develop and teach a course in applied social media at Centennial College’s Bachelor of Public Relations Management program. The notion of crafting, and teaching to, a fresh curriculum was daunting at first, but I had the support of both wonderful colleagues and Crowdmark.
Throughout the course students were assessed through participation in online discussion boards, class presentations, essays, weekly metric reports, and case studies.
The main course activity had students in groups of three propose, implement, and report on an integrated marketing communications plan for a real client. Students greatly appreciated the formative feedback I was able to provide them through text, images, and hyperlinks. I was able to communicate more actionable information than possible through a pen or margin notes in Microsoft Word.
Through the comment box I was able to type extensive feedback over the corresponding sections. Using my Surface Book stylus, I was also able to handwrite fine comments anywhere on the page. Leveraging Markdown, I was able to embed images of graphs, relevant campaign visuals, and even screenshots of their work from previous submissions.
Sharing this formative feedback is another area where Crowdmark shines. Students may access their full feedback anytime and anywhere; no need to share a single paper copy or navigate a five-step process to download a digital copy within the LMS. The process was also invaluable for administrative purposes. When I needed to involve the department head, I sent them an email with the assessment link and my questions in line, and often received a prompt reply on next steps.
The students enjoyed the course and the use of Crowdmark in their assessments. I enjoyed having the tools and support to enrich the culture of learning in the classroom.
About the Author: Dustin is a senior account manager with DesignedUX, providing communications and marketing strategy to organizations in education and technology. Dustin is also a part-time faculty member at Centennial College and serves on the board of the Canadian Public Relations Society.