SCFMMC2000 Introduction to Mass Communications on Ning!

I created a living ning.com site called SCFMMC2000. It is the portal for my students to find resources about mass communications, syllabus, discussion questions and other pertinent information about the course.
I have also created a Facebook fan page called SCFMMC2000 and a twitter.com account called SCFMMC2000,

I teach Introduction to Mass Communications at State College of Florida – Sarasota Manatee. My primary interest is in developing online courses that are portable. Since I am an adjunct, I would like to develop my content and store it on an offsite location rather than at the State College of Florida site, so if I chose, I can eventually market my creation if I choose to do so.

I created a living ning.com site called SCFMMC2000. It is the portal for my students to find resources about mass communications, syllabus, discussion questions and other pertinent information about the course.

I have also created a Facebook fan page called SCFMMC2000 and a twitter.com account called SCFMMC2000, so my students will be able to connect with me as well as others involved in the course. I have also invited mass media professionals to become members of the Ning group as well as fans of the Facebook page and to follow up on Twitter.

I used a book called Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture 6th edition by Stanley J. Baran, because this book is well written and edited and has myriad sources both offline and online for students and instructors.

I have taught this course since 2004 and have found that interactive media such as YouTube and other sources has been very practical and beneficial to my students as learning tools.

I have or will add links to a variety of online media sources and students will be encouraged to use Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools including BlogTalkRadio and YouTube for special projects, which include: a radio talk show, a career presentation and a research project aimed at expanding everyone’s knowledge of useful tools available on the Internet.

As part of the course, which includes both face-to-face meetings and online interactions, I have developed some discussion questions that require thought and have instructed the students to respond to their media partner’s posts. This learning tool is helpful in generating both face-to-face discussions as well as online ones and is very useful to the overall heightening of media literacy.

The value of a social network such as Ning.com, Facebook and Twitter in today’s ever-changing media environment for tomorrow’s journalists is unfathomable. As an instructor of mass communications, it is my obligation to help prepare the journalists and media professionals in training about the past, present and especially, the future. It is imperative that they understand their role in a democracy as purveyors of solid, accurate information for the masses.