Bringing Real World Experience to Students in the Classroom

I'm a big advocate for real-life experience and projects in the college classroom. I was lucky enough at Champlain College to do just that. This included projects like putting together a full PR Campaign for Vermont Teddy Bear or creating an internet marketing strategy and website for Sonoma Station Restaurant. Then presenting the project, to the executives or owners of the company at the end of the semester. This prepares students for work experience once they graduate, because 'experience is knowledge.' Stanford University is also paving the path for real-world classroom experience by allowing their students to design Internet applications in class which is actually earning them a monetary income through online sales.

A student, Vikram Oberoi is selling his "Site Saver" application for the iPhone priced at $1.99. This app was built in an elective computer CS193P science class. College Mogul who also covered this article notes this progressive business nature to the amount of resources available online today. "As more resources appear online, educators can start giving lessons to students in class via guided Internet exercises."
From this specific CS193P class, 40 apps have emerged and several are available for purchase at the iPhone App Store on iTunes. Vikram created a website featuring these apps, which you can view here.

I can't help but agree with College Mogul that, "with more industries finding success and growth online, teachers will be able to integrate class lessons with “real world” gain—and potentially capture student’s interests in classroom lectures. For example, in video classes, students can publish their videos to YouTube and let the world judge how much they want to see their film. Authors can test their appeal on blogs. Financial classes can take students through the process of investing with services like Ameritrade."

Champlain College offers real world experience, not just in my Public Relations major--Broadcasting majors are allowed to host their own radio show in our studio or Criminal Justice majors have a required hands-on internship with the Vermont Medical Examiner's office, local law enforcement or corrections agency. I hope to see more university's and colleges adopting this technique. Instead of just teaching them how to fish, give them the fishing pole and let them wade into the water.

So what about you? Do you know any college's adopting this strategy in the classroom? What about a class you took in college that prepared you for the real-world?

My Mom AND Dad Are On Facebook, Weird? Think Again

I can easily say that I'm 'Facebook Loyal' because I was just beginning college when Facebook came onto the scene in 2004 and exclusively opened up to Mark Zuckerberg's own, Harvard University. Then as everyone knows, expanded to colleges in the Boston area and Ivy League's. I went to college in Burlington, Vermont, so I was close to the action you could say. In early 2005 I was on Facebook as soon as Champlain College was in. I was immediately hooked and it's safe to say it has forever changed how I interact and connect online, even popular culture.

Now, in my post-college days while still remaining a proud Generation Y girl, I have a lot of friends who don't understand how it's now opened up publicly. They miss the days when it was just college students (maybe I do too, sometimes). Friends still feel weird that their mom is on Facebook, while I try to tell them it's the norm and so is having your boss, your extended family, etc. You can always choose to decline their 'friendship' via Facebook, but that's another story entirely. Plus, those of my friends lacking the online digital finesse have to realize anything you put online is public and out there for good. Deal with it.

Sometimes, they won't take my word for it. So of course, this is also backed with data (here comes the geek again) which is best represented on Inside Facebook. Their most recent study found that the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is women over the age of 55.

Key Highlights

• Facebook reporting nearly 45.3 million active US users in the last 30 days
• Facebook growing in every age/gender demographic. Fastest growing segment: Women over 55, up 175.3% in the last 120 days.
• Facebook growing faster with women than men in almost every age group. Women comprise 56.2% of Facebook’s audience, up from 54.3% late last year.
• 45% of Facebook’s US audience is now 26 years old or older.

And yes, both my Mom and Dad are on Facebook. Times are a changin'

Guest Blog Post - Promoting 1% For The Planet

As a proud alma mater of Champlain College (I've become a bit of a public relations poster child for them) I wanted to include a guest blog post from my friend, Kat Maund, a Senior at Champlain pursuing a degree in Business Management with a focus in Marketing/Sales.

I will note that with my passion and work in social media, I continually find university's that don't talk about or offer information on any social media tools in their educational mix. I know senior level students in public relations at other large and well-known university's that don't even know what Twitter is or the value it offers in their field. With the help of some incredible professors, Champlain offers classes such as online visibility, internet marketing, media communications, and contemporary media issues (the class Kat is currently taking). In these classes, (yes, I took them) students stay on top of new media technology and are encouraged to blog, use Twitter and work on real-life projects for companies to leverage their business. This real life project is where Kat comes in, so without further ado, I'll let her take the reins and explain.

Kat Maund

My Contemporary Media Issues class is competing (guys vs. gals) to see which team can get the most views on a Youtube video promoting 1% for the Planet. 1% FTP officially took off in 2002 with its launch at a Patagonia store in San Francisco, CA. Twenty-one businesses signed up on the first day and began giving 1% of their annual profits back to the environment. Some call it an "earth tax." Consumers want to know that they're investing in companies doing good deeds and that in turn grows member companies' profits and reputations. Talk about good PR!

"It’s about businesses recognizing that industry and ecology are inherently connected. It’s about realizing the positive effects of connecting businesses, consumers and nonprofits through philanthropy. And it’s about understanding that the true cost of doing business can be mitigated by a simple pledge to the planet."

Utilizing our social networking skills is crucial to winning the contest, so what better ways to encourage hits than to blog about it, tweet about it, and Facebook it? Not only do we win some pretty excellent swag from 1% FTP's member companies, but we are able to spread the word about the importance of giving back to our earth, a planet that has provided us with so much. Check out the video; the images are sublime and the song, "Sunshine" by Matt Costa, is a definite feel-good tune. Below is the video. After you watch it and if you feel inspired, ask your employer if they're giving back to the planet. If they aren't, challenge them to!