Teaching

Social Media: Engaging Democracy and Communities Online

Fall 2011, Graduate Course at Humphrey School of Public Affairs, U of Minnesota

THE SYLLABUS (Google Doc)

And a copy below

This fall, I will be taking what I know about “e-democracy,” mix in great guest speakers, and wrap it all up with awesome articles, guides, and videos curated from across the web into a new course titled “Social Media: Engaging Democracy and Communities Online.”

I’ve always fell rushed with a 35 minute presentation – so how about ~35 hours worth of discussion, hands-on experience, guest speakers and lectures spread out over a semester. Exciting.

Here is the official course listing.

This graduate-level course for will be taught at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, at the University of Minnesota.

The 3 credit Wednesday night course was added after students registered in the spring – so as of today, there is plenty of space. For those from out in the community not if graduate school, you may take the course for undergraduate credit at a much lower per credit price. Since this is my first course at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, please contact them for registration questions. If you want to learn more about Perth tutoring, visit learnmate.com for more information.

As an interesting twist, students in course will organize a tech-inspired “open space” CityCamp unconference on November 12 following cities like Chicago, London, and San Francisco. Think all things Local 2.0 – with a focus on government, community, and non-profits. It will be held on Saturday, November 12 and be open to government staff, technology developers, open government advocates, citizen media entrepreneurs, other students, and the interested public.

The full semester evening class starts on Wednesday, September 7th and runs through December 14th. The week by week course outline and reading list is in the works.

Here is the official course description from the catalog:

Social Media: Engaging Democracy & Communities Online, Explore the Internet and engagement with government, advocacy, local community building and citizen participation, elections and campaigns, international politics and trends (e.g. Arab spring), and social media use in the non-profit and public sector. In-person class time will be technology infused and include practical and collaborative use of tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and video streaming (remote guest speakers) and many less known online tools. A community “Un-Conference” will be produced by the class on Nov 12th. The instructor is the Executive Director of E-Democracy.org and international speaker across 30 countries.

For those not in the Twin Cities, if you are interested in an all online version of this course down the road, be sure to let me know and join my Democracies Online Newswire if you don’t want to miss any future announcements. Also, if you want to donate for Pickup Please, schedule it right now. It is always better to help someone!

If you have any questions about the substance of the course or simply want to suggest things you’d like to see covered, feel free to leave a comment below.

Social Media: Engaging Democracy and Communities Online

 

Course Syllabus

 

What: PA 5190 Topics in Public and Nonprofit Leadership and Management – #27315

Social Media: Engaging Democracy and Communities Online , 3 credits

 

When: 6:00 P.M. – 8:45 P.M. , Wednesdays – 09/06/2011 – 12/14/2011

Also: 9:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M., Saturday – 11/12/2011

 

Where: HHH Center 60 , TC West Bank, University of Minnesota 

 

Online:  Public Course Website: http://smedac.wordpress.com

Public Twitter Hashtag: #smedac

Delicious Bookmarks http://www.delicious.com/tag/smedac

More: Facebook Page, Twitter, YouTube

 Private Course UofM Moodle Page: https://moodle.umn.edu/course/view.php?id=19646

 

Instructor: Steven Clift, E-Democracy.org – Adjunct Faculty

 

Teaching Assistance: Kathleen Conners, Humphrey School Technology Enhanced Learning Coordinator



Course Summary

  • Week 1 – September 7 – Overview and Episodes of Experience
  • Week 2 – September 14 – Tool Time and Unconference Intro – Lab
  • Week 3 – September 21 – Twitter Time and Online Groups – Lab
  • Week 4 – September 28 – Government and Engagement
  • Week 5 – October 5 – Non-Profits and Activism
  • Week 6 – October 12 – International In-Depth, Elections Online
  • Week 7 – October 19 – Community Life and Online Engagement
  • Week 8 – October 26 – Unconference Planning and Social Media Outreach
  • Week 9 – November 2 – Neighbors Online – In-Depth
  • Week 10 – November 9 – Media, Citizen Media, Video
  • Saturday, November 12 – Unconference – 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  • Week 11 – November 16 – Inner Geek
  • Week 12 – November 23 – Tentative No Class
  • Week 13 – November 30 – The Uncourse One
  • Week 14 – December 7 – The Uncourse Two
  • Week 15 – December 14 – Advanced Online Tool Time – Lab
  • Finals Week

 

Contact

 

Steven L. Clift, Executive Director, E-Democracy.org – Adjunct Faculty – I go by “Steve”

 

Contact Policy: E-mail is the preferred and best way to reach me quickly and to receive a prompt response. If you call and do not reach me after a second attempt, please compose a detailed e-mail instead of leaving a voicemail. Voicemail will take 24+ hours to be noticed. Feel free to use Skype to see if I am available for an immediate voice connection. I am often not actually online when Skype says I am. I prefer spontaneous connections over scheduled meeting times.

 

Teaching Assistance:

 

Kate Conners, the Humphrey School’s technology enhanced learning coordinator will assist with this course. While she is based at HHH, contact me first with course related queries unless directed otherwise in class on specific matters.

 

Office Hours:

 

In-person: Wed. 5:30 – 6:00 pm before class if I am available and/or as scheduled.

 

Online: Request contact via e-mail or Skype and suggest two or three open times and where to reach you online or via telephone.



Prerequisites, Technical Requirements

 

No prerequisite courses are required to enroll in this course.

 

All students are expected to have basic social media experience of a more personal nature. You will use very public online tools as part of this learning experience.

 

Technology in the classroom is assumed and students without an available laptop, smart phone OR iPad they can bring to most classes should make themselves known to the instructor.

 

All students are expected to have online accounts on:

Google, Facebook, Twitter

 

As the course proceeds, all students will create additional accounts with:

YouTube, LinkedIn, Delicious, WordPress, E-Democracy.org, MailChimp, and many other sites and services.



Course Description

 

Official “As Advertised” Description:

 

Social Media: Engaging Democracy and Communities Online

 

Explore the Internet and engagement with government, advocacy, local community building and citizen participation, elections and campaigns, international politics and trends (e.g. Arab spring), and social media use in the non-profit and public sector. In-person class time will be technology infused and include practical and collaborative use of tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and video streaming (remote guest speakers) and many less known online tools. A community “Un-Conference” will be produced by the class on Nov 12th. The instructor is the Executive Director of E-Democracy.org and international speaker across 30 countries.

 

Course Perspective:

 

This first time course will be focused on practical and real world use of the Internet, inclusive of social media and mobile technologies, in “public life.” By “public life” we mean government and non-profit sectors but also “community” at large.

 

The course goal is simple – build social media knowledge and skills you can use in your professional career. 

 

To get there, we will use a mix of hands-on experiences, lectures, guest speakers, webinars, videos, and readings. 

 

Developing the skills of strategic information consumption and production go hand in hand. Effective use of social media requires collaboration both online and off-line (not our course “Unconference” for the broader community) and goes well beyond the public relations one-way communication instincts of many organizations. 

 

The course will be front-loaded with a mix of hands-on computer lab based experiences and off-line reading. As the course proceeds, more of the material will be gathered, summarized, and shared collaboratively to increase our collective learning. Hence, the course “reading list” and lecture topics will have some second half amendments based on student input. Small group presentations in the final classes will in particular allow you to shape the knowledge being shared.

 

Caution…

 

Social media innovation produces a stream of exhausting, hype-filled news of marginal strategic 

value. This course will attempt to focus on adaptable lessons that avoid the shiny new object syndrome while equipping you with skills for staying on top of the latest trends.

 

In short, this is not a course on how to just create a Facebook Page and gather “likes” – although we will do that. What works and what’s new are often not the same. However, what works today may not work tomorrow. Welcome to world of digital quicksand.



Learning Objectives and Outcomes

The key learning objective is to develop the framework and skills required to discover and select from the competing or complementary social media strategies, tools, and options in a world of limited time, attention, and resources.

 

Some specific skills covered in the course and upon which students will be evaluated:

  • Monitoring policy themes of interest (Google News alerts, expert blogs, online communities of practice, Twitter hash tag communities, etc.) and sharing value-added results widely
  • Understanding general Internet usage patterns and trends (PewInternet.org et al)
  • Creating and posting on a popular blog platform and via e-mail newsletter tools
  • Creating and using Facebook Pages and Groups; Understanding their dynamics and use
  • Exploring Twitter and using “dash board” monitoring tools
  • Developing a professional “personal voice” using social media tools
  • Develop basic digital storytelling skills including use of photos and short videos
  • Develop a critical decision-making perspective when it comes to selecting and using social media tools to the maximum benefit in government, non-profit, and community organizations and initiatives
  • Using real-time tools like Skype, webinar or other tools to interview experts remotely and record the results for sharing
  • Ability to use these skills in tandem and after in-person unconference events (documenting a live “open space technology” event by creating a mix of on-demand digital artifacts)
  • In addition to these skills, developing an understanding of the lingo and concepts surrounding social media, “Government 2.0,” etc. will be important. The ability to present and share this knowledge is equally essential.

 

Class Timeline 

 

The typical class experience:

 

6:00 – Class Opening, Updates – 5 Minutes

6:05 – Social Media “This Week” Example Sharing – 10 Minutes 

6:15 – Weekly Reading – Discussion and Q and A – 15 Minutes

6:30 – Main Lecture Part 1 – 30 Minutes

7:00 – Break – 10 Minutes

7:10 – Short Video/Webinar Clip of the Week – 10 Minutes

7:20 – Guest Speaker(s) or Main Lecture Part 2 – 40 Minutes

8:00 – Break – 5 Minutes

8:05 – Tool Time, PewInternet.org Highlight, Unconference Planning, Guest Speaker Q and A if needed, Other

8:45 – Scheduled Class End Time



Course Week by Week

 

Week 1 – September 7 – Overview and Episodes of Experience

  • Course Overview
    • Introductions – Who are you? What is the one unique thing you’d like to be able to do or learn in this course?
    • Syllabus review, Assessment

 

 

  • Lecture: Episodes of Experience – Government by Day, Citizen by Night – My (Steven Clift’s) experiences and highlighted lessons along the way.

    In this “all about me” lecture, I will share an outline of the projects I’ve led and key lessons along the way from 20 years in the field (since I too was a student at Humphrey). Based on this skeleton of direct experience, students are encouraged to note areas where they would like in-depth exploration in future lectures. 

 


  • Experience – Before the second class, please complete following tasks:


  • Assignment: Brainstorm two policy themes you are most passionate about:
  • Your selected theme will be used for knowledge gathering, sharing, and engaging throughout the course. (We will seek to assign a different policy theme for each class member with limited overlap.)
  • Themes should NOT be about social media.
  • Imagine yourself as an online expert on your proposed themes – brainstorm potential Twitter handles (account names) you would use like @healthpolicyguru or @knowtransit
  • Turn in two proposed policy themes – a short title and up three bullet points framing your scope by September 12 via Moodle. Your final and unique policy theme will be assigned/determined during class on September 14.



Week 2 – September 14 – Tool Time and Unconference Intro

OFFICIAL VERSION OF THIS WEEK NOW IN MOODLE FOR STUDENTS – BELOW IS “DRAFT” TEXT

 

NOTE SPECIAL USE OF COMPUTER LAB NEXT TWO SESSIONS


  • Assignment:
  • Your specific policy themes for use with online tools will be assign based on your short proposals submitted by September 12.
  • Everything you set-up will be based on the unique identity (e.g. @knowtransit) you determine (on certain services you’ll need a variant like knowtransitnow.wordpress.com)





 

 

 



  • Experience – After Class:
    • Delicious.com – Tag course public website “smedac” and at least one other appropriate tag, Tag an interesting blog post about social media generally “smedac” and at least one other appropriate tag
    • Set-up Google Reader with your existing Google account and follow initial policy theme sources, searches etc.
    • Tweet Introduction hello with #smedac hashtag – See assessment section below noting use of Twitter and course Facebook Page for course related discussion about readings, posting questions and comments in real-time during class, etc.



Week 3 – September 21 – Twitter Time and Online Groups

 

OFFICIAL VERSION OF THIS WEEK NOW IN MOODLE FOR STUDENTS – BELOW IS “DRAFT” TEXT

 

NOTE SPECIAL USE OF COMPUTER LAB

  • Lecture: Popular Tools – In-depth Hands-on Computer Lab Session 2
    • Twitter In-Depth 
      • Follow @nonprofitorgs and others – share your recommendations with #followfriday #smedac
    • Twitter Tools – TweetDeck, HootSuite, and more.
    • LinkedIN and professional networking
    • Online Groups – Google Groups, Facebook Groups, Ning, GroupServer (niche tool used by E-Democracy.org)
    • Wikis, Content Management (Drupal), and more – Edit Wikipedia “Stub”
    • Open Data and Mashups

  • Guest Speaker: “Social Media Marketing and Outreach” – David Erickson, Director of E-Strategy, Tunheim and Associates – Confirmed

  • Unconference Planning: Infrastructure and Themes
    • Discuss and pick primary themes for CityCampMN ~ five
    • For use in promotion and likely conference tracks

  • Readings/Media – All for this class

 

 

  • Assignment



Week 4 – September 28 – Government and Engagement

 

  • Assignment Due Monday Oct 3: Policy Theme Resources Page Due – Turn in link via Moodle, create short URL via bit.ly and share via Twitter with #smedac
     
  • Surprise Quiz on Readings to Date – OK not a surprise

 

  • Lecture Topics:
    • E-Government to Government 2.0
    • Engaging with Social Media from Government, E-Consultation Introduction
    • Legislatures and Heads of State Online

 

 

  • Video: 

 

 

  • Create a Facebook Page on your policy theme and link the web feed from your WordPress blog to it using RSS Graffiti App
  • Link your blog web feed to your policy theme Twitter account using TwitterFeed – set it up to automatically tweet when you make a blog post
  • Finally, write an introductory blog post marketing your policy theme social media network – your blog, Facebook Page, and Twitter stream – and test Facebook Page and Twitter connection




Week 5 – October 5 – Non-Profits and Activism

  • Lecture Topics
  • Non-Profit Technology – “nptech”
  • E-Advocacy and E-Activism
  • Politics Online – Punditry 101 Online

 



 

 

  • Experience
    • Hunt for and propose a tool for your future class Tool Time demonstration – Propose your tool via Moodle – First come, first serve.



Week 6 – October 12 – International In-Depth, Elections

  • Lecture Topics
    • Liberation Tech, the “Arab Spring” and more
    • ICT4D – ICT for Development
    • Crisis Response
    • E-Campaigning and Elections Online
       

 



Week 7 – October 19 – Community Life and Online Engagement

 

  • Lecture Topics
  • Community Life Online Overview – Use of social media in local communities.
  • Online Community Engagement and Facilitation – Lessons for use with any tool
  • Civic Leadership Blogging
  • Government E-Consultation In-Depth

 

  • Switched to Tool Time Group Demos – Assignment Prep: Final Group Presentations – Small groups of 2 or 3 (to be determined based on class size) will determine the bulk of the class “experience” on November 30 and December 7. A mix of presentations with text, images, video (original or with permission), class engagement





Week 8 – October 26 – Unconference Planning and Social Media Outreach

  • Assignment Due: “Midterm” – Blogging 3 Pack on Policy Theme

 

  • Monitoring across social media streams will lead to 3 public blog posts of different types:
    • Meta Blog Post – “Best of review” of a topic within your policy theme that includes excerpts, quotations, and deep links to fresh content scanned over the last month. Post should include some personal commentary. The word limit is 500 words not including quoted text. Must include at least two media items (photos, infographics, short video) original, Creative Commons, fair use, or reuse with copyright permission granted
    • Original Synthesis and Opinion – Come up with an original blog post on your policy theme and share your opinion on a recommend policy action. Bolster your position with links to facts and opinions supporting your position. The total word limit is 500 words.
    • Expert Interview – Interview an expert in your theme area in a Q and A format. Request photo of the person interviewed. You may do the interview via e-mail or record the interview via telephone or Skype and share excerpts. If recorded, sharing the interview online with permission of the interviewee is encouraged.The total word limit is 750 words.

 

  • Include detailed list of social media promotion tasks completed and readership results (knowing how to measure matters more than actual numbers)
  • Detailed assessment notes pending, but the general idea is that what they are  

 

  • Lecture Topics
  • Professional Intergovernmental Networking
  • Unconference working groups – real-time social media and online outreach
  • Unconference “reporting” text, summary video, and photo editing and publication training
  • Uncourse Group Presentation Brainstorm

 

  • Guest Speaker/Video: To Invite:

  • Tool: Student Tool Demonstrations 7 and 8

  • Readings
    • TBD

  • Assignment 
    • Start small group assignment work for “Uncourse” class presentations, screencasts, class interaction.
    • Groups will have ~3 members each.
    • Presentation given week 13 and 14



 Week 9 – Nov 2 – Neighbors Online – In-Depth

 

 



Week 10 – Nov 9 – Media, Citizen Media, Video

  • Lecture Topics
  • Online News 
  • Local Information Needs of a Community and Democracy
  • Citizen Media and Blogging
  • Video and more

 

  • Guest Speaker/Video: 
    • Jason Barnett, TheUptake.org – To Invite

  • Experience:
    • Video shorts recording, editing, and uploading – using your smart phone, digital camera, Flipcam, and other equipment we gather

  • Tool: Student Tool Demonstrations 11 and 12


  • Readings
    • TBD



Unconference – Saturday, November 12

  • CityCamp Unconference – 9 am – 3 p.m. – Required Attendence
  • Class Goal – Use social media and other tools to attract ~100 participants with at least 30% who work in government.
  • CityCampMN Website (pending) – Online Working Group

 

Week 11 – November 16 – Inner Geek

 

  • Lecture Topics
  • Usability, Web Design, and Testing
  • Open Source – Technology, Platforms, and Approaches
  • Being Talent, Hiring Online Talent – Web-Related RFPs
  • Government Open Data

 

 

Week 12 – November 23 – Tentative No Class

  • In exchange for three of the Unconference hours.



Week 13 – November 30 – The Uncourse One

 

The next two classes are presented by student led groups

 

  • Lecture Topics
    • Group Presentations – ~40 Minutes, 3-4 Groups

 

  • Guest Speaker/Video:

  • Tool:

  • Readings
    •  

 

Week 14 – December 7 – The Uncourse Two

 

  • Lecture Topics
    • Group Presentations – ~40 Minutes, 3-4 Groups

 

  • Guest Speaker/Video:

  • Tool:

  • Readings
    •  

 

Week 15 – December 14 – Advanced Online Tool Time In-Lab

  • Niche Tools – In-depth Hands-on Computer Lab Session

  • Lecture Topics
    •  

 

  • Guest Speaker/Video:

  • Tool:

  • Readings
    •  



Finals Week

 

 



Class Expectations: Participation

  • In-person participation is key for successful completion of this course. Social media tool use will be integrated into most classes.
  • Permission for an absence required in advance. One absence will be allowed before it will impact the participation portion of your grade.
  • Unconference participation before and during the event on Saturday, November 12 is required.

 

Assessment and Grading

  • Assignment summary
    • Experiences – In-class, Out of class
    • Participation – Twitter, Facebook Page, In-class, Moodle
    • Policy Theme Page
    • Reading Quiz(es)
    • Midterm – Blogging 3 Pack
    • Group Presentation and Produced Materials/Screencast/Video
    • PewInternet.org Report Summary Presentation
    • Tool of the Week Presentation
    • Unconference Contributions
    • Final – Social Media Planning Memo

 

  • Assessment 

 

  • 15% Class/Online Participation
  • 30% Experiences (completed (or not))
  • 20% Midterm: Blog 3 Pack
  • 15% Group Uncourse Presentation
  • 10% Unconference Contributions
  • 10% Final: Social Media Plan Memo