Integrated Strategic Communication: COMM 306
syllabus | schedule of events | student blogs

Student Blogs

This page describes the format for a successful student blog in COMM 306: Integrated Strategic Communication.

Getting Started
You may use any blog platform to set up your site (Instructions for starting a WordPress blog can be found here). When your site is up and running, be sure to email me a link so that I can upload it here.

Posting
Create the following categories on your blog: (1) Lab Activities; (2) Insights; (3) Personal Connections. Each post on your blog related to this class should be categorized into the appropriate category.

1. Lab Activities: Your lab activities will typically be submitted on your website for grading. Please follow the instructions for each lab for the type of assignment and how to submit it.
2. Insights: Throughout the term, I’ll pose questions for your to address in thoughtful responses on your blog. Each insight should be between 500-750 words and should incorporate images and appropriate citations for all quotes, images, and other media.
3. Personal Connections: These are posts of your own creation related to current PR events (and don’t worry, there will be many throughout the term). Choose an event that is happening in the world or a piece of PR communication and analyze it in relation to our course. Show how the current event connects to one or more key concepts from our textbook.  Each personal connection should be between 500-750 words and should incorporate images and appropriate citations for all quotes, images, and other media.

Commenting
Part of successful blog maintenance is being active in the blogging community. Blogging includes not only writing in your own space, but also reading others’ posts and commenting on them. You should have at least 20 comments on other blogs by the final blog assessment date. To help keep track of your comments, create one post on your blog titled “Blog Comments” and categorize it in your “personal connections” category. Whenever you comment on another blog, update this one post with the comment. Keep them in order from 1-20+.  By the end of the term, all of your comments should appear in this single blog post.

For each comment in the post, please include:

• the comment number (1-20+);
• the title of the blog post and author’s name;
• a hyperlink to the blog post;
• the date of your comment; and,
• a copy of the entire comment.

Comments should be at least 100 words long and be related to both our course content and the blog’s content. Over the term, your 20+ comments should appear on a variety of blogs (other students in our class or others, PR professionals, PR thinkers, my website, etc.). All of your comments should be thoughtful, well-written, and error-free:

Making the most of your blog

For assessment purposes, to be successful, complete all of the required postings and comments, and add your own. When I assess your work, I’ll be looking for:

1. professionalism (your posts are well-written for the web, free of errors in grammar and spelling, and thoughtful; they contain source citations; and they are written with a purpose and aim);
2. engagement in the conversation (your ability to link the thoughts in your blog to reliable information elsewhere on the web using embedded links; your inclusion of media in your blog posts; and your personal connection to the writing); and,
3. continued maintenance (your blog isn’t just completed at the end of the term, but has been a term-long project compiled of work completed on a weekly basis and is revised and edited for accuracy given instructor and peer feedback).

Here are a few resources that might help you think through your blog posts:

10 Blogging Tips that will change your life (or your grade, at least)
by Prof. Barbara Nixon, Southeastern University

Blogging  & managing your personal brand
by Prof. Corinne Weisgerber, St. Edwards University