Online Course Mastery Journals

    Over the last four weeks I have been enrolled in the Final Thesis Paper online course at Full Sail University. Initially, I predicted the class would of course teach me how to prepare a quality thesis paper. Not only did I prepare a graduate-level piece of work, the class also helped me feel more confident in writing and analyzing. The steps outlined throughout the course ensures all students will have a guide for crafting the perfect thesis paper.

    Our instructor, James Carstens, provided chapter-by-chapter instructions for the elements and structure of the thesis paper. All students were given examples and templates for the introduction, literature review, method, results, discussion and conclusion. For someone who has never wrote a thesis this significant before, each of these references helped tremendously when it came to writing the paper.

    The process of crafting the thesis paper made me expand my thoughts, analysis and writing skills. Not only have we have learned the contents of a thesis, the references in the class also taught us how to properly format a thesis and include extra graphics/screenshots.

   Furthermore, the best part about writing the thesis paper was that students were given a detailed breakdown of each section to refer back to. During week one we worked on the introduction and literature; during week two we focused on the methodology and results; in week three we wrote our discussion and conclusion; and week four we put the final touches on the paper and submitted it as a whole.

This month’s entry will be a reflection on the Public Relations and Reputation Management online course at Full Sail University. Initially, when I first heard the name of the course, I figured it would be on the importance of reputation and protecting your brand. I expected to learn about who and what not to associate yourself with in order to maintain a positive reputation.

This course met all of those expectations. Within the first two weeks, we renovated our ‘About Me’ page, learned the similarities and differences between journalism and PR, and the importance of ethics. I especially liked the assignment to renovate our ‘About Me’ page from text to video. This assignment stood out to me because for years, the about me page on my website was all text, with the exception of one headshot. I appreciate the video format (along with some text) because this allows your visitors to put a visual to your face and those professional experiences you’re describing in the text.

Additionally, I thought the 4-3-2-1 discussion board was a nice, interactive assignment as well. The “4” represented four online influencers covering topics similar to ours. Once we identified those influencers, the “3” in the assignment was for students to pick three out of the four influencers, and comment on any recent post. Next, the “2” represented the two tweets we had to post, sharing the content we had just commented on. Lastly, “1” represented one influencer to send a personal, yet professional message to.

I can honestly say I feel as if I have gained interview knowledge based of the work we’ve done in the course. During weeks two and three, we were responsible for analyzing compelling multimedia stories done well the reporters. During both evaluations, I was able to pick up on the do’s and don’ts while interviewing your subject. One keen thing I learned was to familiarize myself with the subject. Knowing the background and being prepared for the topic of discussion can help me know what questions to ask or not ask.

Another thing I picked up on while evaluating interviews is to know its not what you ask it’s how you ask. While watching the 2008 interview with Sarah Palin done by Katie Couric of CBS News.Palin failed to answer several questions and Couric often had to repeat the question while rephrasing or informing Palin of some contradictions in her answer. This was a great example of an interview where you have to know the topic—because at times it was as if Couric had more knowledge than her interviewee, Palin.

Overall, my favorite two assignments would have to be from week three and week four. During week three, our mission was to find a “little person-big issue” story. Meaning that someone who is facing an issue within, but that same issue is an ongoing discussion throughout the world. I chose to do my story on overcoming challenges in the LGBT community. I really enjoyed doing this story simply because I haven’t done one quite like it before.

At the start of this course, I had three main goals/outcomes in mind. I wanted to develop stronger researching skills, find new sources that can add another layer of support to my stories and to leave this class more confident in my writing. I can honestly say I feel as if I have met all three goals.

To begin with, I was very pleased with the topic from week one. Researching public records is something I’d never thought of to add to a story. It was during week one that I realized how much of a difference referencing a public record can make. Especially when covering crime-related news that involves arrest information. Having that extra piece of information can dramatically increase the tone of your story. Public records can provide a very detailed point of view from law enforcement about what happened—while without it can lead to reports of misleading information.

Week two focused on creating infographics. I really enjoyed this lesson as well because it’s something I didn’t utilize much before. Creating infographics is such a neat skill to have because it’s super easy and effective. There are numerous sites out there that will easily allow you to create an infographic. All you have to do is plug in your numbers or text, along with the icons. Some easy-to-use sites are Visual.ly,Infogr.am, PiktoChart, and SmartArt graphics on Microsoft Word. Infographics are a quick way to give your audience a description of your story with a unique visual element.

Week three honed in on the skills and techniques used by journalists during their interviews. Often times, if not all, we focus our attention on what the interviewee is saying -- which we should. But observing the interviewer also opened my eyes up to some things. Analyzing their techniques gave me ideas on how to approach interviews. I took something away from each interviewer-- learning what to do and what not to do. I also picked up on some useful techniques that I will apply in future interviews. Studying each interviewer’s skills and techniques will help me get my questions answered but still make sure my guest is comfortable.