This course won’t teach you how to use a hashtag, do a viral dance, or get more followers. However, it will show you that social media revolves around you - and the power in your hands to influence it. You will explore the history of social media and how it has transformed our society. You will learn all about your digital footprint and how it is just as important as your physical footprint. You will learn how to interpret the perspective, accuracy, and credibility of information, so you can confidently share it with your followers. You will learn the skills to have effective and purposeful communication on your social media accounts by leveraging the power of social media. You will compare and contrast the positives, negatives, and hidden dangers of social media. You will examine how social media connects the world and how you fit into it. The future of social media is unknown, so it’s up to you to predict how social media will evolve and create a digital plan for your future.
Prerequisites: None
Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...
- Assess the history or evolution of social media and its purpose
- Predict the changes to and trends in the future of social media
- Analyze their digital footprint
- Create a plan to promote themselves in a positive, healthy way online
- Compare the pros and cons of social media and how it impacts their social media use
Course Outline:
Unit 1: History of Social Media
Unit 2: Your Digital Footprint
Unit 3: Using Social Media in a Positive Way
Unit 4: The Dark Side of Social Media
Unit 5: You as a Global Collaborator
Unit 6: Your Place in the Future of Social Media
Resources Included: Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits.
Additional Costs: None
Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue diplomas. A final score out of total points earned will be submitted to your school mentor for conversion to their own letter grading system.
Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.
Technology Requirements: Students must have access to one or more social media platforms. Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube.
Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements: https://michiganvirtual.org/about/support/knowledge-base/technical-requirements/
Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.
Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.
Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.
Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building and other forms of authentic assessments.
Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:
- Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
- Download and install software
- Use a messaging service similar to email
- Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
- Open attachments shared in messages
- Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
- Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
- Save a file as a .pdf
- Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
- Insert images or links into a file or html editor
- Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
- Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
- Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
- Use presentation and graphics programs
- Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
- Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
- Create and maintain usernames and passwords
Additional Information: Students must have access to one or more social media platforms.