Course Syllabus

Purpose

This course will have both theoretical and practical components. Students will read and hear from leading authorities—and discuss their own ideas in class—about how and why people form communities online, what those communities can and cannot achieve using digital media, and how government employees can help foster online communities and help members engage in meaningful real-world activities.

Guest lecturers from government, academe, nonprofit, and private organizations will address the class on select topics.

Participants will gain hands-on experience using blogs, microblogs, wikis, ideation platforms, social networks, and other social media tools.

Topics

The class will discuss the following four topics in depth: Community, Information, Action, and Capabilities and Limitations of Social Media in Government.

Weeks 1–2: Communities Off Line and On: Why do we form social networks? What forms do social networks take? How do we manage social networks to increase the possibility of positive outcomes?

Weeks 3–4: Information as Online Currency: What is information? How does it function online? How can it be managed in an age where every possible viewpoint is expressed and reinforced online? Can we ever achieve consensus?

Weeks 5–6: From Information to Action: How do we encourage participation through social media? 

Weeks 7–12: The Capacities and Limits of Social Media: What can be achieved through social media—with regard to collaboration, transparency, and citizen participation—and what are the limitations and even perils that social media must confront?

Each attendee will receive their own personal set of social media references from a broad range of industry subject matter experts.

Content Lead: Web Manager University Team
Page Reviewed/Updated: January 23, 2012