Students set up their iPad minis and their web domains in class today. I warned them to use something professional for the domain . . . we shall see.

It’s an exciting day in my JMC 1013 class, Introduction to Mass Communication, at Gaylord College. Today, thanks in part to a digital initiative from the office of Nick Hathaway, OU’s Executive Vice President and Vice President of Administration and Finance, and with support from OU’s Center for Teaching Excellence, our first-semester media students will be wielding iPad minis and using those in conjunction with the domains OU provides them to set up personal websites.

The digital initiative has been in place for several years now, and this is the third year for my 1013 class to receive iPads. In this time, I have seen some of my past students create amazing portfolios and blogs that will serve them well as they seek internships and jobs. I know across campus, various students in various colleges and majors are also using iPads and create.ou.edu in multiple ways, but for our Gaylord students, this is an especially good match for them as potential media professionals.

In this time, I have seen some of my past students create amazing portfolios and blogs that will serve them well as they seek internships and jobs.

Over the course of the semester, the students in my 1013 section will post blogs on media topics (and likely a few fun, self-selected topics) and learn digital storytelling techniques important to working in the current media climate. It will end with a multimedia final project combining writing, audio/video, photography/graphics and social media.

I look forward to the coming weeks as students learn and grow with these tools, and if they follow the same pattern as the previous two years’ students, I will be blown away by what they come up with for their final projects.