Are you a professor looking to teach social media in the classroom? Learn more at: hootsuite.com/higher-ed Recognizing the growing demand for trained and qualified social media professionals, HootSuite University created the Higher Education Program, which launched in January of 2012 with Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Dr. William J. Ward, Social Media Professor at Newhouse, adopted the program to increase students’ professional social media skills, establishing Syracuse University as HootSuite’s first education partner. HootSuite University now has over 500 global classes enrolled in their Higher Education Program, arming students with the hands-on skills needed for today's digital workforce

1. THE SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY CASE STUDY: TEACHING SOCIAL MEDIA TO DIGITAL NATIVES
Case Study:
Syracuse University
Teaching Social Media to Digital Natives
Introduction
Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications is
recognized as one of the most prestigious communications schools in the
United States. By adapting to today’s rapidly changing media landscape,
and innovating in the classroom, the Newhouse faculty is preparing their
students across all majors to be industry leaders in today’s demanding
job market.
With small-to-medium-sized businesses doubling their social media
advertising budget in 2012, experience in social media is not only in
high demand for students entering the workforce, but also required by
many employers.
Recognizing the growing demand for trained and qualified social media
professionals, Hootsuite University created the Higher Education Program,
which launched in January of 2012 with Newhouse School. Dr. William
J. Ward, Social Media Professor at Newhouse, adopted the program to
increase students’ professional social media skills, becoming Hootsuite’s
first education partner.
The Challenge
The goal of integrating the Higher Education Program into Dr. Ward’s
Newhouse curriculum was to prepare and empower his students with
the social media skills and savvy that the industry demands by providing
the hands-on experience needed to understand and manage social media
for business.
Dr. Ward focused on higher level social concepts and strategies, while
Hootsuite University provided the supplemental content, support, and
experience needed to keep up with the rapidly changing social and
technical landscape.

2. Achieving Success
In order to accomplish the goal of setting up his students for social
media success, it was important for Dr. Ward to consider the pace of
Hootsuite University’s content when planning his curriculum.
The integration of online learning into higher education does not
replace traditional, in-class teaching and discussion. Through
thoughtful planning, the addition of Hootsuite University’s content
effectively enhanced and complemented Dr. Ward’s existing curriculum.
Due to the self-directed nature of Hootsuite University’s online
learning, accountability was extremely important in order to ensure
active student participation. Each week, Dr. Ward counted assigned
tweets, tracked hashtags, and ran analytics using Hootsuite in order to
quantify student participation.
“When these students get assigned 20
tweets per week, with specific hashtags, and
research to go along with it, suddenly social
media becomes work, which is new for them.”
explains Dr. Ward
By integrating this additional online learning, student participation is
no longer simply defined through weekly assignments and in-class
exams. Evaluation of student success broadens to encompass ongoing
engagement both in the classroom and online.
The Results
Integrating Hootsuite University’s Higher Education Program into the
Newhouse classroom not only increased students’ understanding and
knowledge of social media for business, but also enabled hands-on,
practical learning, which further prepared them for the workforce. It
also allowed all of Dr. Ward’s students to become Hootsuite Certified,
putting them a step above the rest in the competitive job market.
The 90-day Higher
Education Program
provided students
with free access to
Hootsuite University,
Hootsuite Pro,
and Hootsuite
Certification, giving
them powerful
credentials to take
into the workforce.
THE SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY CASE STUDY: TEACHING SOCIAL MEDIA TO DIGITAL NATIVES

3. 80% of the Newhouse students surveyed found the integration of
Hootsuite and Hootsuite University in their class extremely helpful in
advancing their social media education, while 100% responded that
they feel better prepared to use social media professionally.
“I plan to have my Hootsuite
Certification on my resume, and continue
to use Hootsuite to maintain my online
presence.”
says Alex Perez, one of Dr. Ward’s Newhouse students.
Online education is no longer an experiment. Harvard and MIT
recently committed $60 million to offer free online courses, and
elite universities like Stanford and Yale are exploring online learning,
demonstrating a digital shift within higher education.
“The future of higher education lies with industry partnerships,” says
Dr. Ward, “If we want to teach our students current, hands-on, practical
skills, third party objectivity from an industry leader is huge.”
According to Capgemini, 77% of surveyed
companies consider missing digital
skills to be the key hurdle to their digital
transformation.
What is Hootsuite University?
Since 2011, over 60,000 success-minded social media professionals
have obtained accredited training, education and certification from
Hootsuite University. Enrolled students stay ahead of the social media
curve by learning new strategies and tactics through on-demand video
training, webinars, and assessments. Learn more and get Hootsuite
certified at learn.hootsuite.com.
For more information on Hootsuite’s
Higher Education Program visit:
hootsuite.com/higher-ed
Are you an interested
professor?
Learn more about Hootsuite’s
Higher Education Program at
hootsuite.com/higher-ed.
Apply and learn more about
how you can teach social media in
your classroom.
THE SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY CASE STUDY: TEACHING SOCIAL MEDIA TO DIGITAL NATIVES