This page describes how to implement an Online Current Events Activity utilized in a "Marketing on the Internet" course.  It can be adapted to most other types of marketing and business courses with ease.

Introduction

Electronic discussion groups, where multiple users share one common area of communication such as an e-mail list or online bulletin board, can facilitate a free flow and wider exchange of information.  These electronic forums are ideally suited for discussing issues such as current events pertaining to a course topic.  An online current events activity would entail using electronic discussion forums where two or more parties can communicate information about current events.  For example, if all members of class utilized an online bulletin board to read instructor announcements, that same forum could be used to discuss marketing current events.

The Online Current Events Activity

      In traditional (offline) current events assignments, students typically search for popular press articles and then provide a written summary of findings to their instructor or they make an oral presentation to the class. Thus, this approach often uses a one-to-one model  (student-to-instructor) or a one-to-many model (student-to-class).  The opportunities for feedback are limited to the instructor's comments and the class' willingness to provide feedback based on class time available.  By extending this assignment into an online environment, a more powerful student-to-student model surfaces.  Additionally, this activity promotes more student interaction with electronic resources (student-to-technology model) and stimulates tangential thinking about using technology in marketing.  Thus, when using electronic forums to relay current events, two additional learning models emerge.  The technology is placed in the center of the communication process and the amount of quality information that can be transmitted increases exponentially.

Implementation Procedure

There are 10 simple steps involved in implementing on online current events activity.  Each step is briefly presented below. 

1.                 The instructor begins by setting up an electronic discussion forum for interactive student-to-student communication. Most colleges and universities provide e-mail list distribution software as well as start-up training. However, if this software is not available, other online platforms can be easily learned and adopted.   Electronic learning environments, such as Blackboard and WebCT, or web-based communication forms, such as http://groups.yahoo.com, can be used. If students are not familiar with how to communicate in these forums, they should be provided with clear directions prior to beginning this activity.

2.                 The instructor compiles a large variety of business resources related to the course subject. For example, in an Internet Marketing course, subject-specific resources can be selected (e.g., ClickZ, B2B Online, eMarketer, Media Metrix) as well as general business-oriented resources (e.g., WSJ.com, Forbes.com, BusinessWeek.com).  One primary instructional issue is determining the appropriate mix of online and offline publications and resources to use as a base.  In the current study, all resources were online.

3.                 Discuss with students the scope of the project as well as the learning objectives of this activity.  Some suggested objectives are as follows: 

Upon completion of this activity, students will

• demonstrate the ability to research, interpret, critically evaluate, and report key information from online resources, 

• use technology to learn new information about the course subject,

• educate their peers and stimulate them to read further on a selected topic,

• identify important linkages between marketing theory and practice, and

• develop higher levels of involvement with the subject matter

4.                Randomly assign one resource and one day of the week to each student.  For large classes, several students can be assigned to the same resource and/or day of the week.  This activity can be conducted in class where students draw resources and days of the week out of a hat.  As an alternative method, a sign-up sheet can be provided where students sign up for their preferences on a first-come, first-served basis.

5.                 Students monitor their assigned publication over a specified period of time (e.g., the entire semester, several weeks, one month, etc.)  During the time frame assigned, they are to find compelling, controversial, educational, newsworthy, and/or interesting information pertaining to the course matter.

6.                 Regardless of the length of time for the duration of the project, each week students prepare a short written synopsis of their findings. These summaries are intentionally kept short (150-200 words) to encourage succinct communication and ease of online reading.   On their pre-assigned day of the week, students will submit their summary in the electronic discussion forum to provide timely information updates to the entire class.  They may submit their summary any time between 12:01 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on their pre-assigned day.  This is done to deliver information in smaller bits in order to facilitate learning and prevent electronic accounts from being "spammed" in one setting.  Table 1 provides a sample of student resource assignments and a weekly posting schedule.  This schedule can be published on a website or distributed as a handout in class.

7.                 A sample of a "good summary" should be discussed or provided to students as a guide.  Table 2 illustrates a sample of one such current events summary.  Students should be encouraged to avoid replicating the same topics in summaries sent in by other students.  A goal of this project is to provide exposure to a wide variety of different events.

8.                 The activity culminates in a comprehensive final paper prepared for the instructor. Students evaluate all electronic submissions from the class and identify five major themes learned from the online discussions. The final project requires students to read and synthesize all of the research provided by their peers.

9.                 Grading criteria should be provided to the class prior to the exercise.  Two suggested areas of evaluation are 1.) educational value and 2.) communication.  Educational Value: Electronic summaries should be factual, succinct, and include a practical application. Each summary should reflect a current event that will be of interest to the class. It should also facilitate student learning and stimulate discussion by peers in the electronic discussion forum.  Students can be rewarded bonus points for providing e-mail feedback or threaded discussions about other students' summaries in the electronic forum.  The final project must demonstrate how electronic discussions related to course theories and concepts.  Communication: Correct spelling and grammar must be used.  Descriptive titles should be written in the subject line of all electronic submissions. Students must include complete citations of resources with each summary to assist in further inquiry. The following is a widely accepted format for citing Internet sources: Author (if known). "Title," Last date updated or revised [if known], <URL> (date accessed).

10.             Upon completion of the entire activity, conduct a student assessment for quality improvement. 

Instructor Comments About this Activity

            Like all endeavors, activities such as these are learning experiences for the instructor as well.  Overall, there were more benefits than drawbacks when implementing this activity.  First, the online current events activity provides tremendous flexibility for the instructor in that it can be implemented in virtually any kind of marketing class, covering any length of time (a few weeks, a month, or an entire semester), and using any type of resource (offline and online). Secondly, instructors can choose a different topical area to research each week so that summaries reflect a related theme (e.g., branding, customer service, international). Third, this activity helps instructors to gauge if the class is learning key linkages between theory and practice.  Fourth, and most importantly, this activity provides all class members with an ongoing stream of current information on a subject while simultaneously maximizing student-to-student and student-to-technology interaction.  Because the entire class benefits from the knowledge transmitted from each individual's research, the expected learning outcomes should increase exponentially.  

Table 1:

Sample of student resource assignments and weekly posting schedule for 14 students

Table 2:

Sample of a current events summary sent by Chia-Mei who was assigned to report on research findings from the ClickZ Network on Thursday of each week.