The first class of my grad school experience at Arizona State is just about over. I’ve got one big final project to do before I’m all done with MCO 561: Defining the Digital Audience, the first core class of the Digital Audience Strategy program at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Will I get an A? If I don’t completely foul up the final project, I should.
Have I enjoyed the class? More than you’d ever know.
One of the to-dos in this class was to complete an Inbound Marketing certification from Hubspot. I studied for weeks, and at the point I felt like I had studied all I could, I impulsively took the test and passed. I didn’t score as high as I wanted. I got 48 out of 60. The test required you get at least 45. Most all the questions I missed were the ones asking me to ‘select all that apply.’
Checkbox questions are the worst. Give me one question, one answer.
However, what a feeling of accomplishment!
As somebody who has been in the digital content, journalism and digital marketing and communications space for a long while, I didn’t know what I didn’t know, you know? This first class was all about audience development and the building blocks of it. Besides being the foundation for the entire program, I picked up learning that I can apply to my job right now, adding more value.
In terms of how much time it’s taken, I’d say the program has been as advertised. I’ve spent 15-20 hours per week on this — one to two hours per weeknight and 8-12 on the weekend. The workload has been a challenge but not overwhelming. The quality of the coursework and the instruction has been a home run.
Here’s to finishing this final project with momentum and then onto Class No. 2 starting Oct. 12.
