Internet Marketing: Salford University Online Course

I was lucky enough to be involved in a Massive open online course (MOOC) recently, a project by Masters Students at The University of Salford, involving marketing experts from around the country.

A MOOC is a relatively new phenomenon, and in plain terms, it’s an online course that is available to a large audience. They aren’t always free, but in this case it is.

Here’s a great explanation by Dave Cormier, with his interpretation of a MOOC:

If you’re interested in Search Engine Marketing and Social Media, then visit the Salford Business School site to find the videos and assignments.

The students will be putting together a report in the next few weeks to analyse their results, so your survey feedback will be extremely valuable.

The project is driven by a team of four Postgraduate students, Luis Santos, Maria Camila Villa Jurado, Vanessa Van Huynh and Rebecca Lee. Their presentation was held on Monday morning, and I was impressed with their professionalism.

Since launching approximately a week ago, they’ve received over 700 views and already a couple of exit surveys from people who have completed the course.

Maria, who is on the MSc Marketing course, the same course that I studied at The University of Salford around 10 years ago; told me that students have the option of doing a traditional 15,000 word dissertation, a placement in industry or a live group project (which includes a fairly hefty write-up). Despite the extra work, Maria recommends that students do the live project whole heartedly.

And at the end of their course, these students already have met people in the industry they plan on working in, have experience of a complicated production and marketing campaign, and a fantastic piece of work in their portfolio.

In addition to the students, Paul Delooze was involved in the filming and production, and Aleksej Heinze brought in industry experts in the fields of Search Engine Marketing, Public Relations and Social Media Marketing.

Here’s the playlist, but remember, there are assignments and more available on the course page .