IMPROVING STUDENTS' COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND AWARENESS ONLINE: AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENHANCE LEARNING AND HELP PERSONAL BRANDING

Young people will have to change their names in order to escape their "cyber past" prophesized Eric Schmidt (Google's CEO) in August 2010. This provocative thought from the principal opponent of Facebook may be considered a strategic maneuver but it also highlights the deep societal changes coming with the development of social media. In fact, about 500 million people (Facebook members in 2010) get more public exposure than most movie stars, political figures or professional athletes would have dreamt about a few decades ago. How could young people, and even most adults, be ready for it? From the instructors' perspective, one may wonder if online education could help students develop their communication skills in the era of web 2.0. But another may contend that a priority has to be given to the class content, not to another use of the media, which simply provides a new channel to enhance learning experience. This paper reconciles the two perspectives and shows that improving students' communication skills and awareness when teaching in an online environment can both enhance student learning and help personal branding. To help demonstrate this, results from the authors' courses are provided.