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Open Online Courses

Coursera Link >WHY IMC?

Medill Open Online Courses

Medill has partnered with the online learning platform Coursera to provide free, universal access to short courses in areas buzzing in the journalism and integrated marketing communications industries. From topics like Social Media Marketing, Content Strategy and Organizational Leadership, our Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are taught by our expert faculty and allow professionals to gain valuable skills to gain a leg up in their current career, or to decide to continue their education in Medill’s many degree-oriented programs.

individual courses

FREE COURSES
Take any individual course for free. Select the course and register for the upcoming enrollment period that fits your schedule.

COURSE + CERTIFICATE
For an additional fee, most courses offer participants an opportunity to obtain a Course Certificate upon completion of course requirements. Certificates provide official recognition of completion from Coursera and the hosting university.

Specialization

Specializations on Coursera are a premium paid product designed to give participants deep mastery of a topic. Each Specialization consists of a rigorous sequence of courses and a hands-on Capstone Project to demonstrate their knowledge by tackling a real problem faced by professionals in the field. Participants who complete the courses and Capstone will have produced professional-quality examples of their work to add to a resume or portfolio and will be prepared to apply their knowledge.

Specializations vary in length, with shorter Specializations including as few as three courses and taking 2-3 months to complete, and longer offerings including ten or more courses and taking up to a year. A Course Certificate will be awarded for each individual course and a Specialization Certificate will provide official recognition of completion of the entire sequence from Coursera and the hosting university.

who sould participate in a medill IMC mooc?

Beginners
From obtaining a new skill to learning the integrated marketing communication way of thinking, we welcome those of any background and level of experience to participate in our MOOCs. Participants will gain exposure to topics both in-demand and relevant to a variety of professions.
Currrent Students
Students in any field along their educational path are invited to augment their current coursework from our most popular specializations and courses. The flexibility inherent to MOOCs allow current students to manage their own pace while expanding their knowledge and job competitiveness.
Alumni
Whether you need to sharpen an existing skill or are interested in discovering something new, staying current in a quickly changing world is important. We invite you to join a global network of individuals dedicated to continued learning.
Professionals
Those interested in honing a new skill or furthering their career advancement can work at their own pace. An optional Course or Specialization Certificate is a great way to strengthen a resume so you can achieve your individual goals.

Social Media Marketing 
Specialization

In today’s marketplace, organizations need effective, profitable social marketing strategies. In these courses, you’ll learn to match markets to social strategies to profitably grow your business. You’ll use social media tools and platforms to design, manage, and optimize social campaigns to promote growth and position your brand in the global digital marketplace, and you’ll develop targeted content to spark dialogue with various social communities.
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CONTENT STRATEGY FOR PROFESSIONALS SPECIALIZATION

Online courses in Content Strategy, led by Medill IMC and Journalism Professor Candy Lee and former Dean John Levine, use credible, trustworthy, transparent media to communicate stories and information to enhance an organization’s strategic goals. Topics like “Engaging Audiences for your Organization” and “Expanding Your content’s Impact and Reach” are just a few notable online courses in this subject, and are applicable to professionals in all industries who want to leverage content to be successful.
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ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP SPECIALIZATION

The Organizational Leadership online courses teach participants how to successfully lead organizations through clarity of purpose and effective collaboration — by building and motivating teams; designing and delivering powerful stories; developing strategies to appropriately influence; understanding underlying customer analytics and applying innovative approaches to deliver impact. This string of online courses include, “Leading for Maximum Impact: Storytelling” taught by Medill faculty members Candy Lee, Hud Englehart, Ernest Duplessis and Tom Collinger.
More info  >

what previous students said

FAQS

What is a MOOC?
A MOOC is a massive open online course designed to reach a broad audience around the world. MOOCs typically enroll thousands of students, though not all complete the course MOOCs do not count for Northwestern credit (but credit may be granted by other institutions for NU MOOCs). Anyone with an internet connection can take a MOOC, generally for free Northwestern faculty can offer a MOOC through Northwestern’s partnership with Coursera.


What is Coursera?
Coursera is one of the leading providers of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). It was founded in April 2012 by Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng, two Stanford University computer science professors. Coursera offers classes developed by faculty from leading private and public universities to anyone around the world who has internet access. Students who complete courses do not receive Northwestern credit.


Online courses have been available for some time, how is a MOOC different?
MOOCs are open learning resources that can be taken for free by anyone in the world. Typically MOOCs do not provide instructor feedback to individual students. Online courses tend to be smaller in scale, provide direct instructor engagement, are integral to the curriculum, provide credit, and have a required fee.


What is the structure of MOOCs?
MOOCs are traditionally taught over anywhere from six to 12 weeks, allowing for variation based on each MOOC’s content and design. Each week, MOOCs are comprised of a lesson with a single topic or themed topics with specified learning outcomes. Learning assets are available at all times so that students across the world can participate fully, no matter the time zone or personal schedule. Each MOOC is designed according to a rigorous instructional design process and course functionality subjected to a quality assurance process.


How do students communicate with MOOC instructors?
Communication with students is clear and consistent, with expectations explicitly communicated to all parties. Course technology enables students to easily message and interact with their instructors, guest speakers, peers, etc. As a result, learning communities emerge allowing students to connect with each other and with course materials.


Are these basically the same classes that are taught on premise in Evanston?
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How do students communicate with MOOC instructors?
Communication with students is clear and consistent, with expectations explicitly communicated to all parties. Course technology enables students to easily message and interact with their instructors, guest speakers, peers, etc. As a result, learning communities emerge allowing students to connect with each other and with course materials.


Are the faculty similar or different from those who teach these topics on campus?
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What are the demographics of students taking the Coursera MOOCs?
They are globally distributed, across age ranges, ethnicities and professions. There appears to be four main groups of learners: 1) learners focused on improving technical skills, 2) learners focused on improving business skills, 3) young learners preparing to apply to college, and 4) lifelong learners.


Will Northwestern students get university academic credit for taking the Coursera MOOCs?
Currently, Northwestern students will not receive credit at Northwestern for MOOCs.


How do I sign up for a Coursera MOOC?
If you would like to participate in a Coursera MOOC, click on the links above or register on the Coursera site, https://www.coursera.org/northwestern. They do not require you to submit an applications admission for Medill, as they are free resources and do not count for academic credit.


Are the Northwestern MOOCs free?
Yes, all Northwestern MOOCs are free when taken individually. Users can participate in a full MOOC course load without payment. If a user would like to receive a certificate of completion for their chosen MOOC area, they may pay to take the full MOOC “Specialization,” which includes the individual classes plus an additional capstone project. This certificate is also referred to on Coursera’s site as a “verified statement of accomplishment.”
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