Originally posted at Dusti-PR pubs
…well kind of…I still have to do my extra credit blog posts tonight!!
Overall, I am kind of sad to be leaving this class. I feel like I have learned so many valuable skills, yet there is still so much I do not know. The time that I have spent in this class I have learned so many practical skills for not only PR practitioners, but also just people in general. Learning how to use what I consider some of the most intimidating software was challenging yet fun for me. Although I got extremely frustrated at times I can reflect and see that 1. I did learn something and 2. Hard work really does pay off.
I actually thought I was going to hate this class in the beginning. I knew I was not a creative person and that I struggled with Photoshop and Indesign. The first day, as well as the first actual assignment, was definitely a little intimidating to me. Once I got into the swing of things; however, I was no longer intimidated by the amount of creativity I was given – I was looking forward to it.
I think the hardest part of the class for me was our workdays in he computer lab. For some reason, I can never focus or be productive in those settings. It happened to me in Writing for the Mass Media as well. My brain just does not function in those types of settings. I usually spent the class time drawing out my ideas or looking up ideas/ information on the Internet that way I did not waste an hour of my day. This actually ended up paying off in the end because when I would actually sit down to work I already knew kind of what I wanted to do and I cut my production time in half.
Although I do not wish every course I had were in the same setting of a computer lab, I do wish they were all hands on like this one was. I have discovered I learn best when I am learning practical skills and when I can practice them and try them out. I think I learn and retain the most in this kind of setting because I do not spend my time cramming for tests I will forget the information on. I am learning how to actually do something.
Another aspect of the class I really enjoyed was our blogs. I have been saying for a year now that I am going to start blogging. Now that I can’t make excuses I can finally do something I have wanted to do for ages. I have not decided what I am going to turn my blog into subject wise, but I do plan to continue using it.
Overall, I have nothing but good things to say about this class. I feel like I learned everything I was suppose to, which is nice. I also believe I will be able to use this knowledge for years to come no matter what my profession.
Originally posted at OU Public Relations Publications
I have really enjoyed this class. I enjoy any class, be they ever so rare, that teaches me a hard skill. too much of my college life has been spent talking about ideas and hardly any has been spent teaching me things that make me employable. You can’t put theories on a resume, but you can put “good at InDesign”.
I want to be a sports information director. This job produces a lot of content for websites and paper on gamedays. SOOO much of what we do is done on InDesign and so I am grateful to have had this class (but also disappointed that there aren’t more computer skills classes in Gaylord… It’s 2014!). I feel like I went from a very basic knowledge of InDesign to feeling confident that I could produce the documents I would need to in my profession. Adam was a great instructor and very knowledgeable about the program.
I wish we would have spent some time on Photoshop but I realize that the class is really too short to cover both programs sufficiently. OU needs to have 3-4 classes for teaching software in Gaylord.
I enjoyed the lab format of the class. I was free to work at my own pace but I could ask questions if I had any.
I plan to use the website that we created in my job search. I think that it will be a real asset when I am applying for jobs around the country and it might just put me over the top. I am going to keep updating my portfolio as I go. I probably wont use the blog section but you never know.
Originally posted at Wes Moody
Originally posted at Taylor Ashley's PR Pubs
This has honestly been one of my favorite classes since I have been in college. I feel like I learned a lot more than I have in most of my other PR classes, because I had more independent thinking. I was able to discover my creative side and do projects over things that I am passionate about. I had never used photoshop or Indesign before this class, and I hated the programs at first; however, I really like them now. The favorite thing I learned about this semester was the concepts presented in the book “Designing for Emotion,” It was very interesting and if you read my previous blogs you will be able to understand some of the ideas the author wrote about. I think the thing I am the most excited about is that I have this awesome website to show to future employers and family/friends. I definitely never thought I would be a blogger, but I think I will continue to use it this summer to document my experiences. I also want to study abroad and this would be a perfect way to share with my audience. I think ultimately this will become a blog for me to just write about my thoughts on issues and tie it in with my religious views as well!
Originally posted at Tyler Martin Mahoney
Well its been a great semester and I couldn’t have asked for a better hands on learning experience than this. I love the lab intensive set up and I can see myself using many of the tools I learned in the course throughout my career. Going into this class I really didn’t know very much about design at all but that has changed completely now. I learned that design allows us to make deep and lasting connections with our public and if done right can form lifelong mutually beneficial relationships. I really would like to see more classes done like this. The hands on aspect of this course made the environment so much better for learning and I think I retained so much more this way.
Throughout this course I got to implement everything I learned about designing. I learned more about segmenting publics and the importance of designing for your public in a way that will connect with them. I got a good grasp on InDesign and am able to design stylish and emotional proactive pieces now. I will take what I learned in this course and implement it the rest of my life.
Originally posted at Spenser Hicks's Blog
After I publish this post, I will be done with PR Pubs, which is a weird thought.
I really wish more courses were like this one. Adam, you truly are a very good teacher. At the start of the semester, I genuinely had no experience with graphic design whatsoever and had no earthly clue on how to work InDesign, PhotoShop or anything. Now, leaving my junior year, I can genuinely say that I feel comfortable using these systems. This is because you didn’t tell us how to use them; you showed us. You actually taught us technical skills that will be of great use to us in the future, providing us with plenty of personal help and feedback along the way. Thank you for doing that.
I like writing for a public audience. I always have, even from the days of Writing for Mass Media. Being able to do this, along with design exactly how my words were conveyed to said audience was a great experience.
Alright. I’m keeping it short and sweet. And I’m sleep-deprived. This is Nick Edwards, signing off.
Originally posted at Nick Edwards
I can’t believe that Public Relations Publications is ending. This was honestly my favorite class that I have taken while attending the University of Oklahoma. This class has expanded my knowledge on InDesign and Photoshop and I know that will help me when I enter the workplace. These skills are valuable and necessary for a public relations major and I am so glad we spent time learning these concepts and how to perfect our products.
I enjoyed having our classroom in a lab where we could work and ask questions when needed. This helped me, as a public relations practitioner, understand when to use certain concepts and when to refrain from them. I thoroughly enjoyed having a small classroom as well. I think the bond that our classroom created was helpful in my success in the class because I was not afraid to ask their opinion on my product. I wish more classes were set up this way because getting feedback on your work only helps a student. The assignments given during the semester pushed me to become better acquainted with InDesign and Photoshop. I learned how to do things on the programs that I thought only professionals could do.
I think what we learned in Public Relations Publications was very valuable for a public relations practitioner and will be used throughout our careers. Blogging every week helped me understand the importance of using a blog and I think I will continue to use my site past this class. I will direct it towards weddings I love, wedding ideas and more, just to get my name out there before I even begin my career. This class was tough at some points, but overall I think the class was by far the best class at OU, and honestly maybe the most important one. I can’t wait to put my knowledge into action during my career and continuing on with the blog that we were able to create.
Originally posted at Claire White
Wow! I cannot believe that this semester is actually over! Seems like the first time I did an assignment for this class wasn’t all that ago. I have to say I really enjoyed taking this class. The lab intensive format was very different for me, but I got a lot out it. I learn a lot better when I can actually experience what I’m supposed to be doing instead of taking notes on it. So the fact that we actual got to do assignments and learn basic skills that way was so much better for me. I wish more classes were this way because the skills we’re supposed to learning as PR professionals will stick better with students. If we can experience things and learn from our mistakes I feel like we will be better prepared for the tasks we will have to perform when we graduate.
I became a lot more efficient in inDesign than I was before. Adam was very helpful in showing us shortcuts that I had never known before when I worked with it in High School. Although I had worked with inDesign before Adam was much more knowledgeable and easy going than the teacher I had before so he was easier to learn from. I also found that the way I worked with inDesign was a lot different. Since I had more freedom to create what I wanted I created things that were a lot different than before.
I will admit that writing for a public audience was hard. Although I am a PR major I find writing is the most difficult thing we do and we do it A LOT. Trying to choose the right words and placing it in the right place is really hard. It’s also exactly why some people pay other people to do it for them. (i.e. Why our profession exists) But I found that with the progression of the class I became more and more confident in my writing and in my designs. I definitely plan on keep up with this website and blog so I can continue to write.
Originally posted at Mary Morton- PR Publications Course
The one thing about InDesign, Photoshop and the website on Word Press is that they are not made for people to learn as they go. I think that is what I found the most frustrating. I’m spoiled with social media sites and programs that are easy to navigate and user friendly and I felt that these programs expected you to hit the ground running. I would most often ask the people next to me if they knew how to do something and would receive blank stares before I knew it was time to ask Croom. He’d just swoop in and tell me what to do and, for some reason, I’d panic under pressure and not be able to find any of the buttons he was talking about. So I hated asking questions.
With that being said, I have learned A LOT. Things I found challenging before are becoming easier and I find myself using this software in other classes as well. I had a very fun time designing and it gave me the best feeling to see something that I created come out looking the way I wanted it to. I never really had a problem designing for an audience, but I realize that may only be because we were able to choose our audience for every project. More often than not, I designed with an audience similar to myself in mind, but I liked that because it allowed me to be my own critic.
I liked the lab setting because even though we were all together, it felt private. Like no one could see my project until we were all finished (other than Croom, of course). Everyone in our class seemed comfortable with each other and I loved that everyone’s work was always available to use upon completion to get ideas or push our creativity further. I also liked that class time went by fast from having something to work on and keep us busy rather than being lectured. This is a big part of what we do in the field of public relations and I do think it’s very important to know. Colors and design are the first thing to catch the eye and, in my opinion, can make or break a company.
Originally posted at Brought to you by Brooke