By BRITTANY McNEAL
Adam Wagler
Imagine a world where news only comes in the form of a newspaper in the morning and the evening news at night. Getting directions takes a paper map or a stop at a gas station. And Facebook? What’s Facebook?
It may be hard to believe that for most people, this was all reality only about five years ago.
In a society that revolves around anything that is quick and convenient, mobile media and the apps that comprise it are a prime target for anyone looking for the instant news, games, social networking or information that a mobile app can supply.
That’s exactly where CoJMC professor Adam Wagler’s Mobile Communications and Social Media class comes into play.
“In a nutshell, what we really do is spend time thinking about the mobile space, and that includes social media. A lot of people believe that most of what mobile is right now is a social space so anything you do on mobile should be social, and anything you do on social should be mobile,” Wagler said. “They kind of go hand in hand.”
The class – called Mobile 491 by students – was made available by a push from Dean Gary Kebbel, who added a number of new electives to the CoJMC.
“The mobile class was one of them, and I was excited to develop the new course,” Wagler said. “I expressed my interest in teaching it, and Dean Kebbel had talked with the Omaha World-Herald about a class conceptualizing mobile solutions for them. Those two things initiated the class and took off from there.”
Wagler said the course is for any CoJMC student who is interested in mobile and social media. During the Spring 2011 semester, he said he taught a mix of journalism and advertising, graduate and undergraduate students with an array of different interests.
Senior advertising major Sara Leimbach decided to take the class to broaden her scope and hopefully, make her more employable after graduation. She said it’s given her the opportunity to learn about new technologies that are currently breaking ground in the advertising industry.
“A lot of employers are looking for young professionals who can understand the digital world, and I think Mobile 491 offers you a chance to learn the skills needed to impress prospective employers,” Leimbach said.
She thinks it’s important that students learn about mobile technologies because it is so closely integrated in the industry, and it gives students a fresh view that others within the field might not have.
“By learning and keeping up to date with new and upcoming trends, we offer prospective employers a perspective that older generations may not have,” she said.
Senior News-Editorial major Marcus Scheer agreed and acknowledged that it is getting harder for someone with only one skill to get a job.
“This class not only gives me a better chance of getting a job, it focuses on the things I [find] interesting: technology, data and new/interesting ways to present information. And if I can write and edit my own story, shoot photographs to accompany it, develop and code my own app to aggregate and present my information, I can not only make myself more likely to get a job, I can almost create my own job, business or outlet,” Scheer said. “Plus, everything continues to change – especially in the mobile world.”
Over the course of the Spring 2011 semester, the class worked to develop an app for the Omaha World Herald. Wagler said the class worked closely with Jeff Carney, the Assisting Managing Editor at the Omaha World Herald.
“The semester went really well, I think the students got a lot out of it and will benefit from having an entire semester to think strategically about this new medium,” Wagler said. “The students presented their plans to Jeff Carney and he was thrilled with the directions they pitched. Jeff and I plan on getting together this summer to discuss future directions and collaborations between the CoJMC and OWH.”
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