The goal of this blog post is to provide information on valuable digital marketing training and certification available on LinkedIn Learning to further help us assist our students gain and reinforce necessary skills. Two weeks ago I posted some information on free certifications that can be used by students as skill and resume builders during this time when we have a tight job market. The good news in all this is that I spoke to a recruiter recently who said that a good skill set can still distinguish a new graduate and help them land that job or internship. The Summer is coming and that's when I usually pile on the learning and certifications I need to teaching digital marketing. I suggest that students do the same with an extra time they might have.
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| LinkedIn Learning Provides Valuable Digital Marketing Training and Certificates |
In this vein, another valuable resource is LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda,com, which is also available for free to many students through their University access. I have it because I am a subscriber to Sales Navigator in LinkedIn, one of the premium services. However, we also have direct access through the University, which is extremely helpful to students. LinkedIn learning is often available via public library resources. Students can join for a monthly fee if they choose and 'binge' all they can in a month before cancelling their subscription. This learning sounds like a good activity during times when we can't get out and about as we might wish.
We recently discussed in our Digital Marketing Academics Facebook group how we use LinkedIn Learning. We have a weekly Google Meet through the end of the semester for educators who teach digital marketing online. As of this writing, most University classes have been migrated online, so will hope these resources are valuable to you all. They have certainly enhanced our teaching. We identified three ways to incorporate LinkedIn Learning in our class, which are by incorporating in to a class exercise, as a substitute for a live experience or extra credit or by using the trainings to supplement course material. LinkedIn Learning is particularly relevant now because students can learn at their own pace and tailor the courses to their own needs.
Links to the relevant LinkedIn courses are below. There are many more available on digital marketing subject on LinkedIn Learning. These are just the ones we have used with success. Many of them also have a certificate that can be imported directly in to the student's LinkedIn Profile.
1) Incorporate LinkedIn courses into a class exercise.
In our courses in the Master of Science in Digital Marketing and Analytics, we use LinkedIn.com to supplement existing resources. When we teach email marketing, we have a class exercise where they send a permission-based email via Mailchimp® and then look in Mailchimp® at the analytics to assess bounce rate and open rate, etc. The Mailchimp® program gives them an idea of how marketers analyze the success of their email marketing programs and make changes. The LinkedIn Learning Mailchimp® course provides information on setting up and account, creating a list, sending and email and many other aspects of the free version of Mailchimp®. Many of my students when they graduate work in email marketing, so learning how to create an email, import a list, deploy an email and analyze the results are great skills to have.2) Replace an in-person activity or provide extra credit.
Dr. Janna Parker, a talented digital marketing professor at James Madison University, quickly pivoted to using LinkedIn Learning as a credible substitute for attending an in-person event when circumstances made it impossible for her students to attend live events. She provided links to three courses, one of the top digital marketing trends, one on Canva, a graphic design tool and one on Adobe Spark Post, another graphic design tool. Both of the latter two courses help with web and email design. I like these last two choices of Dr. Parker's a lot because we often don't have time to teach graphic design in our classes, nor our they in our own list of skills. However, many small companies in entry-level jobs like the students to have these skills. LinkedIn for Learning is the perfect way to introduce these skills to students. I have also used links to free online conferences or YouTube videos for this purpose. The nice thing about the courses that Dr. Parker chose is the certification aspect. These courses have a tangible demonstration of skills associated and make a wonderful choice for extra credit.3) Supplement existing course material
Another option is to use LinkedIn Learning courses to supplement existing material. I am teaching a predictive modeling class and I have found several courses or modules in those courses which can supplement the activities in class. While I do record short videos on using IBM SPSS Modeler to run classification and predictive models and post them in our Learning Management System, it sometimes helps students to see another perspective.Regarding logistics, as an instructor or student, you might have to log in to LinkedIn Learning via Single Sign-On (SSO) if you are accessing the courses through your University. If you have a premium account, these courses are available to you with your subscription. Please note the two systems don't talk to each other so if you started a course on your personal account you will need to follow the online instructions to transfer it to your University account. It is best to keep everything for class on your University account if you have one. It's easier to keep things organized this way.
I hope that this post has been useful in discussing how LinkedIn Learning can be incorporated into an online class in digital marketing or really any digital marketing course. For online specifically, contact hours do not have to consist of endless Zoom sessions that try to replicate the in-person experience. Contact hours can consist of outside activities such as the ones suggested here. A reflection paper or a discussion post or other discussion can help students articulate what they have learned and how they plan to apply it in their future career endeavors.
Most importantly, I hope this information helps your students gain the skills needed to land that next great job or internship. Students can explore the LinkedIn Learning offerings and tailor their education to their needs. LinkedIn is providing a wonderful resource and all students can benefit from these courses.
Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions and stay safe out there.
Resources discussed in this blog:
A LinkedIn Learning Email Marketing course for class exercise in using Mailchimp® . https://www.linkedin.com/learning/learning-mailchimp-3/creating-an-account?u=35179268
Three LinkedIn Learning courses to replace an in-person activity or for extra credit:
Discover the top digital marketing tools: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/marketing-tools-digital-marketing/discover-the-top-digital-marketing-tools?u=50844473
What you can use Canva for: hhttps://www.linkedin.com/learning/learning-canva-2/what-you-can-use-canva-for?u=50844473
Adobe Spark Post: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/learning-adobe-spark-post/adobe-spark-post-2?u=35179268
LinkedIn Learning courses for teaching Digital Marketing Analytics and Modeling Techniques:
Classification and clustering:
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/machine-learning-and-ai-foundations-classification-modeling/classification-problems-in-machine-learning?u=35179268
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/artificial-intelligence-foundations-machine-learning/decision-trees?u=35179268
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/machine-learning-and-ai-foundations-decision-trees/chi-squared-overview?u=35179268
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/machine-learning-and-ai-foundations-decision-trees/chi-squared-overview?u=35179268
Statistics Essential Training:
Other resources:
Digital Marketing Academics Facebook page. Join us for more information on teaching digital marketing online and offline!
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