Graduate Certificate in Digital Communication
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About this unit

Throughout history communication has always been about telling compelling stories. The technology has changed but this essential truth remains. In this micro unit students will learn concepts, frameworks and techniques for effective storytelling that engages target audiences across various social media platforms. Key issues in the use of social media will be explored, including cross-cultural storytelling as well as the ethical issues of privacy, protection of personal identity and professional branding through social media.

About this unit

Digital technologies have had a tremendous impact on our lives as individuals and members of larger societies. The debates surrounding these new and powerful technologies are often multi-faceted in their complexity. In this micro unit students will learn to critically examine and contribute to these debates, drawing on scholarly research to evaluate opposing perspectives and become critically informed digital communication professionals.

About this unit

Knowing how to make sense of data for diverse audiences, through appropriate visual representation, is a key skill for contemporary digital communication professionals. This is especially true at a time when there is a growing demand across communication and media industries for communication specialists who can interpret and effectively communicate datasets to non-specialist audiences and those in leadership positions.

The focus of this micro unit is on understanding the principles of visual communication and data analytics within a broader digital communication context. Specifically, students will engage with common types of data representation, from simple histograms, scatter plots and treemaps to complex networks and Sankey diagrams. Industry-standard software applications will be used to create interactive data visualisations.

About this unit

The evolution of digital technology has had a disruptive and ultimately transformative effect on communication and media industries. Students studying this micro unit will learn about how exactly the communication and media landscape has changed with the advent of digital technologies, including the radical shift in industry business models and the conditions of media content creation and distribution itself. Students will assess specific platforms and gain an understanding of the user cultures that have developed around them.

About this unit

This micro unit introduces students to the role data analytics play in the delivery of effective social media communication. The history, theory and methodology of social media data analytics frame the unit’s overall aim of teaching how data analytics can be used to improve engagement with online audiences and communities through social media platforms.

About this unit

Digital technologies provide professional communicators new ways to craft, deliver and evaluate the impact of communication. This micro unit integrates a theoretical understanding of how computational technologies transform the world of communication, along with the hands-on skills to use and create programs within Python to collect, manage, process and analyse the digital traces of online communication.

About this unit

The Social Media Strategy Project is a Work Integrated Learning Unit, in which you will work with a real client facing a social media challenge. This will be an excellent opportunity to synthesise and apply the skills and knowledge acquired studying the earlier micro units in the program. You will interpret your client’s brief and delivering a client pitch. Your task will involve planning a project using Agile methodology, using design thinking in accordance with a coherent social media strategy to meet the requirements of the client brief.

The Social Media Strategy Project is worth 12 credit points, equivalent to a standard unit.