Some areas of specialization are broader than others. Communications, organizational communications, search engine optimization, social media management and basic speech, the list of course subjects Ben Yarbrough teaches spans a vast array of communications and public relations topics. Having earned his PhD in Communications at Liberty University, Dr. Yarbrough has now worked as an adjunct, online professor for just over a year. It’s an opportunity that fits in with both his military career and the digital marketing company he owns.
“Teaching online as an adjunct professor has helped me to become a better-rounded leader,” Dr. Yarbrough said in a recent interview. “It gives me the opportunity to engage with more students, to connect them with the knowledge and resources they need, and to help people learn. It also adds to the diversity of people I come into contact with.”
Online courses also help students engage in life-long learning and the continuous career and personal development that employers and the economy demand. In his own teaching, Dr. Ben Yarbrough emphasizes the development of foundational skills rather than the use of tools.
“I try to motivate my students to focus not on the functional, but on the thought structures they are building in their mind and how to articulate those thought structures to others,” Dr. Ben Yarbrough explained. “Then, regardless of what the specific method of communication is, you can transfer the structures over because you have a system you have learned and can adapt to the current methods and any future methods that might come along.”
It’s a pedagogical perspective with plenty of social media examples to support it that students immediately understand.
“Video is the future. That is very clear,” Dr. Ben Yarbrough said. “And everyone needs to get on TikTok if they aren’t already. That transition to TikTok might be hard for people who are new to video, but for those who were already on Youtube, or using Instagram Stories, they already had the foundation to transition to TikTok without any issue.”
Even with a broad area of specialization and a progressive pedagogical method to draw on, Yarbrough admits that finding his first teaching assignment was not easy.
“It’s a tremendous amount of work I started doing while I was still in my Master’s program. One of the first things I did was buy Dr. Babb’s book and start following the steps. It took many months of just sending out applications, but the book teaches you to believe in yourself, to keep pushing through and to stay dedicated,” Dr. Ben Yarbrough said. “I must have sent out at least 75 applications before I got my first interview.”
Once the interview was scheduled, Dr. Ben Yarbrough booked an hour-long interview preparation call with The Babb Group’s own Dr. Dorothy Miraglia. As a result, he got the first job he interviewed for and has taught consistently ever since.
“I like the flexibility and the extra income of teaching online right now, but when the kids are grown and we’re looking to settle down and to downsize, I will look for a full time tenure track position,” Dr. Ben Yarbrough said. “Since I was five years old, I’ve known communications was my passion. In the last five years I have learned that teaching communications is my life’s work.”
Dorothy Miraglia
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