To be clear, teaching AP Style or lead writing to students I can’t work with in person is definitely different. I like sitting next to students at a computer to go through edits, and I think explaining the nuances of writing and editing are best done face to face.

But teaching news writing online offers unique chances to interact with students, and to connect students to each other at the same time. For my Writing and Editing for Multimedia class at the University of New Mexico, I’ve been using Twitter as a space outside our discussion boards where students can talk and learn about journalism.  

These public posts put students in touch with new journalism education resources, they force students to read and analyze current reporting, and they teach students the value of having a professional Twitter account for discussing reporting in a way that a class-only discussion board can’t.

Here’s how I’ve used this approach so far.

A social media presence assignment

It all starts with one assignment that students work on each week throughout the semester. The idea is for learners to have a consistent (at least three times a week) presence on Twitter focused on journalism or journalism education. Students tweet about articles, videos or photos and then talk about the quality of the journalism — not the content. For example: Does their audience think the lead works? Do the photos help tell the story? Do multimedia elements distract from the piece?

This isn’t a social media class, and there isn’t much time to spend on the basics of using Twitter. But to help get them started, I go through hashtags, usernames and other beginner aspects. (I also provide guides like this and other information that points to the usefulness of Twitter in journalism.)

Once students realize we’re not tweeting about lattes and sunsets here, the work begins. Their first concern often is that they won’t have enough to tweet about. I address this by prompting them to post tweets about our weekly topics.

Here’s a lead to start off our discussion this week, #CJ278. What do you notice about the writing? What makes it strong? What specific details help tell the story? https://t.co/fl5FbMjT7n #newswritingonline

— Kate Nash Cunningham (@katenashnm) March 19, 2018

So when they study lead writing in class, they look for story leads, post them and talk about why they were effective. (Or not.)

This is a great example of when you would want to use a delayed lede instead of a direct lede. Here the lede allows the writer to take a more creative approach by setting a scene to tell a short story. #CJ278 https://t.co/Psj8rO2rWq

— Nicholas Aragon (@naragon97) March 22, 2018

When they study headlines, they look for examples and post those.

NPR’s headline in this article is effective. It’s condensed, to the point and follows the rules of headlines. #CJ278 https://t.co/4hJnezSRV0

— Lainey Jameson (@livewithlainey) March 6, 2018

These exercises get them reading news stories and thinking about the mechanics of how those stories came to be, something I think can only help them as they start to write their own stories.

I also tell students they can use Twitter to look for sources or to post their stories once published. To keep this all together (and to make grading easy) students use a hashtag for class. At the end of the semester, students write a short reflection on what they learned, what went well (and didn’t) and how they will continue to use Twitter in the future.

Quickly connecting to outside resources

Twitter users recognize the value of the breadth of resources available on pretty much any topic, and journalism and journalism education are no exception. There are ACES chats on editing to join, Thomson Foundation Facebook Live seminars on mobile reporting to watch, or other resources including the NPR training site to be consumed.

It’s much easier and faster to retweet announcements about those events than going into our learning management system and posting something students might not read in a timely manner. For some chats, I offer extra credit if students participate and tweet five things. This incentivizes students to log on often to see what’s happening and enriches the class beyond the materials posted. My hope is that they follow a variety of accounts they otherwise might not have known about, and they continue to fill their feeds with helpful material well beyond class.

Ten points extra credit if you watch and tweet at least five things you learn, #CJ278 #CJ375 #newswritingonline This could really help prepare you for upcoming assignments. https://t.co/JigkDE0YxK

— Kate Nash Cunningham (@katenashnm) February 12, 2018

Strengths and weaknesses of this approach

One thing I really like about this assignment is that students are learning a few things at once. They are looking for different types of news and thinking about what makes a story strong or a headline weak. At the same time, they also are building their professional social media skills. They also are thinking about appropriate ways to communicate in public forums. As they post, I emphasize that tweets for class should be professional and well-written, and for the most part, they are.

I also like that students who are new to Twitter (and even express reservations about using it) generally come to see the value of it. I’ve had students say they deleted their accounts when the assignment was over, but they still learned something from doing it.

One challenge — and it’s one I have in my in-person classes as well — is getting students excited to use social media for school. To many students, it’s still a place to show off with pics of friends or pets and not something they want their professor to read. I encourage them to create “work” accounts if that makes them more comfortable, and I create lists of each class instead of following each student. To keep students engaged on Twitter, I try to be funny and personable. I also post job ads that require social media skills, so they can see how all of this could come in handy after graduation.

Join us!

The beauty of having a class hashtag is that anyone can join in the conversation. I use #CJ278 for this class, but I also use #newswritingonline in hopes of connecting to other educators who teach news writing at other institutions.

Kate Nash Cunningham is the social media editor for MediaShift. She teaches digital journalism at the University of New Mexico. Follow her @katenashnm.

The post How to Use Twitter to Connect Online Students to News appeared first on MediaShift.

After our series of Platforms + Publishers private roundtables between small and medium-sized publishers and platforms such as Facebook and Google, we decided to continue supporting publishers within peer groups. With support from the Knight Foundation and Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, MediaShift recently soft-launched our new DigitalEd Peer-to-Peer Network with three peer groups.

These include people from organizations such as:

WGBH
Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting
PublicSource
The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
The Hechinger Report
Louisville Public Media
NJ Spotlight
Berkeleyside

… and many others. We want to support publishers whether they are non-profit, for-profit, hyper-local, public media, etc. To start out, our focus is on social and tech platforms such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, Snapchat and more.

Our Goals

In launching the Peer-to-Peer Network, MediaShift has these important goals:

1) Give news publishers the resources to help them go beyond existing trainings and teach each other.
2) Help publishers keep up with fast-moving digital technologies and social platforms, and create strategies to succeed in the long run.
3) Build confidence among independent publishers so that they can compete in a difficult environment.
4) Create networks of publishers so they can communicate regularly and help each other out.
5) Support the peer groups with regular online trainings from the tech companies as well.

Peer Training Difference

We realize there are a lot of training options now for journalists and publishers, including in-person workshops, online training and even hybrid courses. The difference between peer training and other existing networking groups is that this is an intentionally small, matched group of people who will have a facilitator dedicated to keeping it going, and MediaShift will have communication lines into Facebook, Google and other tech companies for support.

The groups will help connect like-minded people who might not have been in touch before, and be in touch over a longer period of time. And we will match up diverse groups of people so they can grow their own network of contacts.

How They Work

Here’s an overview of how the peer groups currently operate:

– We place people together based on their work roles: publishers, engagement people and content people. Groups have 7 to 10 people each.

– Regular communication through a Slack Channel for everyday conversations and updates.

– Monthly trainings led by one group member over a Zoom online video conference for an hour. Can include updates from people on that topic, with a 20 minute training with slides or demo. Trainings rotate among members.

– Topics are chosen by group members so the topics with the most interest are taught first. People can teach what they know, but also end with questions about what they don’t know, so that other group members might answer.

– Social platforms such as Facebook and Google will provide curriculum, online training modules and support for “stumper” questions as the sessions progress. They will also give quarterly online trainings to all the peer groups.

– Trainings are recorded and available for group members to watch afterwards. Members can comment and discuss trainings on the Slack Channel.

Partners and Funding

MediaShift received funding from the Knight Foundation through the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University to test out peer trainings for a year. Partners include the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), Local Independent Online News Publishers (LION), Lenfest Institute and Facebook. We hope that other associations and tech platforms join and support our efforts.

Want to Join a Group?

So far, the groups have been invite-only, but we are ready to open up more slots for publishers to join the groups. We ask that you fill out an application so we understand your skills, what you can offer and what you’re looking for as a group member. We are also looking for group facilitators as well.

While the groups are free to join, we would consider a membership fee down the line. We might also raise more funding from foundation grants, or create peer groups for companies or associations.

If you’re interested in joining a peer group, please fill out this simple form! You can contact project director Mark Glaser at mark [at] mediashift [dot] org with any questions.

Mark Glaser is publisher and founder of MediaShift. He is an award-winning writer and accidental entrepreneur, who has taken MediaShift from a one-person blog to a growing media company with events such as private roundtables between platforms + publishers, and weekend hackathons; the weekly MediaShift Podcast; and digital trainings. You can follow him on Twitter @mediatwit.

The post MediaShift Launches New Peer Group Trainings for Publishers appeared first on MediaShift.

I love new trends in broadcasting, and nothing is hotter today than podcasting, those episodic audio or video programs available for download by an audience.

Despite terrestrial radio’s consistent hold on listeners, podcasting has seen an ever-present increase of listeners with 21-24 percent growth year-over-year. Can you believe the largest growth is coming from the age 18-34 demographic?

When we see a media gaining ground in culture, it’s the right moment to invest a staff’s time and resources into becoming prolific in that medium, and that’s what we’ve done at Ritenour High School to build students’ skills and their confidence as journalists.

Thinking Specifically About Format

First, we must understand that podcasts are very specific, topic-oriented shows. I consider them comparable to magazines; my students get that concept. Creating too big of a topic can leave students disoriented about what to share with their audience. Keep it simple, yet leave room for multiple episodes.

The KRHS program at Ritenour High School offers students the option to focus on a specific beat for the semester. Within each beat, we offer multiple programs:

• School News: KRHS411 and Ritenour Way
• Entertainment: Ultimate Media Rewind and Things that Suck
• Sports: Scoop on Sports, Husky Sports Zone, Coach Talk and Athlete of the Month
• Investigative Reporting: What is Ritenour Made Of?, Living Hispanic in America, and You Don’t Know My Story

Once students connect with a group and are assigned a podcasting topic, they take on the role of reporters with ease. They love interviewing and talking with fellow students, once they get over those first-time jitters.

Managing the Equipment

You are only as good as your microphone. With the increase in audio recording, many companies have jumped on the bandwagon to create easily accessible and affordable equipment. B&H Audio and Video has made purchasing easier by providing bundled deals for podcast beginners.

If you’re interested in moving beyond your classroom walls, consider using handheld recorders like the Zoom brand. After my students used these once, they never wanted to use anything else.

The Test: Would you listen to it?

It’s the first question I want students to ask themselves about a podcast: Would you listen to it? Don’t create a piece for a class project; create it for an audience. Asking your audience to listen is much more difficult when they have so many other options.

When my students start, I keep them to two minutes of content. With amateur content, it’s a good rule of thumb. Keeping it shorter will help learners create a concise message.

Junior Justin Lopez writes his sports broadcast before recording his podcast. (Photo: Israel Rendon)

Does it leave me with new information? Have I gotten a new understanding on a topic that I didn’t have before? Can I see a different point of view that I never considered? These are all questions students can ask of their product to see if it’s worth listening to.

Still, There Are Challenges

Students say the hardest part of podcasting is putting the story together. (When is that not the hardest part for students?)

Some students prefer to start with questions: what do I want to know more about the topic? Who are the most important people who can answer these questions? Others need to start with research on a topic: if I’m looking into racial diversity in St. Louis, I need to look at the history and find data that supports the premise that this is a long-standing problem.

From there, I ask students to show the emotion behind the story. For me, it’s a major part of why I love podcasts. Hearing people share their personal truth makes it worth listening to. With an audio story, people speak freely, while facing a camera can seem more intrusive. This concept resonates with students when they are doing audio stories.

Editing, Editing and More Editing

I tell my students that the editing software has a short list of requirements. Basics include cutting audio, adding and overlaying tracks, and mixing sound levels. Audacity has been a staple for podcasting in my room since we began 10 years ago. It conveniently allows you to perform the basics, while still retaining some editing freedom.

For those wanting to use a Cloud software option with a Chromebook, or those who have multiple students who need to access a project, my students love using Soundtrap. It performs like Macintosh’s Garageband with added sound effects and instrumentals.

Hosting a Podcast

The boom in podcasting has brought a boom in hosting providers. Options like Soundcloud, Podbean or Podomatic allow for free websites or cheap pricing for yearly subscriptions. You can also use YouTube if you choose to make the sound files into videos with a photo or your logo in the background.

Senior Arieon Thomas-Smith, front, works with newest member Junior Isaiah Fowler on using audio editing software. (Photo: Israel Rendon)

Capitalizing on the Cool Factor

The value of podcasting reaches much further than the products students create. My students are amazing speakers, can navigate interviews with the proficiency of a pro, and they are growing confident as they hear themselves profess their thoughts.

This trendy medium can be a gateway to strengthening core journalistic skills, but the great thing is, most of my kids never know it. They just think they are being cool!

Jane Bannester works for the Ritenour School District, in St. Louis, Mo. Currently she teaches the nationally awarded KRHS Media program. Jane speaks locally and nationally on topics of Podcasting and Drone journalism. In 2017, Jane was recognized as the Missouri Journalism Educator of the Year,  a recognized Broadcast Advisor by the Journalism Education Association, and made the 2017 MediaShift EducationShift20 list for innovative scholastic journalism educators.

The post How to Introduce Podcasting to the Journalism Classroom appeared first on MediaShift.

They are not not consuming news; they are just getting it and sharing it in a completely new way.

I realized this when the Marjory Stoneman Douglas student journalists broadcasted live via Snapchat and Instagram as their school, friends and teachers were being attacked.  Despite horrific circumstances, those student journalists kept the tape rolling to share with the world what was going on in that school. As a result, these young people created a movement that originated and now is communicated with their peers and the world strictly online.     

This means, as teachers, we need to meet our students where they are – online, all the time. It is challenging because you must constantly change with the technology and what is popular with students, but that is the reality of our business, and I’ll show you how my journey to an online journalism instructor has evolved.

My, How Things Have Changed

I started teaching online media courses in late 2013.  Facebook had been around for a while, but Twitter and Pinterest were fledgling outliers. Instagram and Snapchat were practically still in the womb.  

Fast-forward JUST FIVE YEARS and social media tools have exploded in popularity for teens and young adults.  They use devices to communicate – with their friends, parents, teachers, employers. They use social media to maintain their social lives by “liking” and “following” photographs, celebrities and even causes.  Students also learn about the world – good and bad – because of social media.

At our recent college learning day, I attended the “bricks, clicks and teacher tricks” session on how to learn about communicating and collaborating with students.  We had “appy hour,” learned about teacher time savers and dazzling design, but I was floored that some colleagues still argued about “student responsibility” and “why they [students] expect email responses faster than 48 hours.”  

I thought: students barely even use email anymore, and if I had to wait 48 hours for an answer to my question about an assignment, I would go nuts!  I realized in the session that while some of these tools are great for teachers, they are not necessarily good for the students beyond the face-to-face classroom.  Tools like Kahoot and Go Soapbox may be cool in class, but they are not especially useful online. Teachers seem to fear Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter – for a number of reasons – but that is where the students are, and we need to be there, too.

Transitioning from Face-to-Face to Online

I teach the gamut of media courses – introduction to news reporting, writing for mass media, writing for social media and introduction to public relations.  I teach all of them online, except introduction to news reporting (for now).

At first, this was a real struggle.  I was trying to teach online courses like my face-to-face-classes.  I quickly learned this was not possible. Online students typically take this type of format because they need the flexibility. They often work full time and go to school.

Face-to-face students meet with area public relations professionals. Online students participated via Twitter Chat at #ValenciaPRChat. (Photo: Rebecca Newman)

For the last five years, I have changed, rearranged, restructured and learned a ton of new skills because I am trying to make the learning work for my students.  Students don’t read textbooks. They do not wait patiently for me to get back to them via email. But they do like clarity and consistency. They also like assignments that are interactive and challenge them to practice real-world skills.  How do you do this? The answer is, it is a work in progress, but it can be done. Here are a few tips:

1. Use the social media that students use:  Obviously I have boundaries, but social media tools really do make it easy to give students quick feedback when they need it.  I use Twitter in my classes since that’s what journalists use. I permit them to DM me with questions and comments, and my response time is actually far faster than traditional email.

2. Live Stream guest speaker events:  Twitter Live and Periscope are great tools for livestreaming events with professional speakers.  Use whatever tool is comfortable for you and where you have the most followers, but FYI – students are no longer using Facebook.  For these events, I collect my student questions ahead of time, so they can “ask” questions during the event, too.

Such a great day @valenciacollege hanging w/ these talented @orlandosentinel reporters. Thanks for sharing your experiences and caring for our community! #WomenInMedia pic.twitter.com/0KYOdsVNSt

— Rebecca Newman (@ProfessorBec) February 14, 2018

3. Study the apps and available technology:  Do you want to hear students practicing interviews with sources?  Have them record it and send it to you in an audio file. Want to have students build their “professional brand”?  Give them an assignment building a LinkedIn profile. Want your social media students to be able to post “professionally” designed content?  Introduce them to Canva (free) and have them begin creating and posting. There are TONS of choices out there. Find the free and easy-to-use tools.  Share them and use them.

Caution – my Twitter blows up in T-minus 90 minutes! But feel free to join if you have ? for guests @GabrielleRusson, @OSAliciaD @KaylaOBMedia pic.twitter.com/7dLNR9AD0b

— Rebecca Newman (@ProfessorBec) February 13, 2018

4. YouTube is your friend: There is so much great content on YouTube.  Students like to watch videos, so let them. I use a great video from Dr. Kim Zarkin that teaches new journalism students how to use the AP Stylebook.  I then make up a series of quizzes that gets them using the book and recognizing important style elements.

5. Be present:  “Talk” to your online people — FREQUENTLY.  Each semester, I host virtual conferences (for a grade) via FaceTime, Skype or Google Hangout.  Not only is this simulating real-world distance meetings, it is an opportunity to check in with these people, so they can put a face with the stranger behind the computer screen.  Is it time consuming? Yes, but it is totally worth it.

There are so many ways to make online learning engaging and meaningful.  There are so many cool tools to use to make this work. Some come and go, but if you pay attention to the right people (other faculty and colleagues), the industry and the kids, you’ll know what is working and what is going to be obsolete.

Embrace online learning.  It is here, and it is the future.  

Rebecca Newman is a media professor at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida.  She is the faculty advisor of the Valencia College student news organization, Valencia Voice.

The post How to Make the Transition to Teaching Media Courses Online appeared first on MediaShift.

Finding a truly passionate distance educator in a field where much of the learning has to be practical (how to write, use a camera, record sound) has, in my experience, been difficult. Most people design curriculum with the on-campus student in mind, and then make amendments for the distance student.

However, journalism education by distance seems a natural fit. Journalists routinely have to work remotely, receiving briefs from editors thousands of miles away. They create and file stories using a diverse range of technologies, and need to be mobile, adaptable, social and able to negotiate complexity when conducting research.

So thinking of the roving correspondent, who can’t make it for critical training, is a way to conceptualize our students. I was inspired to think this way after working with a colleague at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He saw the future and tried to talk to us about “this thing called the internet.” He spent the fortnight on the media bus filing these digital stories while the rest of us worked manually. He was learning as he went, blowing us all away with his ability to file stories as instantly as was possible back then.

I  started, and continue, to design courses and assessment with him in mind. I view everything I see others do in the journalism classroom through the lens of how I would do that with my remote students (such as Aleszu Bajak’s recent fabulous piece about designing a journalism course around email newsletters — still thinking about that one). That’s because most of my students will never make it to the on-campus classroom. No flipped classrooms, no blended learning. My classes are totally online, fully-assessed and contribute to undergraduate bachelor’s degree.

For those new to distance or online education and trying to think about how to include remote students, I offer the following five initial tips to help your transition. They are based on years of mentoring, teaching, coping with a rapidly changing discipline, adjusting course and unit design, assessing and celebrating student success.

1. Shift Your Thinking

To be a great teacher of distance students, you have to believe in what you are doing. You need to be committed to providing the best possible education regardless of personal circumstance, and to pushing boundaries so graduates can be ahead of the game. I regularly hear peers complain about the trend to online education, lamenting how much easier it is to teach face-to-face. Many feel it is too hard to teach technology online and provide instant feedback on writing.

Of course it’s easier to teach face-to-face. But that’s not the point.

If we accept that to be the truth, then we give up the possibilities with our remote students who have stories that need to be told. The more remote the student, the more important it is to give them a voice.

So rather than wondering how we include the distance student, the better question is: How do we make distance students central to learning design? From that position, we can then include everyone else.

Picture the most isolated student who might have the best story to tell, and teach them. What do they need? If they have limited internet or resources, think about how you’re going to address this. Relying on hours of watching video lectures or lots of clips on YouTube may be less effective than asking the student to do the work, reflect, watch a shorter clip that refines their thinking, and do the same task again. Do they really need the latest podcasting kit for the task, or will sound recorded on a mobile be enough? How can you support the student to do in his or her living room what on-campus students might do in a studio?

Working through questions like this will focus you on what’s important rather than what’s easy.

2. Principles Rather than Technology

Technology is great and has been at the heart of discussions about journalism education for a while. However, it can dominate discussion at the expense of good learning design. Platforms change. Software changes. But the principle of telling a good story, verifying facts and making it interesting to readers or viewers doesn’t.

Where you need to use a technology, make it the industry standard. If there’s no industry standard, or newsrooms use different filing software platforms, then use something that’s transferable. For example, SoundCloud might be better and easier to use than Audacity, depending on the learning outcome.

Make use of existing learning materials, but don’t let students wander around looking for them.

Recommend a good tutorial on how to use Twitter, for example, or create a very short video yourself. But think more broadly about what you want the student to learn and do – creating connections, identifying sources, verifying facts. Twitter may be the best option, but maybe not—maybe the student can actually come to you with something better. It’s the principle that’s important.

3. Keep it simple

Students are easily overwhelmed with too much information, and we have a tendency in online environments to overload them with content and links, just because we can. We know that students generally are time poor and usually juggling multiple commitments. We also know that they will do what is required for assessment, but that assessment must consider time related to task. Distance students are particularly vulnerable to simply disappearing if it all gets too hard or too overwhelming. 

If you study with me, you’ll get one study guide of around four pages (PDF so you can download it). I’ll only use full texts if they are truly AMAZING. I don’t pad the learning environment with lots of links for the sake of it. If I do include links, I’ll be asking students to reflect/model/review what I am asking them to watch. So, avoid overcomplicating things. Your job as a discipline expert is to provide a platform for learning, and then ask them to find the information (promoting lifelong learning, research skills, information literacy…the list goes on). If I have extra resources or links, I’ll communicate these to students socially (via Twitter, for example).

4. Drive Learning Through Assessment, Not Content

We like to create content. We think we’re teaching students when we transfer knowledge. However, creating space for learning, and limiting content to support achieving the learning outcomes, is critical. Journalism is inherently social. Designing authentic learning tasks that facilitate connections requires you to be innovative, particularly in the ways you provide feedback and support to students without overwhelming yourself.

It is critical to front load your units or courses. Good orientation, clear instructions and minimal updates while the course is running will help you focus on engaging with students as a mentor and providing feedback rather than putting out bushfires.

5. Build confidence

Building confidence in distance student cohorts is difficult but crucial. Our journalism students need to be confident in their news-sense, and research, analytical and technical skills. We need them to back themselves when they identify a difficult story, and they need to cope with the pressures that come from public discourse.

Again, course design and assessment is important. Building in reflection, virtual peer review and collaboration, and response to feedback into assessment can address this. I also ask all my students to self-assess their work (and I teach them how to do this). Distance study requires independence, resilience, time management and self-motivation. Students will always drop out, but my distance students often outperform on-campus students.

When you are new to distance or online teaching, you will be battling on a number of fronts. Those roving correspondents need you to be committed to their success, they need to know how to tell a great story, they need you to guide them on what’s important, they need to learn actively and authentically, and they need to be confident.

If you keep these points at the forefront of your thinking, hopefully the rest will come.

Kate Ames is an associate professor with a background in journalism and public relations education. She works at CQUniversity in Australia and specialises in distance and online learning. She is passionate about providing equal opportunities for access to great education. You can see some of her online teaching in action by following @Kate_Ames on Twitter, or following #speech and #profcomm hashtags associated with @CQUni.

The post 5 Key Points for Journalism Educators Who Want to Teach Online appeared first on MediaShift.

Some of the old school methods, as boyd pointed out at SXSWEdu, may not be effective against the new “weaponized digital media,” trolls, bots and online political forces with millions of dollars behind them. She has concerns about the good will and the truth that many bloggers are sending out over the internet.  She sees neo-nazis and other extremists filling the new digital media with mirrors of truth, hate and evil. In a post-modern way, I believe she also argues whether or not the truth can be found at all.

This was a tough message for me to hear as a trainer of truth-seekers and someone who firmly believes in the power of the student voice. boyd is a professor of the complex, and she’s very good at delving into it. I am more “Mr. Easy.” In my journalism classes, I have one lesson plan: SEEK TRUTH AND REPORT IT.  

boyd left listeners I talked to at SXSWEdu uneasy and unsettled as they tried to decipher her speech. In my own presentation, with my cape back on, I discussed ways I still believe we can save the world from fake news and eliminate many of the problems media is facing today.  A few disgruntled, cynical truth-seekers brought up boyd’s points about the darkness and complexities of teaching media literature in 2018, but no one could quite put their finger on her meaning, or how it practically applied to teaching media literacy in the future.

Iowa City High School journalism adviser Jonathan Rogers speaks during his presentation at SXSW. (Photo: Don Goble)

boyd’s speech has unsettled me, but it has also made me believe more in the ways I have found to teach media literacy. Now back in my classroom, I see students grappling with bias, publishing important stories, reading the news on their phones through a variety of sources, and taking pride in the rising power of student voices. The complexity of the screen world doesn’t look so complex to me when I see real students working in a journalism classroom.

Presenting on media literacy during the past year, I have also learned that teachers are not islands.  There are well-funded media literacy resources being developed to fight the darkness and complexity of the web that are far from the old school methods that boyd rightfully criticized. Many can be found on my website. I also think it is important to look at examples of journalism done right. The focus too often is on how journalists are doing it wrong. The Journalism Education Association and Flipboard have created a magazine showcasing the best high school journalism students that are models of responsible digital citizenship. Teachers need to use the good models of stories that tell the truth. It is fun to look at the Hot 50 fake news stories on Snopes, but it is more important to discuss the journalism that is bringing truth.

For the rest of this article, I think I can put my cape back on, or at the minimum give teachers three easy “buttons” for teaching media literacy. I believe that if teachers follow these methods, students will become media literate, critical thinkers and truth-seekers with powerful voices. Will some of them possibly use these new skills for evil?  It’s possible, but in almost 15 years of teaching journalism, I haven’t lost too many to the dark side.

1. Social Media and Google Searches are Dumpster Fires of Bad Information

At first, I was a bit nervous about attacking Google, Twitter and Facebook. Now, I am not. Social media and Google are to blame for the fake news and information crisis online. Teachers need to inform students not to get their news and information from Google, Twitter and Facebook. They also need to teach students not to share false information on Twitter, as a new MIT study shows how fast fake information is spreading on that platform.

2. Student Journalism Works to Teach Media Literacy and Gives us All Hope

Student journalists are amazing, and teaching students to publish following the SPJ Code of Ethics and to take pledges to follow the code of the Quill and Scroll Journalism Honor society is the best way to teach media literacy and bring student voices into schools. Period.  

Some of the ethical codes that high school journalists follow include seeking truth, doing no harm, being unbiased and being transparent.  At the end of each school year, The Little Hawk journalism team at Iowa City High School in Iowa City, Iowa, inducts students into the Quill and Scroll society of journalists. Students read this code by candlelight and take it seriously. The initiation concludes with students pledging to the following: Painstakingly seek truth no matter your profession; Aid the best interests of your community; Aid in the cause to better journalism no matter your job.

These mottos and codes were used this past month after the Parkland shooting. This incident and the subsequent movement have let the world know how talented student journalists are and the power of their voices as noted in “It’s Not Just a Story:  It’s Their Lives’” by NPR and “How Parkland Students Changed the Gun Debate” in the Atlantic. If anyone doubts the quality and responsibility of student journalism, I highly suggest reading the JEA Flipboard magazine of the Best High School Journalism or the Best of School Newspapers Online.  

Some of the staff members of the Little Hawk student newspaper read their latest edition. (Photo: Jonathan Rogers)

This past month reaffirmed my belief that a strong high school journalism program is essential to every high school and to media literacy — but closer to home.  As the adviser of The Little Hawk, my student reporters covered walkouts on school safety and have been some of the voices driving for change.  Mainstream media outlets from the Washington Post to Vice News to CBS to the Des Moines Register have all interviewed them on their role as student journalists — and also as activists. These students have been trained in the code of the journalist and take their responsibility seriously. When boyd suggested that training students as journalists or arming them with the new “weaponized” media could lead to neo-nazi bloggers or extremist ideas being published on the web, I couldn’t disagree more. In almost 15 years as a high school publications adviser, I have never seen a student use their power in irresponsible ways. To suggest that teachers not train high school students how to be journalists is exactly the wrong answer to the media literacy problem. Now is the time to arm students with their First Amendment rights and give them more digital citizenship training.  

3. Millions of Dollars are being Spent on Well-Developed Online Resources

From Newseum to Checkology to NAMLE to Web Literacy for Student Fact Checkers, the internet is full of ways teachers can incorporate media literacy lessons into any class at any grade level. Teaching these lessons to help students get beyond social media and Google searches is essential 21st century skills training. To suggest not teaching these skills is dangerous, and sadly most students are not being taught how to get news on their phones or how to fact-check stories or information, or how to research online. At my session at SXSWEdu, medical students and science teachers all expressed how much more difficult it is to teach students how to find reliable sources and come to authentic “truths.” This problem is well beyond getting the news. I think teaching students how to get news from a variety of sources online is a start, but media literacy is a Kindergarten-until-death topic that all subjects and grade levels should be teaching.

I do believe there is a new hope in student voices and new ways to teach media literature effectively. This is not the time to tell any teacher that we should take off our capes. It’s just time to remind kids that with great power comes great responsibility.  

Jonathan Rogers is a journalism adviser for Iowa City High School and serves as a Master Journalism Educator. He is the president of the Iowa High School Press Association and was voted IHSPA Journalism Teacher of the Year in 2015. He also works as the JEA Professional Outreach Chair and is a Dow Jones Distinguished Adviser.

The post Teaching Media Literacy With A Cape After SXSWEdu appeared first on MediaShift.

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The 2018 National Day of Unplugging is on March 9-10 from sundown to sundown.

When I began teaching full time, shortly before 9/11, I brought news into the classroom by any means possible. Pre-iPhone, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and well-developed online news, I cadged AP news budgets from newsroom friends, toted the latest newspapers and wheeled in TV carts.

For the past year or so, I’ve often looked for ways to keep news out.

These days, news is ubiquitous, like ambient noise. It arrives in streams of constant, unsettling, confusing, contradictory information propelled by events that can defy immediate sense. What to make of a president who denigrates journalism by calling it fake, then – by The Washington Post’s count – averages about six false or misleading statements a day since taking office? Can we bear to hear of one more school shooting or other act of violence? When do we say enough and tune out, even for just a while?

There’s a catch: how can we unplug when it’s our job as teachers, researchers and students to listen, see and know? Even if we must, breaking away may be extra hard because we’re probably also…addicted. To social media, to news, to feeling connected to family, friends and the world.

Struggling to Take a News Blackout

That’s something Steve Fox, of University of Massachusetts Amherst, brings home to his mostly-freshman News Literacy students in their first assignment. They’re challenged to a 48-hour news blackout: no tweets, no texts or Facebook posts, no television, no talking to friends, nothin’. “Some of them barely make it out of class,” Fox said, because he freely admits it’s a nearly impossible assignment. “They try,” he said, but they soon become aware news comes from nearly everywhere. “I couldn’t talk to my suitemates,” they report, “had to stop my Dad from telling me the latest; couldn’t walk into the cafeteria, etc.”

News immersion takes a toll, sometimes in surprising ways. I know. After days deep in Instagram feeds studying reaction to the Sutherland Springs – or was it Las Vegas? – shooting, the ping ping ping of a street crossing “wait” signal sounded for all the world like the pew pew pew of a gun. It was all I could do to not yell “Duck! Run!” and do so myself.

Working to Care for Students’ Minds, Hearts

At Arizona State University, where Kirstin Pellizzaro works with Cronkite News students producing statewide broadcasts, two students made the same sort of noise-fear connection. They were at school on Super Bowl weekend when they heard bangs. “They immediately went into shooter situation mode,” Pellizzaro said: turned off lights, hid under tables, called the police. Luckily, the banging was for a party setup, not disaster, but it led Pellizzaro to change the day’s lecture. “I wanted them to feel like their reaction was completely normal,” she said, “so that day we talked about the stress of news and how the consumption of horrific situations day in and day out can affect you mentally. I shared how I was working when Sandy Hook happened. I was a mess that day. I spent hours crying as I tried to put a broadcast together. Then we talked about how to decompress after a hard news day.”

Sometimes, she and others have said, students feel better knowing it’s not just them, that “someone in the business for years still cracks every once in a while.” Jacqueline Petchel, executive editor of Carnegie-Knight News21 based at Cronkite, said covering difficult stories brings a whole new level of immersion. “When that happens, I tell reporters to stay focused on the most crucial elements and essentially prioritize the list of things they need to do,” she said. “Why? Because without the ‘beating heart’ of a project, the rest of it won’t survive anyway.”

Amanda Crawford, who as a reporter covered politics and mass shootings, teaches at Western Kentucky University. “We had a school shooting in Kentucky in January. Many of my students are covering the shooting and the national gun debate in the wake of it,” she said. “I spent time in every class last week answering students’ questions about how to guard your own emotional well-being while covering these heavy topics.”

Taking care of the students’ own hearts sometimes means digging into news before backing away. Brian Rackham oversees NAZToday’s daily newscast at Northern Arizona University where he directs the Media Innovation Center and its immersion programs. “We did a piece on how NAU and the community college prepare for serial shootings,” he said. “The students felt like knowing how and why these shooters acted as they did makes them have a more realistic picture of the risks – that it is not very likely to happen here. Sort of a knowledge is power thing.”

Finding a More Positive Outlet

Fear is a natural reaction to fearsome news; visualizing fear – putting people’s fright into images – is what Julie Elman, of Ohio University (and a former Virginian-Pilot colleague) does as a project. “I am oftentimes surprised at what comes out on paper,” she said. “What I have discovered recently, though, is that I’m getting really sad and tired of illustrating the aftermath of gun violence in the United States.” The same, she said, for terrorist acts worldwide. But for her, art is also a balance. “I find that I can move into a mental space that’s calmer.”

Stress accumulates, reinforced by all sorts of news, perhaps simply the flow. Colleagues and friends report getting jumpy, cranky, exhausted, unfocused, depressed and sad after some ineffable boundary is crossed. Some know to take breaks; some know, but can’t or don’t. “It’s hard when you need to know what’s going on,” admitted Rackham. His breaks aren’t often enough, he said. But breaks work, Fox said. “Sometimes all you need is a half-day/day. No real downsides since you can catch up to everything pretty quickly. Upsides? Well, mental health.”

Dawn Gilpin, who teaches social media at ASU, is “very big on escapism” and activity. “I’ve made a rule that when I go running or out for a walk, even walking from my parking spot to work, I can’t listen to current events podcasts. Getting out in the world and listening to music or a couple of people talking about Top Chef like it’s the World Series gives me a nice change of pace.” But she also researches social media about gun culture. “The last couple of weeks have been especially rough,” she said. “Seeing the same patterns repeat over and over. The same rhetoric from both sides….” She worries students will think everything online is suspect, fake, narcissistic, “because it’s conventional wisdom. I push back against it, but in a big online class it’s hard to know how much of an impact I’m making. But the trust deficit, I think that’s real. And not just among young people.”

Crawford noticed something similar when she co-taught The White House & The Press last semester. “That class was tough,” she said, “because students recognized the threat that Trump’s vitriolic rhetoric can have on the future of the free press in the United States and the anti-media climate that they will be facing as they enter the profession. It’s hard not to let that negativity seep in.”

Lily Ciric Hoffmann, an entrepreneur who teaches multimedia at the University of Maryland, fights the negativity by taking nature walks, listening to podcasts, reading books – anything to relax and feel better. “I take care of myself so I can take care of the rest,” she said. “Whatever is out there newswise will reach you no matter what.” Crawford, who needs to get away from news “for my own sanity sometimes,” gardens, writes, sings and tours with an indie Americana band.

Unplugging from News in a J-School Setting

In journalism schools, especially, unplugging goes against the flow. There are often multiple screens with ongoing news, newspaper stacks, framed images of news events and people sharing whatever happened last. One wants one’s tech.

The giant projection screen in the open-forum heart of the Cronkite School, where I work, caught my eye last week: CNN was reporting another shooting, another university shutdown. I was on my way back to class after a quick trip to the photocopier. I had my phone, so I checked Facebook. A former student, now a professor in her own right, had posted: I’m all right. I’m in a classroom, locked in with my students. We’re safe.

I thought immediately of Elman’s memorialization of the Parkland, Fla., shootings. She expressed so many fears that amplify every time more such deaths occur: who is next, who is safe, am I? So I paused. Normally, I would keep my classes informed of major news developments if they happened during class time. We are, after all, a journalism and mass communication school. This time, no. I wanted to buy them time. I wanted to keep them safe from the knowledge, the antsiness, the news, even if only for hours.

I went in cheery. Keep ‘em busy, they won’t check their screens. They call my multimedia classes “therapy” sessions these days. We’ll keep it real, I tell them, but we’re going to stay objective, focus on telling stories with technique and skill, and have fun while learning. It’s the type of class where you can talk while doing and students have spoken their peace about politics, sexual abuse, discrimination and, yes, shootings, in ways that were definitely therapeutic. But it needs to come from them, I’ve found, not like a rock falling from the sky via news.

Learning from the Relentless News Cycle

I’ve learned many things. Last year, one young woman in class said her friend’s headscarf had been yanked off with accompanying taunts on Nov. 9; she was told it was a new America now and she didn’t belong. The student said men catcalled her that day as she walked in her neighborhood. They yelled they wanted to grab her by the you-know-what. A Dreamer – we have many in Arizona – merely nodded that he felt affected by the election outcome, unable to speak but saying volumes with fearful, sad eyes. We needed to unplug. I took the class on a photo walk, and we plugged those images into a Tumblr.

The urge to protect by keeping news at bay, coupled with the occasional challenge of finding actual news in update swamps, can result in an ironic lack, according to Susan Keith, department chair of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University. “When you first started asking people about this, I thought it was odd,” she wrote. “I have, in many ways, the opposite from the problem you described. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by news, I find it hard to get enough.”

Maybe, she thought, it was just her, with a two-hour commute each way to campus and a child to collect from school. Because of their 11-year-old, she and her husband rarely turn on TV or radio news in the morning: too much to hear at that age. News gets read “in dribs and drabs” of connectivity in subway stations. Email, grading, teaching and sometimes sleep crowd out other news acquisitions. “I sometimes have days when I go all day reading only one-paragraph news alerts on my phone, with no time to read or listen deeply until 10 or 11 p.m., as if I were snacking rather than eating a full information meal.” Or, she said, I get my news from you.

Leslie-Jean Thornton, who hails from New York, is an associate professor at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She’s been hooked on studying how information is shared since first stuffing a handwritten “newspaper” illegally into neighbors’ mailboxes at the age of 7. Her research focuses on journalism practice, visual communication and information ecosystems on social media.

The post How J-School Professors, Students Can (and Should) Unplug appeared first on MediaShift.

Of course, like any utopian narrative, differentiated instruction is constrained because there will always be a range of skill levels in any class. It is even more complex when the course is online.

Yet in online journalism education, and particularly with college-level or adult learners who know their capabilities and goals, there is a real opportunity for highly responsive learning. In my experience teaching online journalism courses, I’ve forged a path into individualized learning through repetitive needs assessment, and although it’s time consuming, I think it’s worth a look for journalism educators as more coursework moves online.

What is Needs Assessment?

As part of most instructional design models, needs assessment (sometimes called front-end analysis) is an attempt to understand students’ skills and knowledge before instruction is designed and delivered. It’s essentially a pre-test, but in this case, I employed it repeatedly.

Although some keen instructors can understand their students’ abilities intuitively during the first few days of class or after the first major assignment, online learning includes a literal and philosophical distance, making intentional needs assessment valuable. And it makes sense to do it throughout a course; more input means better instructor decision-making and the ability to make instant adjustments for learners.

Teaching Journalism Advising Online

I kept this concept of repetitive needs assessment in mind as I remade three graduate online courses for scholastic journalism advisers through Eastern Illinois University. When these courses were first taught in the 1990s, the professor who designed them was on the cutting edge of distance education, but much has changed. When I endeavored to resurrect them as asynchronous classes in the summer of 2017, I had to reinvent them. Educational technology had evolved, and my students were a diverse group. Some were experienced and seasoned journalism advisers for high schools throughout the country. Others were brand new advisers, or just embarking on the beginnings of a scholastic media program in their schools. Still others were only from the education or journalism side of a curriculum, without experience of the other half.

My needs assessment of these learners was a purposeful and recursive plan of information-gathering. At the beginning, middle and end of each three-week, online course, students were asked to take a short (no more than five minutes in length) online survey, using Typeform, to explain their background knowledge, expectations, preferences and fears/reactions regarding both content and online learning.

Screenshot from the online summer, graduate course for journalism advisers offered through Eastern Illinois University. (Photo: Amanda Bright)

Structural Changes From the Nascent Moments

A number of responses to the needs assessments questions led to alterations in the structure of the courses:

• When students identified clarity of instructions as an online learning concern, I put explicit learning outcomes on the syllabus and within each online module. I also sent emails at the beginning of each module regarding expectations and provided formative assessment feedback within 24 hours.
• When students noted readings and discussions were how they learned best, I commented on each post, expanded and revised the reading selections and connected students to each others’ area of expertise to propel brainstorming and collaboration.
• Because students overwhelmingly desired specifics due to distance, I added extra assignment sheets and artifacts from other programs for reference and more ideas.
• After a student noted “the discussions weren’t much of a discussion” (their peers’ posts lacked interaction and cohesion), I quickly inserted three suggested topics for responses that created commonality.
• As concerns about a lack of face-to-face interaction with the instructor were expressed, I created more videos—beyond an introduction and conclusion multimedia presence—with comments or questions I would typically pose in a classroom while sharing my own advising experiences.

Making Content Changes Throughout the Course

I also turned my attention to the needs assessment data on perceived strengths and weaknesses regarding journalism advising, so I could make instant adjustments to the content of the course. Then, I went back into my LMS (learning management system) once again:

• When I saw trends in content weaknesses, I added more readings (some optional) on blind spots. I also provided specific examples of projects as a starting point for those who were unfamiliar with a concept.
• Keeping the readings in the course fluid with open educational resources, I added and subtracted articles up to a day before the next module started as I read response posts.
• Some students mentioned that a few readings didn’t apply, so I gave them the ability to add one or two readings of their own to a module of choice, allowing the learners to drive content, too.
• I kept notes on which learner was interested in what learning outcome from the beginning, and then researched and provided resources and responses for those goals through individualized discussion/responses.

Summative Assessments Individualized

At first, I had more academic-style, capstone assignments, as would befit a graduate-level course, but as I returned to the needs assessment data, I noticed reflection and practical application were more valuable for these learners. I adjusted the summatives to include both scholarly and reflective components. Then, learners’ work was shared to be used by other advisers as desired — adding to their bank of practical resources.

The Heavy Lifting Was Worth It

This experiment using a repetitive, needs-assessment based strategy to provide instant adjustments to an online course was far from easy. It was quite time-consuming; most online courses take high levels of investment in design at the outset, but once they begin, the intensity lessens. This model was the opposite. I spent at least two to three hours in adjustments and upkeep every day, and that did not include grading time.

However, there were also moments of responsiveness that allowed students to engage in a way they did not expect in distance learning. “Personally, I thought that this course was amazing; thoughtfully conceived; and well-executed,” one student said. Although these types of comments cause instructor elation, it also underlined how little some feel they take away from learning experiences:

“Wow, what a great group of readings! Thank you. I have become that teacher when, upon hearing that a PD is planned for what our school calls Professional Learning Mornings (PLMs for short), my brow furrows and I wonder what I will be able to take away from the session and apply to my classroom. Sadly, PLMs often disappoint, leaving feeling frustrated because I don’t always feel that I have learned anything. Give me something I can apply and I will try it out the next day. I blather on about this because, Module 5—like what I perceive to be a “successful” PD—has given me much with which to ruminate.”

This taught me that my plan for developing an online course would have to be frequently revised as the course went along if I wanted the best possible learning experience for my students. There’s still much to learn from learners, and here’s hoping that as online learning tools evolve, we can only increase the opportunities to repeatedly find out what our students need next — and then try to deliver it.

Amanda Bright is a former professional journalist who later spent a decade as a scholastic journalism adviser. Currently, Bright is the Education Editor for MediaShift, a journalism instructor and adviser at Eastern Illinois University and the Media Content Coordinator for Indiana State University Online; she also serves as the Social Media Director and Web Co-Administrator for the Illinois Journalism Education Association.

The post How to Create Online Journalism Courses with Instant Adjustments appeared first on MediaShift.

Can cannabis help address the opioid crisis? What is Northeastern University’s relationship with the environment? What about the university’s role in gentrification? And what is the future of digital storytelling?

Those are the themes of four new publications launched last week by undergraduate students in my course, “Digital Storytelling and Social Media,” at Northeastern’s School of Journalism. In groups, these young reporters used maps, timelines, podcasts, videos and interviews to probe these questions.

And they reported it all directly into email newsletters.

In the space of a few weeks, they conceptualized, audience tested, branded, reported and shipped their newsletters – “The Exit Drug,” “Northeastern’s Environment & Health Unearthed,” “NEU Impact” and “Testing Ground” – and will be creating two more issues before we adjourn for the summer.

I wanted to share a set of guidelines that I hope might help others develop similar courses.

Logos and themes for the email newsletter campaigns that students designed. (Photo: StoryBench)

Why a newsletter? Why not a blog?

Many of the same learning outcomes can be expected from a course designed around blogging, sure. But I see some added value in the newsletter format – and not just because they’re hot. Students learn the design process, how to A/B test subject and headlines, how to grow and segment audience lists, and how journalism should treat the highly personal email inbox.

Let the Students Choose Their Own Beat

The main ingredient to this course is letting the groups self-select along shared interests. I send around a poll on the first week of classes asking students to choose one of the following themes: 1) politics, 2) science, health and the environment, 3) criminal and social justice, 4) media or 5) other. The poll helps me group the students by a broad beat. The following week, I have them brainstorm – using sticky notes and whiteboards – and focus their ultimate newsletter theme.

Do User Interviews

Next, they head to the streets – or the dining hall or the library – to interview prospective readers, understand their news diets and figure out what they want to know about the themes they’ve chosen. The groups first develop a list of questions and an online poll to gather research on their audience – as well as build a list of email addresses. After the first newsletter ships, they repeat this process, continually iterating and improving their product. Encourage them to add friends and family to the email list. Reward the group with the largest reader list or highest open rate.

Have a Hands-On ‘Lab’ Section

We meet twice a week, and the first 100-minute class is reserved for dissecting case studies of digital journalism practices – from newsletter strategies to social media tactics to digital reporting tools to audience engagement – with the occasional guest speaker. The second weekly class meeting is designed as a “lab” section where students work on their newsletters, peer edit work, help each other find sources and learn new tools. “Ship day” is hectic with last-minute drafts and Mailchimp formatting issues, but it’s a relief for all once the newsletters are shipped.

Start the Reporting Early

As with any undergraduate journalism class, it’s tough to get sources to return emails or jump on the phone with students. Three weeks before the newsletter ships, I have students contact at least three sources for their story by email. I encourage students to send me drafts of email interview requests, questions, outlines and, of course, their stories – early and often.

Students in Aleszu Bajak’s Digital Storytelling and Social Media class at Northeastern University plan their email newsletter storytelling in groups. (Photo: StoryBench)

Make Sure to Learn New Digital Tools

On top of all the best practices, case studies and discussions, find space to let the groups tinker with new tools and consider whether or not they’re appropriate for the story they’re telling. Tools like Carto, Google My Maps, JuxtaposeJS, TimelineJS, StorymapJS, Chartbuilder, Google Sheets, Canva, Piktochart, Infogram and Giphy have all been popular. Make extra time during office hours to help students out with these tools.

*I ran the same class last semester and those newsletters – “Beneath the Blindfold” (on campus social justice), “Cortechs” (on psychology and technology), “College Town” (on college sports in Boston), and “Lolitics” (a satirical take on national politics) – were equally impressive.

Storybench’s editor is Aleszu Bajak, a science journalist and former Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. He is an alum of Science Friday, the founder of LatinAmericanScience.org, and is passionate about breaking down the divide between journalists, developers and designers.

The post How to Design a Journalism Course Around Email Newsletters appeared first on MediaShift.

In reality, innovation is easy to talk about, but difficult to undertake in a traditional university setting. Academic institutions can be even more resistant to change than legacy news organizations. Curriculum overhauls can take years. And even the most ambitious students are often afraid of taking risks that may affect their grades.

So how can journalism educators create space for more experimentation in the journalism classroom?

From 1999 to 2006, I was fortunate to work as an editor for a groundbreaking, local news website. At a time when some news organizations refused to even link to other websites, we built databases of public information, created interactive games and covered local communities by inviting residents to participate in the process. We distinguished ourselves by trying things that traditional news organizations couldn’t or wouldn’t.

While the news industry has evolved greatly in the last decade, that experimental mindset still guides my approach to teaching undergraduate journalism courses. Here are some practical ways I’ve worked to foster that same kind of innovation in my classroom.

1. Stay Inspired

If I want my students to explore new ways of reporting and telling stories, then they need a steady diet of amazing digital journalism. One way I’ve done this is to use the annual Online Journalism Awards as the one of the primary reading texts in my courses. Each week the students explore examples of award-winning journalism, we discuss and debate, and then I urge my students to imitate the approaches that inspire them.

2. Identify and Cultivate Audiences

A decade ago, I began requiring my students to create online publications for untapped audiences. Students with limited experience began covering local schools, governments, arts and culture communities, environmental issues, and youth and niche sports. In the process, they learned how to identify what audiences want and how to deliver it to them, as well as how to respond to feedback. This has become a standard practice now, but many of my former students still say it was one of the most valuable experiences in their journalism education.

3. Add Tech to Traditional Reporting

From Facebook to VR, my students are often the first to introduce me to new tools and platforms. My approach is to embrace whatever they are using and challenge them to try to use it in their reporting, not just their personal lives. I incorporate tech into traditional assignments, and we discuss the ethics and potential hazards for journalists. I don’t care whether they become a fan or user of any particular technology, but I do want them to learn the habit of constantly adapting.

Students use technology in the classroom. (Photo: Hero Image/Getty Images)

4. Make Space in the Syllabus

Like most teachers, I have a tendency to pack as much content as possible into a semester. I’m an educator, after all; my job is to impart what I know. However, I’ve also learned that experimentation requires time for brainstorming, false starts and collaboration. So each semester when I’m planning out my syllabus, I make sure to set aside multiple class periods with no lecture or structured activities. Instead, I ask students what they need, and that space often leads to the most surprising and rewarding interactions.

5. Reward the Risk-Takers

Grades can be one of the biggest barriers to experimentation. Students want to know exactly what is required to achieve a grade and aren’t inclined to try something they haven’t done before. So when it’s appropriate, I build an assessment of “creativity/risk” into my grading rubric. For example, when I gave an assignment to create a Vox-like explainer, the student who explained Brexit by baking a cake, cutting into pieces, and shooting and editing a stop-motion video earned a higher grade than the one who submitted a PowerPoint presentation. If students understand that an ambitious and imperfect project can earn a higher grade than a safe and well-executed one, then they have more incentive to push themselves. In addition, I regularly require multiple drafts and reward those students who revise and revamp.

6. Challenge Students to Rethink the Campus Newspaper

Like legacy news organizations, campus media outlets have their established traditions, platforms and revenue models. That means they are hard to change, but also the best places for students to innovate. Each semester, I have my students reinvent the editorial workflow of a typical campus newspaper. I ask them to articulate who their audience is, what the audience wants, when the audience wants it, and how they are going to reach them. Then I send students out to try to cover a typical campus story in a totally different way. Eventually, the exercises from class work their way into the editorial process of the student-run publications.

7. Invite Interdisciplinary Collaboration

When engineering and journalism students at my university worked together on sensor journalism projects (using sensors to gather and report journalistic data) as part of a 24-hour Hack-a-Thon, they accomplished things I could never have orchestrated in my classroom. I’m always looking for ways to connect journalism students with other disciplines.

A model for success. (Photo: Zamzum/Getty Images)

8. Model Experimentation and Failure

I can’t expect my students to innovate if I don’t do the same in my own teaching. Each semester, I try to push beyond my own knowledge and skills. It can be scary and disorienting. And occasionally a lesson plan will bomb, and I crash and burn in front of my students. When that happens, I do my best to model an appropriate response to failure. I acknowledge when things don’t go as planned. I articulate what I learned. I restart and try again.

9. Surround Yourself with Innovators

Since I no longer work in the day-to-day of a start-up news organization, I must continually find concrete ways to keep a forward-looking approach. In my research, I’ve studied experimentation in news organizations, entrepreneurial ventures, and how students embrace new technology. Also through organizations, conferences, local meet-ups, trainings, and online forums, I try to be a student of other journalism educators who are leading the way.

Mark Berkey-Gerard teaches digital reporting and data journalism courses at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. He was selected as a 2017 Tow-Knight Disruptive Journalism Educator.

The post 9 Practical Ways to Foster Innovation in a J-School Classroom appeared first on MediaShift.