REBOOTING THE CURRICULUMTeaching Journalism in a Digital Tempest

AEJMC 2010: DenverDivision Sponsors: Newspaper & Radio-TV

Rich Beckman, MiamiAmy Eisman, AmericanJan Larson, Wisconsin-Eau Claire Jody Brannon, News21 , HQ’d at Arizona State

bit.ly/aej10-reboot

Converging the Curriculum

University of Wisconsin-Eau ClaireDepartment of Communication

and Journalism

Jan LarsonAssociate Professor of Journalism

Designing Curriculum

• Begin at the end• It is not about the toys

Designing Curriculum

• Identify desired results• Determine acceptable evidence

• Plan learning experiences and instruction

Pressure Points

• Administrative• Industrial• Student Expectations

Finding our focus

• Needs• Wants• Nice, but not necessary

Lead from the front

• Educate• Advocate • Partner

Evolving Faculty

• Start• Collaborate

• Manage the Fear Factor

Journalism at Wisconsin

CJ105 Comm. SurveyCJ222 News Rept./WritingCJ321 PA ReportingCJ 412 Mass Media Law CJ414 Mass Media EthicsCJ429 Jour SeminarPrint B’castNews editing AV prodAdv. Reporting B’cast

105 Communication LiteracyCJ200 Grammar Slammer (nfc)CJ280 Multimedia Comm SkillsCJ222 News Reporting & WritingCJ321 Intermediate News

Reporting & WritingC380 Visual CommCJ412 Mass Media LawCJ414 Mass Media EthicCJ429 Digital NewsroomCJ400 options

Converging the Curriculum

American UniversitySchool of Communication

Amy EismanDirector

of Writing Programs

GRAD STUDENTSAmerican Observer Updated twice weekly, allowing students to try out every job in a newsroom

UNDERGRADSTwo professors collaborated across divisions to provide content to Gannett's Content One special report.

Our City: vimeo Reporting for the Our

City project is being facilitated by establishing partnerships with universities and colleges worldwide. The International Multimedia Workshops for Ethical Reporting on the World's Most Under-Reported Issues trains professors who then prepare their students to participate. Meet the professors and share their thoughts about our training and vision.

More on partnerships: vimeo Reporting for the Our

City project is being facilitated by establishing partnerships with universities and colleges worldwide. The International Multimedia Workshops for Ethical Reporting on the World's Most Under-Reported Issues trains professors who then prepare their students to participate. Meet the professors and share their thoughts about our training and vision.

Converging the Curriculum

University of MiamiSchool of Communication

Rich BeckmanProfessor

Knight Chair in Visual Journalism

roma.glocalstories.org Colorful but Colorblind is a project

aimed at remedying anti-Roma stereotyping through the creative use of multimedia in reporting minority issues in new member states of the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia) and internationally. Conceived by Transitions (TOL), a Prague-headquartered media development organization and Internet publisher, the project is implemented in close cooperation with four partner organizations in the target countries, the Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ) in Budapest, the Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) in Bucharest, the Media Development Center (MDC) in Sofia, and MEMO 98 in Bratislava. Leading specialists in multimedia storytelling and production from the School of Communication at the University of Miami took part in the project as trainers, producers and videographers.

mdg.glocalstories.org Fourteen University of Miami

multimedia graduate students teamed with students from seven Knight Center for International Media partner schools in Africa and Asia to tell stories that personalize the UN Millennium Development Goals. Each team found personal local stories that shed light on critical global issues, including poverty, maternal health, environmental sustainability, universal education, gender equality, HIV AIDS and children's health.

poverty.glocalstories.org The City of Miami has one

of the highest poverty rates and one of the lowest median incomes among large US cities, according to the most recent Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Miami ranks in the bottom five of U.S. cities with more than 250,000 people. Miami's Silent Struggle introduces some of the citizens of Miami who are fighting to be more than a statistic.

GrandAveNews.com/pricing-out-the-west-grove/ More than 40 percent of the

3,000 residents of the 65-block section of Coconut Grove know as The West Grove live below the poverty level and median household income is less than a third that of neighboring Coral Gables. Yet, despite more than 200 abandoned buildings and vacant lots, many residents cannot afford to live in their ancestral homes..

Converging the Curriculum

News21Carnegie-Knight Initiative

of the Future of Journalism Education

Jody Brannon National Director

Comparing Curricula• Arizona State: MA | BA (pdf)• Berkeley: MA• Columbia: MS | MA (pdf)• Maryland: MJ & MA (PA reporting; broadcast; MM) | BA

(multiplatform journalism)• Missouri: MA | BA• Nebraska: MA (adv; bcast; news-ed; market, comm & adv;

pro. journalism) | BA (adv, bcast, news-ed)• North Carolina: MA (mass comm; tech & comm) | BA• Northwestern: MA (jour & integrated marketing) | BA• Southern California: MA | BA• Syracuse: MA (MNO) | BA (N&O)• Texas: MA | BA

basic html video capture and editing blogging/liveblogging/writing for the Web intro to/versed in latest tool

(Twitter, or FourSquare or the next thing) basic concepts of databases

ESSENTIALSWhat to Teach in Multimedia Classes

Overloaded Curriculum?

• limitations, opportunities & approaches to evolving curricula and teaching strategies

• Planning BA & MA courses and electives• Evolving professors’ skills• Evaluate students’ progress in learning teaching so

many programs? • Apps/approaches should be included?• Minimize technologies to focus on reporting and

storytelling (i.e., basic communication skills)?

See? More Overload!

• What adjustments to the curriculum are 1 or more years out that you expect to have the biggest dividends?

• What pressure points have you seen between the administration, the industry and student expectations? And how are you addressing them?

• If the answer to "Are we asking too much of the undergrad and grad curriculums?" is yes, what can we do about it?

Missouri tracks: Master it all! Curriculum change in 2011

• Arts and Culture Journalism (Interdisciplinary)

• Convergence Photojournalism (Interdisciplinary)

• Convergence Radio Reporting and Producing (Interdisciplinary)

• Convergence Television Reporting (Interdisciplinary)

• Emerging Media (Interdisciplinary)• Entrepreneurial Journalism (Interdisciplinary

)• International Journalism (Interdisciplinary)• International Strategic Communication• Magazine Design• Magazine Editing• Magazine Publishing and Management• Magazine Writing

• Multimedia Producing (Interdisciplinary)• Multiplatform Design (Interdisciplinary)• News Design• News Editing• News Reporting (Interdisciplinary)• Photojournalism• Radio-Television Producing• Radio-Television Reporting and Anchoring• Science and Health Journalism

(Interdisciplinary)• Strategic Communication• Visual Editing and Management• Watchdog Journalism (Interdisciplinary)• Special Offering:

Individually Designed Interest Area