4
1 Summer School For Journalism Professors Instructor: Amy Webb Summer School For Journalism Professors. JRN2015 - Section 001 Classes meet daily. Hope you’ll find the time! Office Hours: Email is best, and I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I’m able. This is not a joke. You really can use the email address below. Email: [email protected] Description: This summer, why not take a few months to recharge and dive deeper into the world of emerging technology? This is a foundation course in personal technology, millenials, tools and ideas. Through research, experimentation and critical thinking, you should better understand the evolving nature of media and technology. Students will engage with new sources of content, interact with emerging thinkers and think big thoughts about the future of journalism education. Books: All are available in print and as ebook formats. This is a good mix of books on innovation and creative thinking. Those with (**) are required. I threw in The Interestings because it’s the best fiction I’ve read in a long while, and it strikes me that journalists don’t read enough for pleasure. **Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger (Required) **The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm by Tom Peters and Jonathan Littman (Required) **The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Ben Horowitz (Required) The Interestings: A Novel by Meg Wolitzer Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson Data, A Love Story: How I Cracked The Online Dating Code to Meet My Match by...me! (Amy Webb) We will be experimenting with a number of websites and apps, too. Sensitivity: Any creative disruption usually includes references to unpopular ideas, offensive language and expression and concepts which might make some feel uncomfortable. Keep an open mind and a curious spirit this summer. Grading: It’s just you against yourself. Buy yourself a beer at the end of each week if you’ve completed all tasks and readings. Make yourself listen to Miley Cyrus if you didn’t accomplish everything on the list. Final Exam: By the end of the summer, think about what you’ve learned and accomplished. Are you seeing the world differently? Would you give yourself an A for effort? Summer Syllabus For Journalism Professors © 2014 Webbmedia Group, LLC http://www.webbmediagroup.com Updated 4.04.2014

Summer School For Journalism Professors

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

1

Summer School For Journalism Professors

Instructor: Amy WebbSummer School For Journalism Professors. JRN2015 - Section 001Classes meet daily. Hope you’ll find the time!Office Hours: Email is best, and I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I’m able. This is not a joke. You really can use the email address below.Email: [email protected]

Description: This summer, why not take a few months to recharge and dive deeper into the world of emerging technology? This is a foundation course in personal technology, millenials, tools and ideas. Through research, experimentation and critical thinking, you should better understand the evolving nature of media and technology. Students will engage with new sources of content, interact with emerging thinkers and think big thoughts about the future of journalism education.

Books: All are available in print and as ebook formats. This is a good mix of books on innovation and creative thinking. Those with (**) are required. I threw in The Interestings because it’s the best fiction I’ve read in a long while, and it strikes me that journalists don’t read enough for pleasure.

• **Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger (Required)• **The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm

by Tom Peters and Jonathan Littman (Required)• **The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Ben Horowitz (Required)• The Interestings: A Novel by Meg Wolitzer• Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson• Data, A Love Story: How I Cracked The Online Dating Code to Meet My Match by...me!

(Amy Webb)

We will be experimenting with a number of websites and apps, too.

Sensitivity: Any creative disruption usually includes references to unpopular ideas, offensive language and expression and concepts which might make some feel uncomfortable. Keep an open mind and a curious spirit this summer.

Grading: It’s just you against yourself. Buy yourself a beer at the end of each week if you’ve completed all tasks and readings. Make yourself listen to Miley Cyrus if you didn’t accomplish everything on the list.

Final Exam: By the end of the summer, think about what you’ve learned and accomplished. Are you seeing the world differently? Would you give yourself an A for effort?

Summer Syllabus For Journalism Professors© 2014 Webbmedia Group, LLC http://www.webbmediagroup.com

Updated4.04.2014

2 Summer Syllabus For Journalism Professors© 2014 Webbmedia Group, LLC http://www.webbmediagroup.com

Updated4.04.2014

Course Overview

Week 1: June 1 - 7Digital Collaboration. What the heck is a Reddit?! This week, you’re going to explore this important digital community as well as GitHub. Visit Reddit every day. Also read the following:

• What Is Reddit by Rebecca Rosen at The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/what-is-reddit/279579/

• Reddit FAQ: http://www.reddit.com/wiki/faq • The Reddit Edit: http://www.redditedit.com/• How Reddit Became a Gun Market: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/reddit-

guns-assault-rifle-ar15-logo-conde-nast• Should Reddit Be Blamed for the Spreading of a Smear? By Jay Caspian Kang in the

NYT (a Spark Camper!): http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/magazine/should-reddit-be-blamed-for-the-spreading-of-a-smear.html

• What Exactly Is GitHub Anyway? By Klint Finley in TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/14/what-exactly-is-github-anyway/

• GitHub For Beginners by Lauren Orsini in ReadWrite: http://readwrite.com/2013/09/30/understanding-github-a-journey-for-beginners-part-1

Week 2: June 8 - 14Ephemeral Networks. This week you’ll learn how ephemeral networks are being used by Millenials (more than just about anything else).

• Download Secret -- just read, don’t feel compelled to post• Download Whisper -- find a friend to use it with• Download Snapchat -- find a friend to use it with• Emu -- find a friend to use it with• Read Contagious. Don’t worry, it’s a super fast, engaging read.

Week 3: June 15 - 21Viral-ness. What makes content go viral? Why doesn’t news content traditionally get retweeted by millions? Now that you’ve read Contagious, spend this week looking at The Reddit Edit (week one) and thinking about why those stories are so popular. Every day, also make sure to read at least some of the stories on the following sites. What do they have in common, do you think?

• BuzzFeed -- and take at least one quiz a day• Mashable• Upworthy

Week 4: June 22 - 28The New News. Some of the most innovative newsrooms are ones you’re probably not familiar with. This week, you’ll get to know some of the smartest, most creative journalists around. Every day, read several stories on the following sites:

• Quartz• Circa (it’s an app -- you’ll need to download it)• The Guardian US (website, not paper)• The Wire • Medium

3 Summer Syllabus For Journalism Professors© 2014 Webbmedia Group, LLC http://www.webbmediagroup.com

Updated4.04.2014

Course Overview (Cont.)

Week 5: June 29 - July 5Radical Disruption. Read The Art of Innovation. Think about all of the websites, apps and tools you’ve now used weeks 1 - 4. Do you see them in a different light? Now think about your journalism program, your curriculum and news in general. Has your thinking changed? If you have a little time, check out what’s happening at the d.school at Stanford, which now includes a journalism fellowship program that’s run by the brilliant Justin Ferrell (a Camper!). http://dschool.stanford.edu/bio/justin-ferrell/

Week 6: July 6 - July 12Valley/ Alley Immersion. To be fair, there’s plenty of innovative work being done outside of Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley (NYC). But to get started, this week you’re going to dive deep in tech culture. You’ll learn which VCs matter most and how the tech tabs report on the industry. I’m not a huge fan of Packer, but this is a good way to get your feet wet.

• Read The Hard Thing About Things• Change the World: Silicon Valley transfers its slogans and its money to the realm of

politics by George Packer in The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/05/27/130527fa_fact_packer

• A Reply From Silicon Valley by George Packer in The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/georgepacker/2013/05/silicon-valley-taxes-and-libertarianism.html

• Read Pando Daily, TechCrunch and Re/code, but hang on to your skepticism • Follow @pmarca on Twitter• Read AVC by Fred Wilson: http://avc.com/

Week 7: July 13 - 19Build Stuff. This week is up to you. The only requirement is that you must build at least one thing. Here are some sample projects you might try:

• Arduino: https://www.sparkfun.com/categories/157• Basic programming (for kids, but for adults too!): http://scratch.mit.edu/• Get started with mapping: http://cartodb.com/journalism• Build an IFTTT recipe: http://www.ifttt.com• Build yourself a custom personal website using Square Space http://squarespace.com/

or Tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/

Week 8: July 20 - 28Let Creativity Ring. This is our last week, and it’s about big ideas in media and technology. Expose yourself to lots of new people and ideas, and see if your own approach to journalism and education changes as a result. Read from/ listen to all of the following:

• http://www.brainpickings.org/ by Maria Popova• http://observermedia.designobserver.com/show_designmatters.html by Debbie Millman• http://daringfireball.net/ by John Gruber• Subscribe to Ann Friedman’s newsletter http://annfriedman.com/ • Have a look at the projects on Kickstarter http://www.kickstarter.com

4

About Amy Webb

Amy Webb is a digital media futurist and the founder of Webbmedia Group, a digital strategy agency that spots near-term emerging technology trends and develops innovative ideas for media organizations, Fortune 100 and 500 companies, large nonprofits and government agencies. Recently, Amy’s team worked with American Express to re-imagine the future of credit cards on mobile phones and Time Inc to develop content strategies for screenless computing. She is the Co-Founder of Spark Camp, a next-generation think tank and convener that facilitates important conversations on the future of a better society. Amy is the bestselling author of “Data, A Love Story” (Penguin/ Dutton 2013) and is a contributor to Slate and Harvard Business Review. Amy holds many professional affiliations and collaborates with a number of institutions. She is a Delegate on the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, a Lecturer Columbia University, a member of the Aspen Institute Dialogue on Libraries, and a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Interactive Media Peer Group – Emmy award judge). She is on the Board of Directors for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and and serves on a number of startup and advisory boards, including the SXSW Accelerator, Temple University’s School of Media and Communication and the International Center for Journalists. Forbes named Amy one of the “Women Changing The World,” while the Columbia Journalism Review included Amy on its “20 Women To Watch in Media” list.

Contact Us

Site:http://www.webbmediagroup.com

Tel: (267) 342.4300

Email:[email protected]

Twitter:@webbmedia

What Is This Thing?Amy Webb spoke at the JI Conference in April 2014. She talked extensively about the need to reinvent and reimagine journalism education and offered recommendations for academics on how to get started. One of her recommendations was for journalism teachers to spend a few weeks in the summer trying new websites and apps and learning more about what’s happening in the tech side of the media universe.

Summer Syllabus For Journalism Professors© 2014 Webbmedia Group, LLC http://www.webbmediagroup.com

Updated4.04.2014