Janetnews.com Blog

I just wanted to note that Friday April 7, 2006, I presented a paper at the College English Association for the first time about using weblogs in the journalism classroom.  I have never been to a conference where 20 people showed up to a panel.  The room was energized and ready to embrace technology.  I found CEA to be a friendly conference that I will definitely submit to again.  I found that there is an audience for my research, which makes it even more exciting.

According to the AP News Wire, The University of Minnesota teaches their students fact finding skills through a computer game. 

Game Teaches Journalism Students Skills 

To teach fact-finding skills, professors at the University of Minnesota have turned the fantasy computer game “Neverwinter Nights” into a tool for journalism students. Instead of slaying monsters and gathering gold, the players tackle sources and gather information.  It also teaches etiquette and interview skills.  It sounds like a very good idea.

The team, which includes game designer Matt Taylor and journalism professor Kathleen Hansen, have now modified the game graphics to look like a modern town, the fictional Harperville. A train has derailed, spilling toxic ammonia, and the players are sent out to cover the story. They dig up information by going to the library, government offices or talking to a retired train engineer at the bar.

Dr. Andrew Chen from Minnesota State University University summarized the conference sessions on his blog, Lepus Inter Extraho.  Here is the link to what he thought of the panel I presented on.

 439 Computer Culture 13

She rightly points out a number of issues inherent in that sort of context, and I hope that word of her sort of work can get out more so that we can move beyond such definitional and descriptive issues as has been plaguing much of the discussion about weblogs.

 The discussion after both Dr. Philip Baruth and I presented was very good.  I thought the discussion about anonymous posts and blocking comments all together should be looked into more thoroughly.  If we block comments on blogs are we hindering the conversation that blogs are so well known for?  I enjoy comments when I receive them.  But, Dr. Baruth has a political satire blog where comments might hinder his blog posts.  Dr. Baruth welcomes e-mails and will include sections in his posts as would any “letter to the editor” section. But, as I mentioned in my paper, we can not say, this is how ALL blogs should run.  The author of the blog has a right to control the conversation.  I do!  All comments are emailed to me for my approval.  The beauty of a blog is that it’s the author’s voice.  If that voice is credible and informative, then the blog itself is a wonderful tool for our social-knowledge to grow.

 

Here’s a neat idea that one professor provided for his students. Additional lectures provided by podcasts… where one can download a professor’s lecture onto their MP3 player.

Now educating on an iPod near you

Many students walk through campus listening to their MP3 players, often with a favorite band filling their ears. But for a growing number of people, the sound may also be the voice of one of their professors.

Last term, journalism professor Al Stavitsky experimented with creating online audio files called podcasts, which he termed “Al Pods,” for his Mass Media and Society class.

Stavitsky, associate dean of the School of Journalism and Communication, said his podcasts differed from podcasts available at some schools in that they did not reproduce class lectures. Instead, they provided new content bridging the lectures and the assigned readings, freeing Stavitsky from spending large amounts of class time talking about the readings.