In some ways, we want them (students)to use these new media tools rather than these tools just using them.
-Anthropology Professor Michael Wesch who uses Twitter, wikis and Facebook during his classes at the University of Kansas.
A journalism student at NYU has generated a lot of attention because of her use of new media tools. Alana Taylor posted a blog in the PBS MediaShift column (which I found out about through Twitter and RSS feeds). In the post, headlined "Old Thinking Permeates Major Journalism School," she complained about a lack of new media classes at NYU. The post generated dozens of comments from journalism educators and onlookers across the country.
The comments ranged from supportive to accusations that Alana has attention span issues and a bad attitude. While some railed against blogs, none seemed to notice that their very discourse was possible because of a blog (imagine how many letters to the editor that discussion would have taken on paper - and how many days to print them).
Today, MediaShift host Mark Glaser posted a follow up, detailing how Alana's professor (the only one utilitzing new media in the classes) was now forbidding her to blog or Twitter about the class while in the class (it's not clear that she ever actually did that).
Whether blogs are useful in journalism classes isn't my point here (although I believe they are). My interest is the great divide between the old methods of teaching journalists and what some believe the new methods should be.
In the book Situated learning, Legitimate peripheral participation (there's a catchy phrase), researchers Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger describe how apprentices learn their trade from practitioners. It's a gradual process that sometimes creates conflict with the old timers because the newcomers don't just model and repeat what the experts do. Eventually, they change the practice. Technology is changing the media in ways we never could have envisioned. Some old timers are embracing this change along with the newcomers; others resist it.
Another part of Vygotsky's learning theory addresses the role everday actions by individuals can play in creating social change. Clearly, bloggers and social networks are transforming the way people interact with each other and how they get their information. Many of us old timers shy away from blogging or networking tools - dismissing them as a digital playground. But by developing a better understanding of the underlying processes, even we old timers can use these new cultural artifacts to enhance learning and help spread quality news and information.
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2 comments:
As a recent journalism school graduate, I'm seeing now that journalism departments really do need to reassess their curriculum with an open mind. Searching for jobs on craigslist.com and journalismjobs.com has made me incredibly aware of how much I lack in web experience. Nearly every job that piques the interest of a young journalist asks for web skills, but nearly every young journalist doesn’t have them—evidenced by the fact that many job posts even qualify themselves with something to the effect of, “Web experience preferred, or the ability and desire to learn quickly.” An adequate pool of candidates qualified for the 21st century newsroom just does not exist.
I’ve worked with university administrators for four years, and I understand the constraints of bureaucracy, curriculum committees, and fragmented departments. But it seems that administrators have operated in that framework for so long, that they’ve forgotten how to be idealistic and innovative. They face so many hurdles; it’s easy to see why suggestions are taken as accusatory. But the fact of the matter is that they have to step outside the institutional culture and be optimistic and proactive if they care about the students and the direction of the industry…and I know they do!
And I say the direction of the industry, because prepping a student for the modern newsroom must go beyond technology itself. It includes training in multiple mediums, as Alana pointed out, but also redefining the way we think about teaching journalism ethics in a changing industry and world. Only one of my classes talked about the ethics involved in blogging and breaking news on the web. Let’s talk about that, along with the potential of untraditional platforms to provide context to reports by the old boys. Additionally, we talked a bit about sensitivity in word choice and the way we portray different groups, but those discussions didn’t seem to go deeper—why did I never hear the words “discourse” and “social constructionism” in my journalism classes? It’s not sociology or psychology, but it’s certainly relevant—check out this example of overlooked biases.
I encourage journalism schools to discuss the gaps in curriculum and start bridging them. Much of this doesn’t involve reinventing the wheel; tap into the university’s social science and art/design departments. Sure, it would take a bit of finagling and cutting through red tape, but what journalist or educator likes red tape?
Great post Megan. We definitely need to look at our curriculum and academic institutions do not move quickly. I also encourage journalism students to go outside the department - get a well-rounded view of the world. Your skills as a journalist WILL help you, no matter what career path you choose. And your voices are necessary to help shape the direction of the industry, whatever that will be.
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