Converting a traditional journalism class

to a Web-based course

By Donna Lampkin Stephens The University of Southern Mississippi

IT 648 July 25, 2008

Rationale

•  Studies have shown that Web-based instruction can lead to increased interaction and heightened student engagement over time.

•  A 2004 article in EDUCASE Quarterly notes that WBI is used significantly to enhance traditional on-campus courses.

Rationale, cont. •  NewsU (http://www.newsu.org/), launched

in 2005 with a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, was launched to help journalists understand and adapt to the digital revolution. It offers interactive courses to journalists at all levels of experience and in all types of media.

•  If professional journalists are using the Web for training, journalism educators should be, too.

Rationale, cont.

•  A new $1.4 million grant from the Knight Foundation announced July 8, 2008, will be used to expand NewsU in four areas: – Enhance skills and digital abilities of

journalists. – Find new ways to teach and inspire

journalists. – Increase news literacy. – Use the Internet to deliver training in

innovative and effective ways.

Inspiration

•  “New technology is transforming journalism,” said Gary Kebbel, director of journalism programs at the Knight Foundation. “Journalism education cannot meet the training needs of today’s journalist without using that same technology.”

Planning

•  Examine existing course materials with an eye toward transition to the Web.

•  Browse existing online course offerings for ideas. Tap into the experience of your colleagues both on campus and in cyberspace.

•  Look for online resources such as government Web sites (www.cityofconway.org) for Advanced Reporting class, for example, to link to in order to supplement the learning.

Planning, cont.

•  Consider access, equipment, software and technical support issues.

•  Plan for bells and whistles. Graphics, sound, and video will be important elements to keep the learners engaged in an online class. An example would be a link to the local cable channel’s broadcast of city council meetings. (www.conwaycorp.com)

Transition

•  Tuzun lists four levels at which traditional classes may use the Internet during the transition phase:

– Informational (Level 1), in which the Internet is used to provide students relevant information about the class, such as timetables, syllabi and class notices.

– Supplementary (Level 2), in which additional resources are provided for students, such as additional references and useful hints.

Transition, cont. •  Tuzun’s levels, cont. – Dependent (Level 3), in which the major

components of the course are on the Internet and students need to access these as part of the course.

– Fully Online (Level 4), in which the entire course and activities are on the Internet.

Implementation

• Organize and arrange the information. • Construct the pages. •  Include a permanent place for

announcements and class calendar. • Convert syllabus to a PDF and add to the

Web site. •  Transfer lecture notes to PowerPoint and

upload PDFs to the page. Include audio. •  Include resource links.

Implementation, etc. •  Implement a class listserv to facilitate

communication (students with students, students with instructor).

• Design and use discussion groups. Implement threaded discussions to introduce the class members to each other and to facilitate in-class participation.

Implementation, cont.

•  Implement online student assessment methods.

•  Implement class management procedures.

•  Test the pages with your colleagues prior to going live.

•  Refine and update the pages in an ongoing process.

Resources •  The Online Teaching Guide: A Handbook

of Attitudes, Strategies, and Techniques for the Virtual Classroom (White, Ken W., Ed.; Weight, Bob H., Ed., 2000)

– Offers guidance to college teachers making the move to online instruction. Based on the experiences and ideas of faculty at the University of Phoenix online campus, which has been offering online courses since 1989.

References •  Ellen Yu Borkowski & Sunil Hazari, Web Course Management Tools, http://

www.sunilhazari.com/education/lectures/wit/index.htm. Retrieved July 22, 2008.

•  News University, http://newsu.org. Retrieved July 25, 2008.

•  Pennsylvania State University — Converting ‘On –the-Fly’ Classroom Lecture to Online Format for Residential Students, http://www.sloan-c-wiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Pennsylvania_State_University_-_Converting_'On-the-Fly'_Classroom_Lecture_to_Online_Format_for_Residential_Students. Retrieved July 22, 2008.

•  Susan Polyson, Steven Saltzberg, & Robert Godwin-Jones, A Practical Guide to Teaching on the World Wide Web, http://tecfa.unige.ch/staf/staf-e/sun/staf14/ex6/summary.html. Retrieved June 10, 2008.

References, cont.

•  Poynter Receives Boost to Transform Journalism Education Through E-Learning, www.salt.org/salt.asp?ss=1&pn=industry. Retrieved July 22, 2008.

•  Report of the WebCT Vista Review Committee, University of Florida, November 8, 2005, http://www.cio.ufl.edu/documents/WebCT%20Final%20Report.pdf. Retrieved July 22, 2008.

•  Teaching Online: A LearnWell course, http:www.learnwell.org/teach.htm. Retrieved July 22, 2008.

•  Hakan Tuzun, Guidelines for Converting Existing Courses into Web-Based Format, November 2001, http://eric.ed.gov:80/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED470167&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED470167. Retrieved July 22, 2008.

References, cont.

•  Web 101: Using the Web in Education and Training, http://www.is.wayne.edu/web101/whatis.htm. Retrieved June 10, 2008.

•  White, Ken W., Ed.; Weight, Bob H., Ed., The Online Teaching Guide: A Handbook of Attitudes, Strategies, and Techniques for the Virtual Classroom, 2000.

•  Steve Yuen, Web-Based Instruction, The University of Southern Mississippi, IT 648, lecture notes, Summer 2008.

•  Helen Zsohar and Jackie A. Smith, Transition from the Classroom to the Web: Successful Strategies for Teaching Online, http://nln.allenpress.com/nlnonline/?request=get-abstract&issn=1536-5026&volume=29&issue=1&page=23. Retrieved July 22, 2008.