Faculty of Arts 30:155 Journalism II: Introduction to Electronic Media Spring Session First Term May 6-27, 2013

Instructor: Glen Gatin Telephone: 204 571 0836 Skype: ggatin Email: ggatin@ggatin.com Course Description This course explores recent shifts in media technologies, institutional structures and the organizational transformations that are affecting journalism's role in society. The course will introduce the techniques of journalism in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and digital media and will offer the conceptual and practical tools to allow and support participation. Learners will develop an appreciation for the way that journalists are using web-based multimedia and an understanding of the ways in which recent social and economic developments have changed journalists and the consumers of journalism. The role of the journalist as a contributor in the public sphere is emphasized, particularly the responsibility to provide the information and context necessary for people to understand and fully participate in civil society. Participants will actively blog, podcast, wiki, use RSS and social media, create web-based maps and other multimedia artifacts. (NOTE: students in this course will be required to use open source web services on non-BU servers.) As new web-based media formats continue to emerge, the basic skills developed in this course will prepare and empower learners to continue to learn in ever-changing mediums that continually disrupt and augment journalistic practice. By learning to apply today's social media and ICT applications and practices to electronic journalism, students will learn how to recognize journalistic potential in new media as soon as technological developments make them possible, and know how to assess, learn, and tune new media to their needs as journalists.

Topics: History of Journalism Principles of Journalism Foundational skills of the Journalist Introduction of web based journalism The Global information society Convergences of web based and traditional journalism: Journalism digitized Emergence of new forms of electronic journalism: Born digital Citizens journalism and social change

Reading list:
Adam, G. S., & Clark, R. P. (2005). Journalism: The Democratic Craft. Oxford University Press, OECD. (2010). News in the Internet Age: New Trends in News Publishing. OECD Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/document/34/0,3746,en_2649_34223_46367778_1_1_1_1,00. Kozolanka, K., Mazepa, P., & Skinner, D. (Eds.). (2012). Alternative Media in Canada. Univ of British Columbia Pr. Wilkinson, J. S., Grant, A. E., & Fisher, D. (2008). Principles of Convergent Journalism. Oxford University Press, USA.

Administrative Details 1. Contact hours: This course will meet for a minimum of 36 hours, which will include lectures, laboratory, group presentations, and evaluation time. As the course progresses, group activities will be conducted by means of various online applications introduced throughout the course. 2. Required Text: No text is required for this course. All course materials will be available on the course web page. 3. Required Materials: All participants must have a multimedia laptop or Netbook with webcam and headset (microphone and speakers) capable of wireless Internet connection. (Qualifying netbooks are available from local computer outlets for between $250.00 and 500.00, less than the cost of textbooks for many courses) 4. Entry level knowledge & skills: basic word processing, file management, web-browser and email skills. 5. Assignments: Assignments are due on the day given in this outline, unless changed by the professor. Any assignments that are submitted past the date they are assigned will be penalized each day that they are late. If you are unable to complete an assignment

because of circumstances beyond your control, contact your professor before the assignment is due. 6. Incomplete Courses: Participants unable to complete the last assignment before the end of term may request a grade of incomplete. To do this you must: pick up a Incomplete form from the Arts Office fill it out give it to the professor Note that you must do this before the end of the term. Unless there are special circumstances, the time limit for an incomplete will be three weeks beyond the end of the term. 7. Originality of Assignments: It is acceptable to borrow ideas, methods, etc. from other students, books, or journals, but be sure to acknowledge the contributions of others. Avoid cut and paste. All sources must be acknowledged and from a verifiable source. See Section 4.3.2 on Academic Integrity in the Brandon University Calendar. 8. Course Evaluation: The anonymous course evaluations will be completed

online. All students are expected to complete the evaluation. 9. Proposed Class Schedule: Most of the interaction in this class will be a combination of online asynchronous and in-class. Weekly online synchronous sessions will be conducted using a variety of web-based audio and video applications. 10. Suggestions for getting the most out of the course: Participants should have
general proficiency with basic computer applications, email, word processing, file management, and web browsers, and must have ready access to a multimedia computer equipped with a computer headset with a microphone, a web camera, and an unrestricted, high-speed Internet service. Depending on your computer proficiency you should plan to spend 6-8 hours per week on course work including 3 weekly class sessions. 11. Course Grade Evaluation: A rubric will be developed collaboratively for each of

the activities.

Grade Equivalencies:

A+ A AB+ B B-

96-100 90-95 85-89 80-84 75-79 70-74

C+ C D F

65-69 60-64 50-59 <50

Academic dishonesty will cancel out all the calculations above and result in a final grade of F-AD (Fail-Academic Dishonesty) 12. Activities: A. Establish an electronic class portfolio and post daily reflective entries on course activities. B. Use Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephony and associated videoconferencing. C. Use online collaborative word processing applications. D. Establish a RSS reader account to systematically gather and organize online resources. E. Use web maps to create a customized event report. F. Use digital editing applications to create a news podcast. G. Create online video news reports. H. Use collaborative online concept mapping tools to organize reports and articles. I. Use collaborative online bibliography applications to collect, sort and share resources. J. Establish and maintain various social media accounts. K. Use web-based applications to create a final presentation. 25%

5% 5% 5%

5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 30%