No comfort zones
in Co-Lab course
Students work in teams to produce multimedia content for JMC Web site
By Kristine Gill
for The Co-Lab
School of Journalism & Mass Communication
Kent State University
Related Links
to Co-Lab projects
TV Studio/Newsroom
Interview on Convergence
A Podcast History of
Black Squirrel Radio
Convergence and
media's
social responsibility: a vlog
Coverage of conference on
ethics of online journalism
Prof. Danielle Sarver wants
to sell you a car! Really!
TV2 broadcasts 2 live, daily newscasts from hi def studio
Franklin Hall: Our new, posh, cutting-edge, digital home |
While the concepts of convergence and multimedia are stressed in many JMC classes, only a handful offer the chance to really work in teams on indepth projects.
Collaborative Online Producing, or Co-Lab as it's known, gives students that chance in an intense and creative environment.
Professor Fred Endres created the class in 2003 as a way to provide content for the JMC Web site. The course has been offered each semester since then.
"The Co-Lab gives a group of students each semester the opportunity to work together to produce multimedia packages and to develop a multiplatform mindset," he said. "It pushes them to produce quality work and to try things they haven't done before."
Endres added that the class encourages students to adopt a Web-first attitude in the changing news industry.
Former Co-Lab student and newspaper journalism major, Tim Magaw, said the class did that and also gave him a chance to work with students from other news media.
"It was the first time I really stepped out of the print bubble," he said |
'It was the first time
I really stepped out
of the print bubble
. . . when I was
forced to think
about multimedia
and convergence'
Tim Magaw, editor of the Daily Kent Stater
|
"It was the first point of my college career when I was forced to think about multimedia and convergence and apply it to our assignments."
Students in the Co-Lab regularly produce Web video packages and audio slideshows, participate in live blogging and record podcasts for various projects. |
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