1. Bringing Digital Into the Curriculum
Cindy Royal, Ph.D.
Professor and Director, Media Innovation Lab
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Texas State University
cindyroyal.com
digitalcurriculum.cindyroyal.net
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3. New AEJMC Strategic Plan Direction
Transform teaching, scholarship and service to promote storytelling,
innovation and engagement across platforms
Strategies for Direction:
• Inspire continuous learning
• Embrace emerging roles
• Integrate journalistic values and communication expertise into digital
products
• Encourage entrepreneurship
• Connect audiences and engage citizens in communities
• Recognize data and analytic patterns
• Appreciate unique dynamics of the evolving digital landscape
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11. Products Platforms Data
Engagement
Websites, apps, bots,
interactive storytelling
projects…
Content management systems,
social networks, commenting
systems, blogs, wikis…
Data provides the basis for content
management systems, social
networks, analytic platforms and
interactive storytelling
Digital engagement includes participation on
social networks, commenting on websites
and interacting with content.
13. Progression at TXST
• Taught Web Design
• Enhanced graduate concentration in new media, now digital media
• Introduced a required digital course - undergraduate
• Added faculty (in many cases, hired our own grad students)
• Added sections, added courses
• Started meeting informally, a "rogue" group as our own sequence
• Digital courses became requirements in other majors
• Digital concentration
• Culminated in new digital major
14. Digital Media Innovation
Same Core as Other Majors (12 hours): Intro to Mass Communication, Media Writing, Media Law, Fundamentals of
Digital/Online Media
DMI Major Requirements
Required (9 hours)
• Web Design – includes elements of content, design, mobile, programming and multimedia
• Advanced Social Media and Analytics – strategy, research, content and analytics related to digital media careers; other
courses could be developed to also satisfy this requirement.
• Digital Media Innovation Capstone - Guest Speakers on innovation, technology, research and strategy; development
project
Choose Adv Coding or Multimedia (6 hours):
• Media Design
• Documentaries
• Multimedia Journalism
• Visual Storytelling
• Coding and Data Skills for Communicators
• Mobile Media Development
12 hours of Mass Comm electives – can include short courses
17. Today’s Plan
• Key Questions: Bill Silcock
• Panel: discussion and questions
• Break
• Design Thinking About Curriculum
Editor's Notes
Inspiration for the workshop originated in last year's strategic planning meeting Resulted in a new strategic plan direction
The process of developing that item, as well as a similar planning exercise with my own faculty got me thinking about how we talk about digital in academic units. How vast the language of digital is now and how it is constantly changing..
Video - used to be television and film.
Now it is a range of products, delivered as standalone videos on websites, as part of multimedia packages, social video and now, drone, 360 and virtual reality storytelling.
Social Media - used to mean posting throughout the day on Twitter, now includes a range of activities that engage the audience on their platforms of choice. It's visual, interactive and evolving. SnapChat, Instagram Stories, chat apps, bots
Programming used to mean planning a network’s programs and coding was what we did with a content analysis
Coding now the method we used to present content.
Used to be html/css, now requires knowledge of a variety of languages to support interactivity and data analysis, things like JavaScript, Python and R. Working with frameworks and content management systems
Summed up products, platforms, data and engagement
Content is an important element of all three. But it’s not the only element.
Includes research paper titles
38,796 words in the program, includes names, schools, socials, business meetings
DATA
big data 4 data journalism 4 data visualization 2
PRODUCT
0 for product manager, management
Analysis, effects, perception
Mass communication scholarship also needs to reflect these issues
New methods and approaches
Different literature
Opportunity to help the profession through our research
Opportunity to help guide pedagogy
Digital electives became foundation of the Digital Media Innovation major
Coding, drones, 360 video, parks course – in some cases, developing into 3-hour courses.
This all started with one person, with no administrative responsibility, and in the beginning without tenure. Now we offer experiential learning, faculty development...
Graduates work in a range of digital careers. What it required was persistence through a range of administrations and a university that was flexible in its tenure standards, a recognition of the importance of meaningful and current work and national/international reputation.
Requires faculty who are immersed in this environment. Prepared to keep up to date and regularly modify curriculum. Profession requires graduates who can operate in and influence this environment.
Faculty Development
Cost
Hiring
Tenure and scholarship
Changing marketplace
Emerging skills and careers
So today, we want to help you get started or continue on your journey of bringing digital into the curriculum. Help you understand, that as a faculty member, you have the ability to influence curriculum and strategy. You owe it to yourself, your department or school, your university and the profession, but most importantly we owe this to our students to best prepare them to not only participate in, but to influence the future.
Assistant Dean for Research and International Programs