Thanks for the other information, it’s very useful.

TV in year one we would upload the video to Youtube and link it up to some copy etc on wordpress. From the sounds of it though they don’t in year two because of copyright issues.

And if that is a lecture Bernie regularly rolls out then I am glad I don’t do online. It was just ramblings about the bleeding obvious or very technical stuff that wasn’t explained because it wasn’t that important.

Discussing this as just one aspect of how online journalism is taught at Lincoln is essential, as they’re fundamentally the same thing. And, as with blogging, much of the teaching is broken as well. This is even more of a concern as they seek to include an online aspect in many of the modules.

As Dave brings up, Gary Stevens is doing some good work, with an appropriate approach to online. Unfortunately, Gary’s work isn’t affecting what others are doing. In my third-year print news module we are required to “fill out a web page” during the newsday, with a Dreamweaver template provided. (I’ll be writing up that farce in more detail in a moment.)

I’ve asked on Twitter for this year’s online module handbook, but from what I’ve already been told it sounds very similar to what I did last year. If so, they’re still tackling online journalism from the wrong direction — in the module groups were required to build a website, and fill it with (static) content about a particular subject. Students were taught basic HTML and (sort of) how to use Dreamweaver to build a site. You were able to use other approaches, but Dreamweaver was the only one that was taught.

Charlotte — That sounds very much like a lecture Bernie gave in the “Research, Investigation, and Ethics” module, except he focused on using the Internet for research.

Jonathan — If it’s a similar arrangement to my experience, one semester will be “online”, the other will be photography. Let’s say that I wasn’t a fan, but it got me out of doing radio and television in my second year.

As I’ve yet to be taught much online journalism, as I’ve only been here for one semester so far, (except in a lecture by Gary Stevens who was talking about convergence, and showing great examples of how online can be used to good effect), I can’t really comment on how blogging is taught, however there is one thing I find curious: in options for year two, it’s paired with Photography. I understand imagery is important for online, and without video you do need to be taught it, but to make the choice “Online + Photography”, is online journalism really given the emphasis it deserves within that module?

I get the feeling that when it comes round to my year doing the task, we’ll similarly have a huge drop off of activity…

Problem is – online is taught by someone who isn’t comfortable with online journalism himself. His blog was always password protected (!!!!), and I have an email from him saying how Web 2.0 is (paraphrasing a bit) just a fad. This was several years ago – I wonder if he’s changed his mind?

The lecture was Bernie giving a history of the Internet, with figures, facts and diagrams. There were print screen shots of early websites, which we had to laugh at their simplicity. We then looked briefly at Iain Dale’s blog.

And with that we were told to write a blog about anything we liked, but not a diary.

However, I was told it was worth 5% of my Journalism Skills module, so not to worry about the blogging exercise as long as you handed something in.