Educators are preparing journalism students for the challenges they’ll meet in an ever evolving field, and students are eager to learn new approaches to storytelling. These sessions aim to bring together educators to share their approaches to everything from teaching tech projects and training product thinkers to new ways of prepping students as they enter professional journalism.
Take a closer look at our teaching and training track:
ONA U: Student Mini Conference at American University [Sponsored]: ONA U is a new mini-conference geared toward journalism students and young professionals looking for practical career and networking advice as they enter the workforce and begin their first jobs in journalism. The evening sessions — held from 5-9 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4 — will bring attendees to American University’s School of Communication for learning, training and networking. Separate $5 fee. Register and learn more.
Creating the Next Generation of Product Thinkers: Journalism is becoming a tech industry. Newsrooms need people who can design, develop and manage news products, such as mobile apps, email newsletters, SMS bots, etc. In this session, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Director Marie Gilot; Temple University Professor Aron Pilhofer and Lenfest Institute for Journalism UX Designer Hong Qu, will discuss why and how educators and newsroom trainers teach product design and development, as these skills are critical to the future of media and can lead to new career paths.
Table Talks: Teaching + Training: Our Table Talks are lively, inspiring discussions where you can break down some of the most complex subjects with the best minds in the industry. This two-hour intimate discussion is an opportunity to talk about challenges you’ve faced related to teaching and training and the strategies you’ve employed to solve them. No preparation is necessary — this is an interactive event and we encourage everyone interested to participate. Note: Topics will be announced closer to the conference and we are not taking questions for speakers in advance, since these are participatory conversations.
Playful Tech in the J-School Classroom: Hear how educators are working to engage journalism students in developing interactive projects with VR, mobile games and news apps and see the technology projects developed in their classrooms. You’ll learn how to bring together tech-phobic students and those with a diverse set of interests to participate in projects that will capture their attention. Speakers include Katherine Hepworth, Assistant Professor of Visual Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno; Retha Hill, Executive Director of the Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab, Professor of Practice at the Arizona State University Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication; Juli James, Lecturer at the University of North Texas and Mindy McAdams, Professor at the University of Florida.
So You Want to Teach in Academia? Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder CMCI Angie Chuang; Associate Dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, Andrew Mendelson; Instructor of Journalism at the American University School of Communication Jeremiah Patterson; POLITICO Managing Editor Sudeep Reddy and Faculty Director and Associate Professor at Georgetown University Brooke Van Dam. will explain how to get and keep a teaching gig. They’ll offer insider information about appointment cycles, curriculum development, evaluations and moving from adjunct to full time, as well as tips on making yourself an attractive candidate to university employers. If you’re hiring journalism educators, looking to get into teaching or recently became a professor, this is a can’t-miss session.
Educators’ Meetup: This is an opportunity for all the educators attending the conference to chat about their approaches. This year, the meetup will kick off with a conversation on challenges to advancing journalism education, including the perspectives of the first Tow-Knight Disruptive Educators attending ONA as fellows. Lightning talks on innovative teaching ideas will follow, and we’ll end the meetup with a poster session, drinks in hand. Jody Brannon, Community Manager & Chief News Evangelist at Tow-Knight & Bing News, will moderate.