Small Programs 2013 Abstracts
Coping with smart phones ‘distractions’ in a college classroom • Kehbuma Langmia, Bowie State University; Amy Glass, John Hopkins • The influx of smart phones in most college classroom is impacting instruction in a way that was never anticipated. Thus, a survey of full-time faculty members at a local university in the United States was conducted to test three hypotheses, followed by a one-on-one interview with a random sample of the same respondents to ascertain the overall effect of smart phones in the classroom. Results showed conflicting approaches by faculty on how to handle the situation. While some faculty members use smart phones for pedagogic reasons and experience positive results, most of them apply strict classroom phone policy with little success. Thus, a university social media tolerant policy for everyone to abide by in the 21st century seems to be the solution.
Teach thyself: The surest path to digital literacy • Yunjuan Luo; Randy Reddick, Texas Tech University; Sha Li • This pilot study examines digital literacy models suggested by recent scholarship and offers a refined theoretical model for understanding three dimensions of digital literacy. Involving 207 college students, the study found that students were digitally savvy but did not apply their expertise toward social or political participation. Students whose digital learning was self-taught scored significantly higher on digital literacy measures than those who relied more on school, friends, or family to gain digital literacy.
Multimedia Journalism Professors on an Island: Resources, Support Lacking at Small Programs • Elia Powers, University of Maryland-College Park; Jacqueline Incollingo, University of Maryland • This study examines how multimedia journalism professors at small and large programs assess the resources and support they receive, as well as their pedagogical challenges. In-depth interviews revealed that multimedia professors often operate in isolation from their colleagues. Professors from small programs were far likelier to report being hampered by lack of institutional resources and teaching a subject matter that is separate from the interests and knowledge of colleagues rooted in traditional journalism production.
Preparing Students for New Challenges: A Learner-Centered Approach for the 21st Century Journalism Education • Mohammad Yousuf, University of Oklahoma • This theoretical paper summarizes the scholarly and professional discussions on how journalism should be taught in the 21st century. It compares and contrasts theories and models of journalism education with Weimer’ (2002) perspective on teaching. Learner-centered teaching is proposed as a helpful approach to make journalism education more dynamic and meet the demands of the new environment. Finally, it discussed applications of five learner-centered teaching techniques to journalism education.
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