tbird times educon

School Newspaper 2.0: Students Using Participatory Media to Build Community

January 2009 | Educon 2.1 | Philadelphia

A vision of students today

A community of individuals with at least one thing in common:

School is a part of their lives.BIG

But where can they express themselves?

…in here?

What does that have to do with a “newspaper/media club?”

I believe…

•Technology is everywhere,•Stories are everywhere, and•Our community needs (and wants!) to hear

them.•Most of all, I believe…STUDENTS have something to

say.

What is a “Newspaper”?

•“… a written publication containing news, information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint.”- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper

What is “Multimedia”?

So, what’s a Multimedia Newspaper?

Writing

Videos

Photos

Podcasts

Member

Profiles

All can view

but only member

s can edit

All student produced.

All the time.

The Vision

… about everything happening at school.

TBirdTimes.org

•News, short stories, sports coverage, features, and more … in multiple media formats:

•Writing•Video•Photo Essays•Original Artwork•Podcasts•More

Tools:

Tools:

… among others.

Students and StaffParticipate

Everymember has aprofile page *THEY*customize…

…and, together,we learnhow to make sureit is SAFEand well designed.

Our goal: do something that’s never been done before…

Produce, publish and maintain an

online multimedia newspaper unlike anything ever created*

by a middle school.

* as far as I know. ;-)

Our Weapon of Choice: Ning

• Feature Rich• Familiar Metaphor• Multimedia Friendly• Can be made COPPA compliant• Free

Current Status• 12 middle school student

members (6-8 active at any given time)

• 10 adult/school staff members

• 41 forum postings/articles, countless comments▫ Advice column▫ Horoscopes▫ School events coverage▫ Webcast series

• 14 student profile pages• 9 student-produced videos• 43 photos including

original digital artwork• Twice-weekly after-school

meetings• Accessible from home

What’s Working Well

•Ning platform•Google Docs•Participation by active members•Variety of content•Use of digital tools•Discussion of “real world” Internet safety•Anonymity / COPPA compliance

What Could Be Better

•More school-related content▫Plans: profile of a student with Downs

syndrome, retirement montage videos, more sports event coverage, more teacher interviews, more feature articles

•Ability for non-members to comment•More student participation•More emphasis on writing

http://tbirdtimes.org

Image Creditshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/mezzoblue/135371202/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesyu/61784469/http://www.flickr.com/photos/oudeschool/662078822/http://www.flickr.com/photos/artgallery/1587436328/http://www.flickr.com/photos/dejahthoris/140609589/http://www.flickr.com/photos/difei/2654449181/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_d/30859899/http://www.flickr.com/photos/b-tal/2585526987/http://www.flickr.com/photos/redjar/162546810/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremybanks/298347707/http://www.flickr.com/photos/28109157@N02/2620934647/http://www.flickr.com/photos/trekkyandy/496564110/http://www.flickr.com/photos/alistair_israel/2056761663/http://www.flickr.com/photos/15312650@N05/2249866870/http://flickr.com/photos/jfahler/2641700497/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jose_kevo/2417471256/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jose_kevo/2406757196/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jose_kevo/2405926359/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jose_kevo/2195671431/http://www.flickr.com/photos/mspatt/2367994932/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jose_kevo/2843976839/http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigdilldigital/2493425414/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jose_kevo/2423434695/http://www.flickr.com/photos/captkodak/2322374833/http://www.flickr.com/photos/captkodak/321546787/http://www.flickr.com/photos/celinesphotographer/328581080/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jon_marshall/260978898/http://www.flickr.com/photos/frenchieb/2100764207/http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/48011843/http://www.flickr.com/photos/acsamman/1264476755/

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