“NewsU” Items

How NewsU E-Learning Got its Start, 2002

In 2002, a forward-looking proposal to the Knight Foundation laid the groundwork for a bold new chapter in journalism education: Poynter’s News University.

At the time, e-learning was far from mainstream. But the memo—authored by Howard Finberg—made a compelling case that digital tools could dramatically expand access to high-quality training for journalists, students, and educators.

“Online learning offers a unique opportunity to provide training that is timely, cost-effective and accessible—regardless of geography or newsroom size.”

The proposal emphasized that traditional training models were limited by time, cost, and reach. Newsrooms needed a solution that was scalable, interactive, and adaptable to the fast-changing demands of modern journalism.

“We must meet journalists where they are—not only geographically, but also in terms of time, tools, and technology.”

Finberg envisioned a platform offering self-directed courses, simulations, and community-based learning. The goal was not just to digitize journalism education, but to reinvent it.

“This is not about putting textbooks online. It’s about designing learning experiences specifically for the digital environment.”

The Knight Foundation provided initial funding for the development of the e-learning project. This support enabled Poynter to begin building a web-based training initiative designed to serve journalists, educators, and students through accessible, flexible, and cost-effective courses.

The 2003 proposal outlined the foundation for what would become a comprehensive online learning platform. It emphasized that the effort would leverage Poynter’s editorial expertise while taking advantage of emerging digital tools to expand the Institute’s educational reach. The project was positioned as a strategic response to industry needs for more scalable and timely training solutions.

Constant Training: New Normal or Missed Opportunity

As part of the grant to The Poynter Institute for the creation and running of News University, an online training program, the Knight Foundation asked that we conduct studies as to how effective training was and better understand the training needs of journalists. One study was called “Constant Training” and it was based on a survey of newsrooms and journalists.  Here’s what I wrote in the introduction:

These results are from an anonymous survey of staff members from 31 newsrooms around the country conducted by The Poynter Institute on behalf of the Knight Foundation.

The survey was conducted in newsrooms that ranged in size from 20 to 150 staff members. More than 1,650 staff members were possible participants for the survey, which achieved a 72.5 percent response rate. The survey was conducted online in June-July 2014.

Is the glass two-thirds full? Or, more important to ask, is it one-third empty?

A third of the journalists in the survey [34 percent] said they received no training in the past 12 months. But the numbers varied widely in different newsrooms. While in some newsrooms, nearly everyone had gotten training, in one newsroom, only 17 percent reported receiving training. In six of the newsrooms, less than half of the staff members had received training. Considering the abundance of free or low-cost training available, those numbers seem strikingly high.

One of the key findings was the hunger journalists had for training.  However, then, as in now, time or the lack of time, was a key factor as whether journalists got the training they needed or wanted.

This raises the point that everyone, especially journalists, lives in a world of constant learning. Each new technology creates new opportunities and new challenges. Which create new openings for training. To be successful in the digital world, a journalist needs to embrace the idea of “constant training” to meet the changing demands of the workplace.

Other results from our training survey are more troubling.

Actually doing the training presents a significant problem. Lack of time was cited by 62 percent of the participants as the number-one factor that prevented them from getting the training they needed or wanted. That’s twice as many responses as lack of funds, the second-place factor, which was selected by 34 percent.

One final point involved the focus of newsrooms in 2014:

The survey also provides an unsettling insight into the focus of the newsrooms surveyed. The journalists surveyed still see their newsrooms as print-centric or straddling the fence. Only one in 10 said that their newsrooms are thoroughly
“digital-first.”

Eric Newton wrote the introduction to the report.

Poynter’s News University: Site Structure

I’ve have learned that when trying to create something new, it is helpful to draw a picture. Some folks learn by reading; others by looking at a picture.

The site diagram of the 1st technology phase of Poynter’s e-learning project was helpful in working with our technology vendor, DataGlyphics [which became YourMembership], as we figured out to link various elements. We decided early in the process that to build a learning management system [LMS] would be too difficult given all of the other tasks, especially building courses.  We really didn’t know much about e-learning or a LMS, so we decided to integrate three different sites:

  1. The News University landing pages and other static pages
  2. The eCollege LMS site [with Poynter NewsU content]
  3. Poynter Online for promotion and traffic generation

This is one of the first News University documents.  Even earlier is the memo I wrote to Robin Sloan, one of the first NewsU staff members. That memo outlines the technology goals we hope to accomplish, thanks to a grant from the Knight Foundation.

Sidebar: Robin is now an accomplished best selling author and olive oil entrepreneur. Wonderful olive oil.

NewsU Story Contest Finalists

Poynter’s News University liked to celebrate its users and held a couple of contests to get compelling stories from its students. This document is a worksheet for those at Poynter who were tasked to pick the best stories. [The stars note candidates that I thought were solid entries.]

Training Needs of Journalists: Poynter NewsU Survey

As we geared up development of Poynter’s e-learning project, the lack of information about journalists and online training was very evident.  While there were many studies about what journalists said they wanted in terms of training, there was scant evidence about how an online training program would be received.  I pushed hard to do a training needs assessment and by early 2004 we published the “Training: It Matters More Than Ever” report.

Many of the conclusions aren’t surprising, even 10 years later.

What stands between journalist and more training?

* Time
* Money
* Accessibility

What was surprising was the acceptance of e-learning as a potential for journalism training.  While only 18 percent of survey respondents had any experience with online training, more than 70 percent were interested in participating in e-learning.

“It validates our belief in e-learning,” Finberg says [in the report]. “It’s the research evidence that the concept we came up with is valid.  The real challenge will be in the execution…”

Bob Andelman wrote the report. He also wrote a story for Poynter Online.

How NewsU Makes E-Learning Courses

Among the challenges facing Poynter’s e-learning project, NewsU, was the problem of explaining why e-learning could be an effective way to train journalists and the approach we use to make training that works.  Here’s what I wrote in a blog post about the project:

Our concept is simple. If you make the training tightly focused, you’ll help journalists learn. If you make the training engaging, you’ll help them learn. If you deliver training that is relevant, you’ll help them learn and do a better job.

This ran about five months after our launch.

While I wrote many journalists had “good instincts when it comes to teaching,” I also made this point:

To be effective at e-learning, you need to clearly understand WHAT you want to teach and HOW you want to teach.

 

NewsU’s First Annual Report: Infrastructure

With great sums of money comes great responsibilities to explain how the funding is used.  That’s the way it works when it comes to foundations.  So, Poynter NewsU sent along its first “annual report” to the Knight Foundation in June 2004, a little more than 15 months after receiving our first funding.

  • Conducted a survey of journalists [2,500 responded out of 12,000 sent] to better understand the potential interest in e-learning, the types of courses that would valuable and the technical capacity of those interested in online training.
  • Developed and presented the “meet NewsU” presentation to various journalism groups, including the National Council of Journalism Organizations, the Knight Foundation Chairs in journalism, and a meeting of the foundations that support journalism activities.
  • Built staff of two Interactive Learning Producers and hired a recent college graduate to fill a one year internship position.
  • Explored more than 10 learning management systems (LMS) intended to handle course development, asset management, course listings and registration, course delivery, class communications, and student testing and tracking.
  • Installed a LMS offered by eCollege on a trial basis in order to better understand NewsU’s technical needs. This trial period also provided NewsU an opportunity to beta test two faculty-led online courses offered to members of AAJA.

An interesting note in the report stated “more than 275 users have registered with NewsU, prior to the offering of any e-learning courses or any advertising or marketing effort. These are journalists who discovered NewsU on their own and have told us to keep them aware of course offerings.”