Group work online – Creating a magazine remotely

Yuen Chan Senior Lecturer Department of Journalism

Yuen Chan Senior Lecturer Department of Journalism

 

Over seven weeks, across four continents and more time zones, they’ve managed to do all the things we would normally do in the production module apart from produce a printed magazine.

Read the magazine online:
Reset Magazine  https://t.co/KNm842TKon?amp=1  

 

 

Academic: Yuen Chan – Senior Lecturer department of Journalism 

Course: Masters in International Journalism 

Module: JOM924 – Production 

Number of students: 22 

The magazine is central to the Production Module in Term 3 for MAIJ students. The module has two pathways: print and broadcast. There were 22 students in the print pathway this year.  

How are students assessed? 

Students were assessed on a portfolio of contributions to the magazine, which comprised: one longer feature story, one shorter feature story, one news story, layouts produced using Adobe In-Design and a workplace simulation diary in which they note their individual contributions (including any additional editorial roles they took on). They are also assessed on the overall quality of the magazine, the associated website, maintenance of social media accounts and any other optional additional elements they may wish to add (such as podcasts). 

How did this differ from how students would usually produce a magazine (pre-Covid)?  

Apart from moving everything online and producing a printed magazine at the end of the module, we completed everything we would have done in a pre-COVID term. Normally, we would hold all classes, workshops, editorial meetings and production meetings together on campus. Editors would be able to ask writers questions on the spot and make immediate changes to copy. Dummy meetings would involve printouts of draft layouts of pages pasted together in their tentative order. Proofreading of physical printouts would be a collective experience together in the room

Resources on JOM924

Resources on JOM924

 

This term, we had students working across four continents which meant working across time zones: from Auckland and Beijing to Montreal and Vancouver, with Moscow and Mumbai in between. 

Did you organise students or did they self organise 

A combination of both but my approach is to have them self-organise with appropriate guidance and advice. Mostly, I outlined and suggested possible structures and workflows and asked them to discuss and come up with specifics. They voted for the chief and deputy editor and came up with an editorial board through online discussions. The aim is to replicate a real newsroom so these editors were then responsible for working with the student reporters on all aspects of the work.  

I communicated with the students through email, Zoom, Teams and Moodle. I know the students used WhatsApp, Facebook, Slack and Zoom between themselves. We used an online flatplan application called Blinkplan to replace physical “dummies”. We also used a shared Google Drive for submissions and for editing. Students sent me drafts and I gave them feedback in live online sessions and by email before they submitted revised drafts. 

Did you get any feedback from students on how they found the experience? 

Overall, feedback has been extremely positive. Students are very proud of their magazine and are pleased with how they managed to work together apart. Of course, they think it would have been better to have been able to work together face-to-face, but they’re pleased with how things went given the circumstances. There are also accounts of their experiences in their reflective essays, which are part of the assessment for the module. 

Student comments via the Moodle feedback activity indicated that they appreciated that synchronous sessions were recorded so that they could watch them later and those sessions that were scheduled after noon GMT for those students who were in different time zones.  They would recommend using only one messaging system (either email, slack, teams, etc.) as using a variety of different platforms can mean that information can get lost. They did appreciate being able to interview a wide range of people from all over the world and found working together online took time but was possible. 

We talked via Slack, Facebook and WhatsApp groups. We also had few meetings all together via Zoom. I loved the fact that we were all supporting each other in these difficult time, we were here for each other, we kept in touch everyday not to let anyone left behind.” 

“It was a little bit stressful at first, because we didn’t know how long it will take, how to use the platform, how to adapt quickly to this new way of learning, but when Yuen showed us that it is possible to work as a team via Zoom, I felt really reassured and I can only confirm that it is feasible.” 

What did you learn from the experience, what worked well and what didn’t? 

My experience of managing the course online was that it was very intensive but manageable. I set out a schedule for the term before it started, which included the dates for pitch meetings, story update meetings, feedback sessions, design workshops, deadlines for different stories and a date for the online publication of the magazine on ISSUU. Other dates and times for things like production meetings and ad hoc editorial meetings were set with input from the student editors as the term progressed.  

Time differences did mean that I often had to work and communicate with students well into the night. I think everything worked as well as and better than could have been expected – I believe this is due in no small part to the strong rapport I built up with the students and which the students had built up with each other prior to lockdown.  

I think a key to making remote learning work is having clear expectations and giving students a clear structure, while being flexible to adapt and make changes according to circumstances. Good communication is vital. One of the drawbacks was reaching the minority of students who, to varying degrees, did not really engage. 

Shifting a short module with guest speakers online

The module

Political Headlines’ gives City’s MA Journalism students the opportunity to interact, question and learn from top journalists and politicians.It is run by Professor Barney Jones. It’s a high-density, week-long module (in this case, a Sunday to Friday week). The module is assessed by the writing of a political pitch for a news story. Typically, over 80 students take the module. This year, another 70 Journalism students were given the opportunity to ‘audit’ the module.

The plan

The SASS School Liaison Team at ETT (Educational Technology Team) discussed at length with Barney the benefits of making content available to students asynchronously via City’s virtual learning environment (VLE). There were several reasons for this: students would be able to access content in their own time and time zones, they could pace their learning and they could learn more about the work of our guest speakers.

From the outset, Barney was clear that he wanted to keep the live events with the guests so that students could benefit from the Q and A sessions that have been the main events of previous modules.

We agreed that the module should have the following contents:

  • Narrated presentations (instead of live lectures by Barney)
  • Guest interviews via Microsoft Teams with Barney (where possible) lasting ten minutes which were recorded and posted on the VLE
  • Additional video content provided by the guests such as documentaries and showreels
  • Fora on the VLE for each guest so students could post questions to the guests ahead of the live sessions
  • Live sessions via webinar with Barney hosting, students asking questions live in-person (having posted them on the VLE fora or in the webinar chat) and us managing the guests’ access, the questions, and the audience.

Barney's video presentation

Moodle forum for questions to guest speaker

By the end of the module, there were four narrated presentations, nine ten-minute interviews and 11 live events involving 22 guests. Between 80 and 105 students took part in each of the live events

Comms

We sent emails to the students with the live events schedule for the week. These included details on how to access the events and the etiquette expected. Calendar items for each of the 11 live sessions were sent which included the event hyperlink. Daily announcements were made by Barney via the VLE reminding students which resources to look at in advance and what to notice in the media that day. Guests and hosts were sent separate calendar items with corresponding hyperlinks to shield their email addresses from a wider audience.

Lights, cameras, action

The live sessions followed a similar pattern: we would open the meeting and share a welcome slide with the name of the guest on it. Barney would introduce the session with some background to the guest and associated themes. He would check with us that all was well. We would start recording. This was followed by Barney chatting to the guests and then selecting questions from students (streamed by us via a private online group chat). He would ask the questioners to put them directly to the guests by turning on their microphones and cameras. These sessions varied in length from 30 to 90 minutes according to guest availability and other parameters. Some guests were on their own, others in pairs or threes and others joined while another left.

Evaluation

The Political Headlines module went very well. The level of student engagement was high for both the asynchronous and synchronous items. Between 85 and 110 students accessed the eleven live events and many questions were written for guests with a large proportion of them being asked live. Barney and colleagues from the Department of Journalism have been very positive about the module as shown in this news item.

Feedback form the students was overwhelmingly positive, with many agreeing that given the nature of the module, the online version was the “next best thing” after interacting with political journalists face-to-face in Parliament.

Some quotes from the survey that our team put together:

“Barney also put up some very helpful recorded lectures on Moodle to flesh out some of the topics of discussion.”

“The resources on moodle such as the documentaries and trailer videos were brilliant.”

Takeaways

We knew that creating high-quality online content is time-consuming, and switching from face-to-face delivery requires time, patience and a willingness to understand that it is not a switch-flicking exercise.

The process also requires well thought out strategies and practice as everything – including the training and the delivery – is partially delivered asynchronously. It would not be possible for us to assist all academics to the extent we have in this project.

It would be hard to imagine a richer pool of content for budding journalists. The guests were both generous with their time and their advice. Students received advice, empathy and encouragement in abundance, and this is could have a significant impact on their careers ahead. The online version provided some value there as it was easier to have more guests online than when they have to fit the commute to City to attend the face to face sessions.

Suggestions from the students to improve the module revolved around the process of asking questions  to  the guest speakers:

“Some of the questions, whilst interesting, were not relevant and took up time where better ones could have been asked. Perhaps a voting system for the questions asked could have been implemented.”

“I think if the questions ahead of time were hidden from view I would have felt more confident putting my questions down. “

This aligns with the fact that the live Q&As were very popular with the chat blowing up with new questions and comments and can be seen as a good sign that the aims of the module to make it an authentic learning experience and for students to explore how journalists make stories of political events were met.

Moving the Masters in Academic Practice Online

EDM116 – Technology Enabled Academic Practice

Double credit module.Masters level. Started in term 2. Shifted 3 full teaching days online

New structure:

  • 10-11am live teaching – recorded
  • 11-12pm activities to work on
  • 12-12.30 lunchtime surgery
  • 1-3pm activities to work on
  • 3-4pm live teaching and wrap – recorded

Find out more: https://blogs.city.ac.uk/learningatcity/2020/04/24/teaching-online-learning-in-a-time-of-crisis/#.Xs5LDZ5KhrI

EDM121 – Developing Leadership and Your Reflective Practice

Masters level, small group. Originally five full days of face-to-face teaching. Started in term 2.

Learning was moved online after day 2:

  • parts of the assessment were adapted: students were asked to submit a narrated Powerpoint instead of presenting in class. They were also assigned a group and would peer assess each member’s submission. The rest of the assessment, reflective blog posts, remained unchanged.
  • The days were broken into chunks of content and activities organised around themes. Every two to three weeks a new section would be open on Moodle to start the new topic. Each topic would be organised around the following:
    • independent learning activities on Moodle
    • synchronous session to introduce the topic, often with a guest speaker ; to review progress on activities and discuss further; as a Q&A with regard to the content or activities
    • suggested deadlines for topical blog posts
    • opportunities for formative assessment with deadlines at various points of the module (presentation and blog posts)

EDM106 – Curriculum Design and Evaluation

Masters level, small groups. Usually taught over the term with full days of face-to-face teaching.

The whole module was moved online in term 2. The days were broken into chunks of content that were released every week

  • video introduction to the module
  • 1 hour webinars around specific topics once a week
  • online content (lecturers’ presentation, other sources) followed by discussion forums around the topics

Example of discussion forums around topics

  • individual submission of narrated Powerpoint for the summative assessment. Students were also assigned to groups and peer reviwed each member’s submission
  • opportunities for formative assessment: draft submissions and Moodle group forum activity to discuss the assesssment criteria

EDM109 – Researching Higher Education

Masters level, small group, term 2. The full module was moved online. Teaching over five weeks:

  • week 1 : introductory week
  • weeks 2 and 3: topic 1, divided into two subtopics, one each week
  • weeks 4 and 5: topic 2, divided into two subtopics, one each week

Organisation of activities:

  • video introduction to the module
  • presentations and other contents with guided activities on Moodle (using forums and lessons mostly), along with forums to ask questions about the content or activities, followed by
  • weekly 1 hour webinars, usually with guest speakers, to discuss the topics and progress on the activities
  • all the activities are building up to the summative assessment, which is the submission of a research proposal.
  • reflective journal with prompts to write entries at different stages of the module.
  • opportunities to submit formative activities, eg sumit a visual representation of the research plan