“Empowering journalists with online tools: making a case for online training”
There is no doubt that journalists and the media needs urgent training in online tools in order to ride the tide with the information revolution. Unfortunately the cost of training of journalists remains high in context of resources and time. One solution to this challenge is designing and implementing low to free online training for journalists in online tools. The key advantage of this option is that journalists are going to be using the very tool they are learning about in their online class plus they do not need to take leave from work. The International Institute for ICT Journalism (penplusbytes) is implementing an online course for journalists in a wide range of topics including knowledge management for the newsroom, blogging and web 2.0. This case study shows and tells how the various online tools were used in delivering the course and the learning experience of the class. We explore how Web 2.0 tools are changing the face of journalism with particular focus on blogging and these tools are empowering journalists. Secondly we are going to share some of the challenges of online course delivery and how to overcome some of these challenges. Emphasis would be place on the need to use the most appropriate online tools with specific reference to learner’s environment. Furthermore we explore online knowledge sharing opportunities and how participants connect with each other. Lastly we are going to reinforce the fact that online training provides an empowering opportunity for journalists as they negotiate online space in their daily work.
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