Designing pedagogies for cadet journalists on the ground and doing it

Abstract

This paper discusses the development of a professional development program designed to cater for journalists in their first months of their cadet employment. It looks at the pedagogical foundation used in establishing a range of technology enhanced learning environment consisting of; a website dedicated to the program; the use of an Integrated Content Environment (ICE) to develop course materials; how wiki software is being used to blog and interact with students; the integration of computer marked assessment (CMA) into the course design; and the use of professional practice portfolios as a major assessment outcome. This paper then discusses research conducted into the perceptions of the initial cohort of students’ undertaking these courses, focusing on the usefulness of both the learning environments and the design of the pedagogy underlying these applications. An online survey was presented to the students to quantify their preferences in using these environments with respect to intuitiveness, convenience of use and responsiveness of the project team. Comments were also sought from students to explain why they made their particular choices and report any problems they encountered. The survey also offered them the opportunity to provide additional feedback to the project team. Students gave a clear indication that the usefulness of these courses to their developing practice as journalist and how they felt this may benefit others in their positions.