My MOOC experience and what it means

Versión en español aquí.

If you want to study journalism, you have more choices today, at lower cost, and of higher quality than ever. Sometimes you will get that at a university and sometimes not. That represents a challenge for universities.

In a lecture at a journalism conference in Puebla, Mexico, I described a personal experience taking a course in data visualization from one of the world leaders in the field, Alberto Cairo, author of  "The Functional Art."

The six-week course had readings and video tutorials of the highest quality. The homework assignments required at least 10 to 15 hours of work a week.  

Engaged professor

Cairo was intimately involved with the course participants, offering criticism of their work and suggestions for improvement. What was remarkable about this course was that there were 2,000 students enrolled from more than 100 countries, it took place completely online and it was free. 

Online courses play bigger role in entrepreneurial journalism

Fourth in a series on entrepreneurial journalism programs at universities and media organizations. 

The Poynter Institute's online training center, NewsU, is building out its offerings in entrepreneurial journalism with the goal of creating a certificate program. It is one of the few organizations doing this kind of training mainly online. 

Howard Finberg
Poynter Institute, NewsU

NewsU already has eight courses, webinars and training videos that fit under the entrepreneurial umbrella and plans on developing more. These training modules are focused on helping journalists and news organizations stay competitive as digital media change the nature of their work, says NewsU's founder, Howard Finberg. 

“We're training people along two tracks. We're reshaping the traditional mass media business model to be more entrepreneurial and independent of major corporations. We're also training journalists to be more self-sufficient. We're giving them the skills to work across disciplines in ways they didn't have to when we were in school. We're changing the organizational and economic approach to training the people who do journalism.”

In Mexico, innovative selection process for entrepreneurial journalism

Third in a series on entrepreneurial journalism programs at universities and media organizations.

The University of Guadalajara in Mexico has just recruited a class of 18 students in its second year of offering an online master's degree in digital journalism.

Manuel Moreno Castaneda
Rector, Virtual University
University of Guadalajara

This may be the only master's degree program in the developing specialty of entrepreneurial journalism that is completely online. It is offered through the Virtual University (Sistema de Universidad Virtual), whose rector, Manuel Moreno Castaneda, is recognized internationally as an authority on distance learning.

The two-year, four-semester program has a design similar to programs at American University and the City University of New York, but it also has an innovative selection process.

Three-week selection course

Before being admitted, the applicants must propose a project to develop in new digital media. A preliminary selection of 35 applicants then must take a three-week online course in which they watch videos, read articles, complete assignments, and receive feedback from faculty about their proposal. They are then interviewed by telephone. Only the best from this preliminary group are accepted. (Disclosure: I helped design this program while director of the Digital Journalism Center, Centro de Formacion en Periodismo Digital, at the University.)

Road to entrepreneurial journalism passed through Bolivia

Martha Paz, Universidad
Evangelica Boliviana

My path to developing courses in entrepreneurial journalism began in 2006 in an unlikely place -- Bolivia, the poorest country in South America.

Bolivia historically was controlled by interest groups that crushed upstarts who tried to challenge their control of business and politics. Entrepreneurship? There is a word for it in Spanish, but people in Bolivia were not used to using it.

I was a Knight International Journalism Fellow training journalists at the major news organizations in that country. I was also developing a journalism course to offer at the country's oldest private university, the Universidad Evangelica Boliviana, well known for producing top journalists like Martha Paz. She had left the country's biggest daily to return to her alma mater and head the communication department.