Journalism Class Meeting Online at iTalkNews.com

Thanks for noticing Mark.  Yes, we will keep NP posted.  I emailed the mentor, Dr. Jane Abao about this very interesting class and she was very excited to inform me that this is really one of a kind. I will surely keep everyone posted about the future undertakings of this class which will run for at least ten consecutive Sundays (Philippine time).  

iJournalism in the Philippines.  The journalism class was actually Dr. Jane Abao's initiative that students make use of the Internet, particularly iTalknews.com as an online blackboard.  In regular days, she said students would go to schools, others work in the office, and those elder members attend to family affairs.  And the only way for everyone to meet and be able to crosspost and interact with one another is through the use of the Internet, particularly by doing the journalism projects on the website of iTalknews. But students are not allowed to post works which are not classroom-captured because Dr. Abao makes sure that students only post original works from her class.  Works to be posted are supposed to be subject for the public's scrutiny and critiquing.

Recent Developments here. 

I would like to inform everyone the recent developments about this iJournalism class.

The "news doctor" noted "student editors are expected to pioneer in an experiment online along the stigmergy concept and effectively handle an editorial staff. For their training, they are required daily to comment intelligently on at least five items posted in iTalkNews.com. This is expected to hone their reasoning abilities and their awareness of social issues. In addition to that, they are given opportunties to edit each other's work and other items written on the web."

I quote here the article indicating how Dr. Abao's class operates:

"Dr. Jane Abao who is experienced in online education believes in the power of web-supported environments to enhance the learning of people. Particularly, she espouses Michael Moore’s (1993) theory of transactional distance as a framework for understanding the needs of students. According to Moore, the space between the learner and the structure of teaching must be mediated by dialogue, giving the learner the opportunity for active participation.

The class also rides along the stigmergy concept espoused by Jhon Drone (2004); therefore, no syllabus is prepared ahead for this class. “Stigmergy” refers to the termite process of producing a self-organized structure slowly over an interaction of environment, materials, and activities. The online class, therefore, is expected to effectively complement the face-to-face meetings. This course is given free to interested students."

On the class' second meeting last Sunday (Philippine time), students were asked to interview resource persons about an event that will be held and the groups are asked to come up with a straight forward news to be posted at iTalknews.com for critiquing by fellow student editors and the public.  The turnout, according to Dr. Abao, is good and was very positive nonetheless.

This is one classic journalism class I have known in the cyberspace.  It is always great to look back and explore if any similar endeavors have been initiated following this.  But hopefully soon there will be more again.  Special thanks to the mentor, Dr. Abao. 

I just found out - iTalkNews.com is no longer around.  It may have suffered from the deep financial troubles caused by the competition on the web.