MediaShift Launches EducationShift with Knight, Scripps College Support

February 19, 2014

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, MediaShift announces the launch of EducationShift, a revamped, responsive site with the aim of “Moving Journalism Education Forward.” The new site will include increased coverage of innovation in the classroom as journalism and communications schools around the globe are coping with massive technological change — both for classroom learning and for graduates in the workforce. The efforts by MediaShift were funded with a two-year grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, in association with the release of “Searchlights and Sunglasses: Field Notes from the Digital Age of Journalism“, a digital book and teaching tool. The charter sponsor for EducationShift is the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University.

Katy Culver

Katy Culver

MediaShift recently hired Katy Culver to be the site’s Education Curator, overseeing editorial, social media outreach and related events and online learning modules. Culver is Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and the Associate Director of the Center for Journalism Ethics there.

“I’ve been waiting for something like EdShift to come along for quite some time, so I’m thrilled to be a part of making it happen,” said Culver. “This effort is going to provide a lot of solutions to a lot of people who care about teaching future generations of journalists. By emphasizing the sharing of success stories and adaptable materials, EdShift will speed the plow toward change. I am so grateful to the Knight Foundation and other funders who support the important work of educators.”

Key elements of the EducationShift project include:

> More coverage of change in journalism education, with highlights of innovation in curriculum, resources for educators, leads on grants and funding for innovation, perspectives of educators and students, case studies of “teaching hospital” models at schools and more.

> Bi-weekly Twitter chats at the #EdShift hashtag with important educators, students, professionals and others talking about important timely topics. These have been launched and take place on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month at 10 am PT / 1 pm ET. Guests so far include Arizona State’s Dan Gillmor, J-Lab’s Jan Schaffer and Mike Reilley at DePaul University.

> Excerpts from “Searchlights and Sunglasses” will be posted on EducationShift, and collected into e-books to be produced by MediaShift for its audience.

> In-person events, including networking mixers at the upcoming ISOJ Conference in Austin on April 3, and at the Journalism Interactive Conference at College Park, Md., on April 3. More workshops, mixers, hackathons and meetups are in the works.

> Development of online learning modules that will help train journalists, students, citizen journalists and others to get up-to-speed with digital and social skills.

Eric Newton

Eric Newton

Through a grant from Knight Foundation, MediaShift will produce the EducationShift section with potential partnerships with many journalism and communications schools around the country — and the world.

“As the digital age takes hold, innovation moves into the mainstream and the journalism education discussion shifts from why we should change to how,” said Eric Newton, author of “Searchlights and Sunglasses” and senior adviser to the president at Knight Foundation. “It’s a great time to share tips, tools and insights. EdShift can and will help.”

The Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University has stepped up to be the exclusive charter sponsor for the EducationShift section, the Journalism and Digital Education Roundup newsletter, the bi-weekly Twitter chats and more, for the first three months after launch.

Michelle Ferrier

Michelle Ferrier

“The Scripps College of Communication has innovation in our DNA,” said Michelle Ferrier, Associate Dean for Innovation, Research/Creative Activity and Graduate Studies. “E.W. Scripps invented the chain newspaper. So we believe innovation and media entrepreneurship are skills that every student should develop. We believe the new EdShift will help build the capacity of faculty and administrators to teach these students and in turn help students to imagine and grow our emerging media ecosystem.”

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Launched in 2006, MediaShift has become the premier destination for insight and analysis at the intersection of media and technology. The MediaShift network includes the sites MediaShift, Idea Lab, EducationShift and Collaboration Central, as well as a series of mixers and workshops, e-books, a weekly podcast and the new CollabMatch platform. MediaShift tells stories of how the shifting media landscape is changing the way we get our news and information.

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. They believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged.

The Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University seeks to not only educate its students about today’s communication industry but to produce innovative leaders who will shape the future of communication and its methods of delivery in a rapidly changing technological landscape. Scripps provides leadership in communication by preparing students to be effective and responsible communicators in a global society, and by advancing the field through creative activity and research on communication concepts, issues and problems.

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Contact info: Mark Glaser, MediaShift, [email protected]

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