Recent posts for Science.net
Someone should have played Science.Net
Here’s an argument as to why it could help you to learn to think like a journalist:
If you watched Sarah Palin’s resignation speech, you know one thing: her high-priced speechwriters moved back to the Beltway long ago. Just how poorly constructed was the governor’s holiday-weekend address? We asked V.F.’s red-pencil-wielding executive literary editor,
, together with representatives from the
and
departments, to whip it into publishable shape.
Reblogged: The power of authenticity
This piece was originally published by the Macarthur Foundation on their Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning blog (original link).
One of the things we know about creative thinking is that creative thinkers these days use sophisticated tools: graphic designers use Photoshop and Illustrator, architects and engineers use CAD (Computer Aided Design) software, urban planners use geographic information systems, managers use gantt charting tools, accountants use spreadsheets, and everyone uses word processors, Web browsers, and email.
So it makes sense that to learn innovative and creative thinking, you need to use these tools and you need to learn to use them.
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“Be the Reporter” in minutes
In the journalism epistemic game, science.net, players spend days and sometimes weeks learning to think like reporters by taking on this professional role and writing, and ultimately, publishing stories. So I was a bit anxious when I learned that The Poynter Institute and News University were providing an online game called “Be the Reporter” (BtR) that promised to “help users understand some of the basics” in only 15 minutes! After playing the game a couple of times through (and taking nearly an hour), I’m less anxious and more excited by the interesting design elements built into this intriguing mini-game.
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Science.net
Nanotechnology. Blue-green algae. Stem cell research. These are just a few of the important science topics studied by researchers at UW-Madison and written about by student reporters in the epistemic game Science.net, in which middle school students role play as science reporters working for an online science newspaper.
Combining the excitement of scientific discovery with the thrill of publishing their own work to inform the public, young people in science.net work as reporters publishing a weekly online science newspaper. During the game, they work with professional journalists, learning skills like interviewing and copyediting. And they use these skills right away, working on and publishing stories about breaking scientific issues that matter to themselves and to their community.
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Byline gets pitched
New in Byline this year are an expanded set of editing and previewing interfaces for the science.net reporters to work with. Based on ethnographic field work with a junior-level reporting course, reporters now get engine-driven feedback about their background research to help them pitch the stories they will be preparing for their desks. New tabs also include support for interview questions, notes and quotes.
