New Reality in Journalism Teaching: Challenges and Opportunities

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CABAR.asia Media School held a workshop for the tutors from journalism faculties of Central Asian universities to discuss the distinct features of zoomer generation, priorities for the new academic year, and to exchange experiences.

The two-day workshop was held on September 16-17 on Zoom in a discussion format. IWPR CA Project Coordinator Dilnoza Mirzomamadova noted that this workshop was a part of the long-term CABAR.asia Media School initiative of working with journalism faculties.

“The latest media trends are focused on the new media. The quality of teaching depends on the tutors’ potential and professionalism, as well as their ability to keep up with the times,” said Mirzomamadova

The workshop began with a review of the last academic year to identify innovations and successes in teaching. The participants noted that over the year, they used new online interactive services, such as Kahoot and Thinglink, and discovered more tools in Zoom and Google.

Audience Profile

Then, the tutors discussed the characteristics of the audience and noted that knowing the audience’s type of behaviour is important for the understanding of what and how to teach. The students, future journalists are today’s audience. Understanding their behavioural patterns helps building the teaching methodology. During the interactive process, the participants revealed that the consumer audience of the region is not being studied and there is not enough research. Nevertheless, the participants tried to outline the distinct features of zoomer generation: their values, behaviour, consumption patterns, and expectations.

Tynymgul Eshieva, an instructor at the American University of Central Asia, noted that the analysis of the audience and the study of the theory of generations were included in the curriculum of the course she teaches since knowledge of the audience profile is important for the communicator.

Maral Aitmagambetova, a tutor at the Innovative University of Eurasia in Pavlodar, emphasized that knowledge of the audience was also important for analysing materials and cases; the students must understand and determine the target audience for a certain material. The knowledge of the audience profile influences the choice of strategy and tactics both in teaching and in content creation.

The workshop moderator Jazgul Ibraimova summed up the session and drew the tutors’ attention to the fact that Generation Z is more progressive and conscious, but Internet security issues are still acute for them.

Teaching Methodology

During the discussion of teaching methodology, Jazgul Ibraimova presented an adapted Handbook with the collection of courses on new media, which was the result of two years of work with the journalism faculties.

The Handbook includes:

seven courses on new media,
theoretical information for the tutors,
video tutorials for viewing during a class and at home,
practical assignments, brainstorming questions, exercises.

During the workshop, the participants learned about freewriting techniques and exchanged experiences in using online platforms for publishing students’ practical assignments.

At the end of the workshop, the tutors presented the topics of master classes they could conduct as guest lecturers at partner universities. CABAR.asia Media School awarded the tutors with certificates for participating in the workshop.

Participants’ Feedback

I liked talking to colleagues from different countries, exchanging information and experience. New knowledge is always inspiring! It is great we receive new knowledge and methodological materials. Your workshops are wonderful! I enjoy it every time. These workshops unite people and raise the education quality to new heights. Saule Tastulekova, Kazakhstan

Personally I enjoy the idea of creating this workshop. The workshop not only introduces Central Asian tutors to each other but also provides an opportunity to exchange experiences and skills. This contributes to the development of teachers’ training in Central Asian universities. Chinara Urusova, Kyrgyzstan

It was a pleasure to participate in this workshop. The topic of the workshop and the skills our colleagues from other universities shared are very important to us. The new topics and tools we have learned about thanks to CABAR.asia Media School will help us in teaching a new generation of students. Thank you very much! We are looking forward to new online and offline meetings.Shahnoz Zaripova, Tajikistan

The workshop from CABAR.asia Media School for tutors of journalism faculties was very interesting, intensive, and informative. I worked with the Mural platform for the first time, I learned about Medium and Tilda services. During the workshop, we created an International chat for tutors, where we share our methodological and theoretical knowledge. I would like to express my gratitude to the organisers and trainers for the interesting workshop and opportunity to communicate with tutors from different countries. Muhayo Saidova, Uzbekistan

You can find the results and materials from the workshop here

Download the New Media Handbook here.

Follow CABAR.asia Media School news on Telegram channel!

This workshop was held as part of the Development of New Media and Digital Journalism in Central Asia project implemented by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) with the financial support of the UK Government. The opinions expressed during project events and/or in project materials do not reflect the official position of the Government of the United Kingdom and IWPR.

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