From Convergence to Connectivism: Teaching Journalism 2.0

Abstract

Media Convergence leads to fundamental changes in the journalistic field. This is a challenge not only for the news industry but also for teaching journalism at universities. Improved skills and competences are needed in multi-modal editorial planning and cross-channel development of news stories. This paper describes the main drivers of change in the news industry, discusses consequences for journalism and teaching, and offers an innovative didactical approach, which combines an interdisciplinary perspective with the concept of connectivism and cognitive apprenticeship. The consequences of convergence that affect journalism education are inspected under three sub-topics: the changes in the curricula, the changes in the courses syllabi, and the changes in the technological infrastructures of the academic institutions. It is pointed out, that recognizing connections and patterns to develop novel ideas and concepts is the core skill for individuals today. The paper shows, how that approach could be realized in an international 10-day-intensive program.A fundamental change in the media landscape has happened in the last decade, which could be described as convergence. Convergence was formerly defined as the merging of value chains in the TIMES-Industry: Established IT-companies invest in telecommunication, telcos invest in content, and media companies in net-infrastructure and so on. Others describe with convergence the horizontal integration of media companies across the borders of distribution channels like radio, print, or television. But today convergence must be seen in a broader way: We follow Rose et al. (2009: 1) in their understanding of convergence, which "involves a series of ongoing discontinuities in technology, infrastructure, consumer behavior, and competitive dynamics that are creating new competitors and business models and are redefining a wide range of industries besides media, telecommunications, and technology".Let's start with discontinuities: It's harder than ever to predict developments on media markets, evolutionary trends in technology and user behavior have been replaced by disruptive changes, as you could see for example in the redefinition of business models in the music industry through legal (and illegal) downloads. This also changes strategic planning in media companies: A long term perspective is no longer suitable and must be replaced by new ways to observe trends in the companies' environment and to react on it with appropriate solutions for the customer's needs. In consequence the importance of knowledge and innovation management increases.On the technology and infrastructure level digitalization, diminishing costs of storage capacities, broadband networks and open interfaces and standards are the main drivers of convergence. Killer applications like search engines, auction platforms, content aggregators or online social networks are based on it, but also local wikis, online designer shops, or blogs.Additionally web technology emancipates themselves from personal computers. Devic...

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