Blogging for j-schools, students, educators
If you’ll be anywhere near Orlando, Florida, at the end of this month, you might want to attend this unconference: BlogOrlando (Sept. 27-29). I will be leading a session on Friday, starting at 10:25 a.m., titled “What We’re Teaching in J-School.” As blogging is the topic, of course I won’t be talking about everything we teach in journalism education — mostly the blogging part.
Check out the variety of sessions at the gathering — in the technical track, you can learn all about blogging basics, podcasting and the popular WordPress platform (and much more). In the “life/local” track, you can learn about politics blogs. The p.r./marketing track has a lot of great topics, including “Tourism and Social Media” (just to name one that I’ve never thought about before). The schedule grid lays it all out for you.
What’s an unconference? Well, first, it’s free. Yes, 100 percent free. Second, it’s more informal than the typical stuffy professional conference (students, take note!). Normally the sessions would be organized on the spot and not ahead of time, but that’s not the case here. Don’t expect to hear a bunch of boring PowerPoint presentations. The format should be open to discussion and questions.
Therefore — you should leave a comment here and tell me what my session should be about, okay? The title “What We’re Teaching in J-School” can encompass a lot, but we’ll have only 45 minutes.
BlogOrlando takes place at Rollins College. The media track sessions will be held in the SunTrust Auditorium in the morning and in CSS 170 (Cornell Social Sciences) in the afternoon (see campus map). Josh Hallett, who is organizing the event, acknowledges that the Rollins campus map and directions are pretty awful, and he will be posting something more usable on the BlogOrlando site soon!
[...] Mindy McAdams, Teaching Online Journalism If you’ll be anywhere near Orlando, Florida at the end of September, there’s a free conference on blogging, called BlogOrlando from September 27-29. Check out some of the sessions, including blogging basics, podcasting and WordPress. [...]
September 14, 2007 at 11:23 amRegistered! Now, I’m torn… what with the four different tracks and all. I think I’m leaning towards the tech track right now. I know my husband will also find that pretty interesting (he’s the really technical one here).
Personally, I am curious about what schools like UF can offer bloggers in the way of instruction and also how attention to blogging in formal classes might in some way help to legitimize blogging.
September 14, 2007 at 12:12 pmHow funny! I’m in Orlando, visiting family right now, then off to St. Pete for a Poynter seminar. I won’t be here at the end of this month, but I’d recommend talking about how important it is to get involved in the public conversation beyond your blog. Treat it as a conversation, not a publication. Spend at least as much time reading and commenting on others’ blogs, and responding to comments on your own, as you do writing for your own blog.
IMHO, of course
- Amy Gahran
September 14, 2007 at 3:25 pmWhat bloggers need to know about media law would be my suggestion. Because of the permalink nature of most blogs, I expect (and have seen) corporations and individuals get a lot more interested in what’s said about them. Flying below the radar might be a thing of the past for bloggers.
September 14, 2007 at 6:19 pmThe sessions didn’t seem very useful for me (seemed a bit basic). Do you recommend the students to attend it?
September 16, 2007 at 6:45 amThe session titles might seem basic, but look at the people. The presenters are also the attendees, so I think most sessions will be more involved than the description might indicate.
September 16, 2007 at 8:53 am