Lessons Learned
We are measuring our progress in terms of projected outcomes, and through ongoing analyses of the process itself. To date, we have surveyed students twice to assess their perceptions of the project and their own learning, once in August just after the most difficult meeting in Ithaca and again in October, after they had presented their work at ONA. A few key data points reflect their perceptions that the process had been incredibly difficult and unquestionably worthwhile:
- 90 percent of student participants said they were better informed about digital culture in October than they had been at the beginning of the project.
“The amount of research needed to find out what is already being done is and was quite daunting,” wrote one student. “I'm surprised to hear about anything going on in online journalism that I at least haven't heard of thanks to the research done for this project.”
 Another described the rigors of the research process: “I’ve never had to do so much research over such a period of time before, and I only looked into specific areas. Including information that the rest of the team members researched, we're all seriously off the charts. Seriously. Off the charts.”
And a third student raised the inevitable question of the divide between faculty and the digital natives they were mentoring: “I DID learn something about digital culture - that it exists in the minds of young, creative Internet junkies rather than in the heads of old-fashioned newspaper enthusiasts.”
- 89 percent of students said the project was emotionally challenging. Their commentary reflected the level of difficulty many had with the process:
“Throwing out almost all of the first round of ideas was pretty depressing. Our group felt like it came from our collective womb,” wrote one student. “We might not have spent so much time and energy on it if we knew it wouldn't make the cut. I think it affected our second project in that we didn't put as much emotional investment into it. Also teaming with people we didn't like was taxing, particularly when they didn't contribute much but we knew they would get credit for it anyways. despite all that still mostly positive in the end on an emotional level, since most members were awesome.”
“I can't think of a situation that I have been more emotionally challenged in, particularly relating to school,” wrote another. “I think there is a line of where it is good to be emotionally challenged and when it had gone too far, and I think this project may have crossed that line, for me at least.”
“Building relationships with other people, and doing so to trust them, over the course of 4 months, would have to be challenging,” concluded a third.
- And yet the students recognized that the end products were greater than the sum of their individual parts. More than 85 percent said the project they took to ONA met the “innovation” threshold (original, executable, impact), and more than two thirds said their group had produced a product that none of them could have produced on their own.
“The idea improved in significant ways due to group input and contribution,” wrote one.
“All of our ideas made up the final project and without each other we couldn't have gotten through it.”
“Because of the mash-up nature of this project and Web 2.0, it is a function of what we are doing that the project would be something that we could not produce on our own,” wrote another. “In any case, we came from different backgrounds, even with the similar majors. We all added our own selves into this because of those backgrounds and similarities.”
“I would have never thought of the idea and gone about developing it the way we did,” concluded a third.
- Despite the challenges, more than half said they would do it again if offered the opportunity – although a few issued caveats.
“If young, hip, Internet-savvy individuals ran the program, I'd probably be more interested in participating,” said one. “Still, Internet ideas don't grow when academics pour thousands of gallons of water on them.”
Other students were more enthusiastic: “This built and prepared me for so many other projects,” read a typical response. “This is the kind of thing that I could do for a living, as the research and development were so enjoyable (mostly).”
- And nearly all of the students said they’d learned the lessons the project was designed to teach. More than 95 percent said they have a better understanding of how innovation and technology can be used to increase new community participatory journalism, and 95 percent said they have a better understanding of the importance of staying ahead of – instead of chasing – the technology curve.
“I did have a good grasp of this before, but I think it was substantiated for me in this project,” wrote one student. “Still, I'm unsure of how many humans can physiologically keep up with the speed that we are beginning to generate with some services.”
“ I have learned an extreme amount from this project - including more about myself than I could have ever imagined,” wrote a second.
“I think something like this should be part of regular curriculum at J-schools. Very good experience,” concluded a third.
Faculty were surveyed in December to provide them the time they needed to process their experiences and provide us with thoughtful, measured feedback. The results of those surveys have not been analyzed but will inform our final report and the guidelines we produce for public distribution. |
