Blog posts

The internet is a strange place.

But you need to understand it.

That's why a professor asked me to create a series of tutorials to present to her class across three sessions.

The tutorials walk students through everything from HTML and CSS syntax to the incorporation of JavaScript plugins and the creation of directories.

It's been a learning experience for everyone. For starters, I learned exactly how much or how little people know about the way the internet operates, and I was surprised when I realized these students didn't understand the concept of directories or paths.

That is, until I remembered I was in the same boat less than a year ago.

Then I remembered the time-sucking tutorials I had to get through just to gain a basic understanding of client side languages. I spent months Googling answers for concepts that elude people less technically minded than the folks writing open-sourced things' documentation.

Yet I did it. I'm continuing to do it. My professor asked me to help others do it. And others are attempting to do it on own their own, as well. Why? If learning is such a frustrating, time devouring commitment, why do people care enough to try?

The answer: We live our lives in part behind computers. And the Internet of Things is promising to bridge the chasm between cyberspace and meatspace. Simply put, we are digital citizens.

Don't believe me? According to Pew, 70 percent of American adults have home broadband connections. As of 2013, 56 percent own smartphones. Thus, the way we consume information has changed, and as you've heard time and time again, so must mindsets around sharing information.

None of this is new, yet not many universities seem to be responding to this reality in their curriculum.

That's why I suggest colleges and universities add courses to their mandatory curriculum to help students perform in the digital space.

These courses could focus on specific topics:

• Web 101: What happens when you click a button & the internet as a physical thing

• Foundations of client-side languages

• Basics of digital correspondence and presentation (possibly complementing speech classes)

• Social media management & etiquette

• Management of personal identity and reputation online

• Web security

Ball State requires students to take a finance class that teaches them how to pay taxes, budget and plan for their financial futures. The point is to teach students basic skills they need to be functional adults.

I believe we need to supplement these meatspace skills with cyberspace ones.

Because simply put, even though we are digital citizens, we are not digital natives. Knowing how to point a mouse and post to Facebook isn't enough. We need to be intentional in our words and actions online, just as we would in the tangible world.

Here are some readings so you can empower yourself:

• We Need a Digital-First Curriculum to Teach Modern Journalism

• At the intersection of journalism, data science, and digital media: How can j-schools prep students for the world they’re headed into?

• Cindy Royal: Are journalism schools teaching their students the right skills?

It has been a long, grueling, unforgiving semester filled with disappointing, dream crushing, heart smashing, and most importantly, a very passionate staff that I'm extremely grateful for. 

I started out this semester as a designer-turned-editor thinking this was going to be a piece of cake. To some extent this was true, but most of that notion was immediately proven wrong. Managing a staff of 10 with 40-50 writers is very hard.

But it wasn't just the staff and new management challenges which arose, it was the burden having to baby a new redesign to a publication that hasn't had a refresher in nearly eight years. Wait, yes, exactly eight years. I think we did okay, though. Those long days in the summer, pent up in front of a computer monitor with a bag of cheetos, were worth it. I had my adviser and managing editor to assist briefly at times, which took some of the burden off.

One thing that I didn't expect was having the hard-working and passionate staff that came to be. I've been with The Clarion since I started at Madison College, and I've only ever seen one or two staff who are passionate at a time. The whole lot of us invested a lot, though, and I hope it continues into next semester.

Some things I know I will be better at next semester:

- Designing efficiently: towards the last three-or-so issues, I could design nearly the entire publication alone. One of our designers left, so I had to pick up the slack. About 4 pages of slack, to be exact.

- Managing story and budget meetings

- Knowing when to use food as a bribery: almost never used it this semester, except at the end when I knew people would fall off the face of the planet.

- Knowing when to put a foot down and say no

- Planning for illustrations and graphics

- Knowing what stories to look for and who to give them to

- Reacting to staff drama: all of it focused on one staff member, who ended up having to leave us.

My graphic design classes could never teach me these things, and I'm glad I can utilize these skills now while still being able to design and have fun on a visual level.

All that's left this semester is to apply for the SND annual contest and hope for the best.

Cheers,

George