The use of digital platforms in two university courses in television journalism: some experiences and reflections

Abstract

Journalism in Television and Journalism in Television Workshop courses are part of the Bachelor degree in Journalism at San Judas Tadeo Federated University in Costa Rica. The learning process in both requires the students an active participation to understand the different techniques for the preparation of audiovisual products, writing and editing informative notes, interviews and reports, among others. Therefore, in order to improve the learning experience and a as a way to bring the course closer to new technologies, the digital teaching platforms have been incorporated to these courses. The most effective so far has been the so-called “Moodlecloud.com. This research posed the need to know the impact of its use for students, teacher, and university. After eight months of information gathering, the tool allowed to keep track of the jobs and assignments sent by the students and discover that times for reviewing and delivering the assignments by the teachers decreased; students had access according to their particular needs to readings, didactic resources, as well as online discussions at any time and; this allowed them to maintain effective and real-time control of their grades; besides, there was an increase on their scores; and, finally, the digitization of the course avoided printing, on average, 10,600 sheets of paper annually. Therefore, the digitization of the Journalism and Journalism Workshop courses should not only be maintained and updated, but extended to more university courses.