NewMedia‐thechallengefortraditionalmedia,advertisersandcommunicators‐

ErasmusCourseEvaluation

Lecturer:AnaADI

Session2010/2011

Semester2–May2011

At theendof theNewMedia course, the14participating studentswereasked totakeasurveyinordertoevaluatetheNewMediacoursetogetherwiththelecturer’smethod, approach and enthusiasm. The evaluation survey was accessible onlineleavingstudentswiththeoptionoftakingitattheirownpaceandintheabsenceofthelecturer.Toavoidbias,studentswereaskedtosubmittheiranswersbeforetheirfinal gradesweredelivered. 13 outof the total of14participating students in thecoursetookthesurvey,offeringresponsesfrom92.8%%ofthecourseparticipants.

Thesurvey’sstructureoftheprevioussemestershasbeenmaintained.

Overall,71%ofthestudents (10outofthe13 respondents) foundthecourse, theoverallcontentandtheoverallteachingeffectivesas“verygood”.Allotheranswersrecordedratedthecourseas“good”or“excellent”.

1.Overallcourseevaluationresults

Asked to evaluate specific aspects of the course or the teaching process, thestudents responses confirm the high evaluations of the overall course asmost oftheiranswersprovide“excellent”or“verygoodratings”.Thelecturer’senthusiasm,the lecturer’s use of technology and the Skype online live video guest lecturesobtainedmostofthe“excellent”ratingsfromthestudentsfollowedbythelecturer’savailabilitytoanswerquestions,thelecturer’sanswertothestudents’questionsandthe integrationofother lecturersandguestswithinthecourse.Thiscould indicatethat providing some diversity in the way content is delivered has a potential tomaintainthestudents’interestinthecourse.

2.SpecificcourseelementsevaluationAswithprevioussessions, twoonline livevideoguest lecturersweresetup.Whilethe connection to the USA via Skype was successful, technical difficulties wereencountered with the connection to Bahrain. This led to the Bahrain guestscontinuingtheirinteractionwiththeclassviachatandTwitter.Similarwiththeprevioussessions,theonlinelivevideolectureswereregardedasanoveltyaswellasagreatwaytointegratenewmediaintheclass.

3.Onlinevideoguestlectureevaluation

Amongotheraspectsofthecourseevaluatedweretheuseoftheclasstime(46.15%verygood), the relevanceandusefulnessof the coursecontent (53.84%excellent)andthebalancebetweentheoryandpractice(53.84%excellent).

4.Othercoursedimensionsevaluated

Withregardstoattendance,allrespondingstudentsattendedallclasses.Almosthalfoftherespondingstudents(6outof10)expecttoreceiveanA.

Threequalitativequestionswerepartofthesurveyaswell.Theyaimedtodeterminethe areas that students most liked or disliked as well as identify elements thatstudentswouldhavewantedthecoursetocover.Evenwiththecoursecovering7sessions at a total of 24 hours of contact, some students suggested the course totakeeven longer or tobe scheduled in suchawayas toprovide themwith somedecompressionand/orreflectiontime.Othersuggestions includedmoreexamplesandpracticewithnewmediatoolsandplatforms(beyondmicro‐blogging,bloggingandsocialmediaanalyticstools)aswellasmorebusinessrelatedexamples.Thesesuggestions ill betaken intoaccountforfuturedeliveriesofthecourse.

5.Newcourseelementswanted

Onethechangessuggestedmakesreferencetothenewmediaimpactonjournalismday and practice. Taking into account that most students in this semester had abackground in business and/or business administration, their suggestion reflectstheir different subject interests as well as their little impact with journalism.However, discussing about creative industries and new media production andinfluencewithoutmakingreferencetojournalism,citizenjournalismwoulddepictanincompletepicture.Inordertoincorporatethestudents’suggestions,thejournalismexerciseswillberedesignedtoincludeamorebusinessangles.

6.Suggestedimprovements

Finally,amongthethingsthestudentslikedthemostwerethepractice‐based‐days,thediscussionstheygeneratedandthefinalproject.

7.“Whatdidyoulikemoreaboutthiscourse”answers

ObservationsandConclusions:Alltheanswersgiventothequestionsaskedareinthehigherpositiverange–fromgoodtoexcellent.Theareasmarkedthestudentsasbeingexcellent(obtainingalsothemajorityvote)were:

• Thelecturer’suseoftechnology(100%)• Thelecturer’senthusiasm(84.6%)• The

Thepracticalaspectsofthecoursewerementionedasstrongpointsofthecourseandgood learningexperiences. Itshouldbenotedthatthissemester featuredoneindividual assignment and two teamwork assignments including the final team‐project. To showcase the student’s assignments the students chosewordpress astheirshowcaseplatform:http://kathonewmedia.wordpress.comThestudentsfinalprojectswillalsobeshownoninthisspace.

Itisnotablethatmanyofthestudentsindicateasanimportantfactorthelecturer’senthusiasm and support. As with previous semesters, this shows reiterates thepotential, if not the need, for courses to be delivered in a more interactive waywherestudentsareconstantlygivenchallengestosolvetogetherwiththelecturer.Havingaproblem‐basedlearningapproachinthiscaseisperhapsthebestsolution,ensuringthestudentsapplyand/ordiscoverthecontenttheyneedinordertofulfiltheirtasks.Whenitcomestotheuseoftechnology,eventhreeyearssincethecoursewasfirstoffered,theonline livevideoguestlecturesobtainedstillaverypositiveevaluationevenfromagroupwhoisaccustomedtousingonlinelivevideostreamingplatformsfor personal uses. Aswith the previous semester, the responses indicate that thetransfer of knowledge, dialogue as well as learning objectives could be achievedregardlessofthepresenceinclassofthelecturer.Furthermore,thegoodevaluationtheonline livevideo lectures received show that studentsappreciate contactwithindustryexpertsandotherlecturersthatliveandoperateoutsidetheircountries.Recommendationsandsuggestions:Takingintoaccountthestudents’observationsandinanattempttomakealinktotheareasdeterminedinthecourseevaluationashavingapotentialforimprovementitissuggested:

• A redesign of the journalism related exercises to be more relevant tobusinessstudents

• The introduction of more practice days related to other technologies andplatforms

• Thepresentationofmorenew/socialmediastatisticsand inforgraphicsasawayofshowingchangesinmediaconsumptionbehaviours

• The introduction of more discussions and debates about the future ofinternet,theimpactofinternetonculturalandpoliticaldialogue,privacyandsecurity

• An expansion of the New Media course to local students as well (notnecessarilyinthesameclassroom).