HMCS Vancouver Pre-Deployment Brief - May 2024 (Web Version).pptx
Bending, Breaking and Blending the Academy
1. Blending
Innovations in Teaching and Research
Breaking
the Academy…
Bending
croyal@txstate.edu
cindyroyal.com
@cindyroyal
slideshare.net/cindyroyal
Cindy Royal, Ph.D.
Professor
Founding Director, Media Innovation Lab
Texas State University
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
17. Bending
• An original idea is adjusted or tweaked:
alterations in size, shape, material,
speed, chronology and more
• Existing course are tweaked
• New courses added to existing degrees
• New platforms adjust old
18. Breaking
• A whole is taken apart
• Brand new curricula are proposed and adopted
• Experience learning opportunities
• New platforms disrupt traditional models
19. Blending
• Two or more sources are merged
• Media is now a blending of technology and communication
• Social media influence on social movements
• Cross discipline grants and research projects
20. In Research
• New research questions
• New subjects
• New methods
• New venues for publication and sharing
• New opportunities for collaboration
21. In Research
• Ethics of algorithms - the new gatekeepers
• Spread of misinformation via social media
• Cyberbullying
• Social interaction patterns
• Sports, music, entertainment relationship with fans
• The role of influencers to traditional marketing
• Role of mobile devices in society
• Use of data/analytics and the role of artificial intelligence
• Product management - new roles/competencies in a digital
realm
22. In Teaching
• Preparation
• Adopting new technologies
• Integrating teaching and
scholarship
• Staying aware of trends
• Curiosity and experimentation
• Being comfortable with not
"knowing it all"
• Modeling processes and behaviors
• Passion and enthusiasm
• Critical thinking
• Embracing new terminology
24. Challenges
• Collaboration
• Staying up-to-date
• Tolerating risk and accepting failure
• Group think
• Publications averse to change or slow to publish
• Publish or perish
• Quantity over quality
• Assessing effects
• Ask "does it matter?"
• Preparing students for the world they are entering
25. Resources
• The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes
the World by Anthony Brandt and David Eagleman
• SXSW Interactive
• Read Tech sites like TechCrunch, SmashingMag, Wired,
Nieman Journalism Lab. Tech section of NY Times and
FastCompany.com
• Books by Gary Vaynerchuk – Crushing It and Jab, Jab,
Jab, Right Hook
• Follow on social media, join relevant groups/pages
• KPCB Internet Trends Report
• Journalism, Media and Tech Trends – Reuters
Notes de l'éditeur
Excited that Innovation was the Common Experience theme
My career has been focused around Innovation – teaching courses on digital media skills and concepts, introducing advanced coding and data principles in media courses
We developed a new undergraduate degree in digital media innovation which has more than 266 students currently enrolled and have improved and advanced our graduate digital media emphasis. Our grads now work as web producers, web developers, social media editors and product managers at New York Times, Spredfast, HomeAway, SXSW, Zenoss, USAA and lead digital strategy at various places including Texas Restaurant Association, Edelman Digital.
We launched the Media Innovation Lab in 2016, and I'll discuss some of those projects throughout this presentation.
What we used to call word of mouth is exponentially more influentail
Websites, mobile apps, bots, podcasts…
Websites, mobile apps, bots, podcasts…
For currency, but also music licensing, now journalism startups
Distributed ledger
Affects the technology around the development as well as how those developments are communicated.
In business…
NBC LeftField – Tilt Brush
Technology innovations introduce not only new skills, but also judgment around applications, ethics and effects.
Innovations aren't necessarily flashes of brilliance. They are more likely the result of "riffing" on the past and making connections – bending, breaking, blending
Digital media affect all disciplines in how they communicate – engagement, data, algorithms
Ways in which we seek information and forge social connections and create culture have changed. But those basic needs have not changed.
Every discipline has problems that can be approached with technology. But tech skills need to be taught and studied in context.
New skills and concepts
Lifelong learning
Experience learning
New roles for educators
Existing methods are applied to new platforms
Discuss challenges
New methods are developed to address new dynamics
"We show how representatives at these firms serve as quasi-digital consultants to campaigns, shaping digital strategy, content, and execution. Given this, we argue that political communication scholars need to consider social media firms as more active agents in political processes than previously appreciated in the literature."
Coding and media; media has always done this, with photography, videography and even the English language. Now it's with programming.
Blending canons across disciplines
Seek inspiration in other fields
Consider
Science needs art; art fosters creativity
Arts and smarts; interfaces matter
Art steers culture
Science needs art; art fosters creativity
Arts and smarts; interfaces matter
Art steers culture
What we are doing is showing students how to adaprt
Need the language to be able to drive strategy
Art and science
Problem solving
curiosity