University Adds Twitter to Curriculum
In a move that further cements Twitter's status as a mainstream media tool, Griffith University has introduced a new mandatory Twitter course for its journalism students. The class aims to refine and sharpen young writers' tweets, which, according to senior lecturer Jacqui Ewart, "are not as in depth as you might like." University officials cited the growing journalistic role of Twitter in major world events like last summer's Iranian protests as the motivation behind the new course.
Reactions from students, though, has been mixed, as some aren't quite ready to place Facebook and Twitter in the firmament of Western higher education. Though a significant share of students use Twitter as "an exercise in self-education," according to Ewal, there were also many future journalists who "didn't know what Twitter was,"(?!?!) including a few "really vocal students who" considered a class on Twitter "a waste of time."
We understand the reluctance of some students to show up for a 9 AM class on something as apparently "colloquial" as Twitter. But it's pretty inarguable that Twitter is the new face of media. For better or worse, the value of brevity in broadcast media is at an all-time high, and the next generation of journalists should at least familiarize themselves with the requisite tools -- how exactly one goes about crafting an "in-depth" 140-character tweet is another question. Proust, it's not. But despite all pretensions of simplicity, we don't think Twitter's exactly Basketweaving 101 either. [From: The Sydney Morning Herald]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Millerson said 11:26AM on 10-23-2009
Just trying to make writing more appealing to young people. This is not an endorsement of drivel-mania.
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james_hyams said 10:02PM on 10-28-2009
I am one of Dr Ewart's student journalists. I am bitterly dissapointed by the distortion of facts outlined in the story and the attacks on Dr Ewart's character on some sites. I expect better from professionals!
Firstly, the class in not on Twitter - I have no idea how you came to this idea?
Also, I was one of the very few students who was unfamiliar with Twitter but NONE of us said we did not know what Twitter was. I also raised concerns about using it as 'a self reflection tool' in the manner proposed in class suggesting this was a waste of time. I am a social worker with a psychology degree. It was my opinion that most students would learn more from a self reflective essay than tweets.
One more comment....your article does not seem to contain many facts. Why not do some research and think before you write. You did not even spell Dr Ewart's last name correctly. I may not have known what Twitter is but, thanks to you, I certainly have a great example of bad journalism to learn from. Maybe Twitter was not a waste of time after all?
All I can write (with imputation) is MEDIA LAW, DEFAMATION and AJA CODE OF ETHICS. Shame on you!
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