Digitizing the university’s classrooms

For some, blogs, Twitter and smartphone applications are tools to pass the time. For journalism professor Ron Yaros, they are the tools to teach.

"Digital information is my life," said Yaros, who teaches new media and mobile journalism courses.

In October, Yaros became the first journalism school faculty member in 13 years to receive the Lilly Fellowship from the university's Center for Teaching Excellence and the Office of Undergraduate Studies. He was awarded the fellowship, in which members help shape the future of academics at this university, after a "selective and competitive" process, CTE Director Spencer Benson said.

Yaros developed one of the first blended learning classes, which allow students to do individual work online and attend a set number of sessions in the classroom, at this university.

Journalism Associate Dean Kathy McAdams said Yaros' strength lies in his ability to engage students with online work and multimedia, but the face-to-face time he spends with them is just as valuable.

"There are a lot of modifications that can be made that are even improvements over in-person education," McAdams said. "It's a kind of online education that professors at Maryland can accept."

Deborah Nelson, a senior journalism lecturer, took a course Yaros developed for journalists to return to school and earn a certificate in multimedia.

"He's not afraid to experiment, and I think that's part of what makes his classes fun and interesting, and it's part of what makes him successful," she said.

Students in Yaros' JOUR150: Introduction to Mass Communication class, which consists primarily of non-journalism majors, integrate multimedia tools such as blogging, video, tweeting and photography geared toward their own academic interests.

"Not only are they learning about the newer media, they're using it," Yaros said.

He added students' independent work is beneficial because they have the chance to gather real-time information outside the classroom from media such as Twitter and then converge in class to discuss their research as a group.

"There's a meaningful exercise in place of class time," Yaros said.

Yaros also developed an I-Series course, JOUR289I: Information 3.0, which focuses on the future of digital technology and how students can anticipate and adapt to technological changes.

"I no longer think that digital information is confined to the world of journalism," he said.

McAdams agreed that multimedia technology has caused other fields to pay attention to journalism.

"The things that we're dealing with are going to affect every field and every area of life," McAdams said. "We really have something to offer."

The Lilly Fellowship is composed of 10 faculty members who apply and are chosen by a selection panel, Benson said. This year the fellows will meet weekly to discuss the best way to implement scholarship and practice courses, which will become part of the university's general education requirements next fall.

"We're asking this elite group of faculty to spend a year thinking about and coming up with a project that will benefit the campus," Benson said.

Yaros said the fellows have been brainstorming classroom strategies that would integrate new content and activities into scholarship and practice courses.

"The Lillys are really discussing the way to revolutionize some of the general education courses," he said. "I'm just very excited about integrating all of those elements into a general education course."

He said he hopes faculty integrate innovative teaching strategies and blended classes expand into the new general education requirements.

"I agree with those who say, ‘this is just the beginning,'" he said. "We really haven't seen anything yet."

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