OACS News Service
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Insights from the news gathering journey The newsgathering process is more dynamic as the OACS News has moved from three stories a week to one or two stories with more blogs and member media. Here’s a sample of what’s been done so far. I’ve taken Chris van Donkelaar, the OACS director of technology, up on the suggestion to create an OACS News group in the e-curriculum site. This site, designed for OACS members, is a great place to share information with one another. The hope for the group is people will share in conversation around interesting topics. Any topic could be brought up by a member. Some questions I've thrown out include who’s using social media and what might schools lose by not taking part, and how do schools measure success. The topics may correlate with the stories we’re writing for the OACS News, or could spark a new series of stories or blog ideas. Conversations can explore the story behind the story, through posing comments, questions and adding more information. If you’re on the e-curriculum site, consider joining in the OACS News group — the possibilities for conversation are endless. In addition to conversations through the news stories, I’ve been going through OACS member school websites to find out what kind of media-making is happening. One of the things I’m looking for is social media, including Twitter accounts, Facebook pages and blogs. It’s exciting to see that many schools, principals and teachers are engaged in these forms of social media. For example, Smithville Christian High School has a frequently updated blog filled with photos and videos. Some schools are engaging their communities through Facebook and Twitter. We're sharing some of their news through the @OACSNews Twitter account. Several schools are producing multimedia content such as podcasts and YouTube videos. Podcasts I’ve enjoyed listening to so far are those produced by students in six OACS schools taking part in the Christian Education in a Digital Age (CEIADA) program, and Hamilton District Christian High school’s U-Knight podcasts featuring topics like 21st century learning skills and project-based learning. Most schools have a weekly or biweekly newsletter that is sent out to their community and posted on their website. While the newsletters serve a practical purpose of sharing classroom notes, lunchroom updates and scheduling announcements, many have great photos illustrating daily life at the school and submitted articles on school happenings. In the coming months we’ll be focusing on story coverage on Looking Forward — asking leaders about the future of schools. If you are interested to produce your own media on this subject, or already have, it would be wonderful to hear from you. Contact me at 800-294-0051, ext. 26, or Jennifer@axiomnews.ca.
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The OACS News Service is independently written and produced. The stories are researched, written and posted
by Axiom
News Service without prior editorial approval from either
OACS or their members. |
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