Links to online courses available under ‘Resources.’
For journalism students, free online courses can serve as valuable resources, whether looking to brush up on a certain skill or learn a little more in a specific subject area.
While working on the journalism program website, I began to play around with a few online resources. I took a course through Lynda entitled “Writing a Compelling Blog Post.” This course provided a brief overview of blogging in a concise, 45-minute online lecture.
It outlined basic aspects of blogging, such as the importance of having a focused and readable post. The instructor for the course, Starshine Roshell, kept me engaged while she explained the importance of considering how a post can be of assistance to readers. After completing this course, I found I had a pretty good grasp on the basics required for writing blog posts.
I also took a Poynter course entitled “Introduction to Reporting: Beat Basics.” This one was a lot longer and it was a self-directed course that modeled textbook readings. The pages were broken into sections which made it easy to pull out key pieces of information. If I wanted more depth or clarification on a point, I could get it with just one click.
The course took me around four hours to complete, but it offered a helpful, in-depth look into beat reporting. Due to the structure and length of this course, it was somewhat difficult to stay focused and on-task; however, the information in this longer course was very valuable.
The courses I completed through Lynda and Poynter provided valuable skills in two different forms – a brief overview and an in-depth understanding. I can directly apply the skills I learned in these courses to blogging and beat reporting, and there are many more courses available to serve journalism students in a variety of ways. I highly recommend taking a look at some of the online courses offered through these organizations.
Take a look here for additional resources.