e-journalism : partnership in action!

Partnerships between Saskatchewan Learning and rural school divisions have resulted in several highly successful eJournalism projects, one of which was a key part of the Saskatchewan Association for Computers in Education (SACE) conference held in October 2002. Twenty-three students from Schell School in Holdfast represented the Sask Central School Division. With strong support from the staff of the Learning Technology Unit, the students covered the events of the two and a half day conference through the creation of video newscasts, four colour newsletters, photojournalism presentations, and a web site. Animated advertisements were also created for the conference vendors.

Premier Lorne Calvert with the members of the SACE 2002 eJournalism team at Temple Gardens Mineral Spa, Moose Jaw.

Supported by the Educational Technology Consortium, the eJournalism Projects result from partnerships between Saskatchewan Learning and small schools in rural Saskatchewan and some larger schools from urban school divisions. Most often the schools involved have had limited integration of technology into instructional practices. The first eJournalism project which has involved preliminary training saw students from Colonsay School, in the Saskatoon (East) School Division, covering the Seventh National Congress on Rural Education, in Saskatoon, in March 2002. Students from Bjorkdale School covered the Eight National Congress on Rural Education in April 2003. A team from Mayfair Central School, in the Northern Lakes School Division, added to the excitement of the Ninth National Congress on Rural Education by covering the March 2004 event. And most recently, a team of high school students from Waldheim covered the Tenth National Congress on Rural Education in April 2005

Other eJournalism projects have involved schools from five school divisions in the province. Students from Moose Jaw Public School Division covered the annual Moose Jaw Teacher Convention in February 2003. Schell School students from Holdfast, in the Sask Central School Division, reported on the Association for Media and Technology in Education in Canada (AMTEC) 2002 conference "Digital Dimensions" at the end of May 2002 and acted as student mentors in September 2003 for the Lumsden Student Leadership Conference eJournalism team from Lumsden High School (Qu'Appelle Valley School Division).

A second school from Sask Central, Punnichy High School, teamed up with Qu'Appelle Valley's Bert Fox High School in Fort Qu'Appelle to cover the Treaty Four Days and Pow Wow in September 2003. Colonsay students returned to eJournalism during the Joint Symposium on Social Sciences held in March 2003. A group of students from the five collegiates in the Saskatoon Public School Division covered the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine in June 2003. In the first classroom-based eJournalism project, students from Walter Murray Collegiate in Saskatoon examined different educational opportunities available to students in the Saskatoon Public School Division. Most recently,

Each project began for the students with two days of training by the LTU staff. This training occurs several weeks before the conference. The students develop eJournalism skills including the creation and editing of video and audio, the design and production of animations, the development of Web pages with graphics, and the writing and desktop publishing of newsletters. The LTU leaves its laptop lab with the school so that the students may practice their newly acquired skills and begin the development of the Web site, some introductory videos and the first newsletter. Once they are at the conference, the students are in charge. Their teachers provide moral support and the LTU provides technical support to the student teams.