The use of the internet in university courses. A comparison.

When I studied my bachelor's degree from 2005-2009 I used my computer every day. But mostly because I love using my computer, browsing through the world wide web etc…I cannot really remember when I would have needed it for my courses, except for the case of writing my assignments on it and searching for books in the library. Oh yes, moreover we were able to apply for a course online, which was mostly combined with frustration, because the site couldn't cope with the traffic as too many people had to apply at the same time. 

Someone just asked me "What's the difference between studying in Germany and the UK?" The first thing that came to my mind was "The use of Social Media or in general: The internet." 
At BCU I can get all my readings online, every course has its own site with all the information on it that I need. I can download the slides, readings and sometimes even the recorded classes. Students and tutors use the forums to communicate. Well, we also had a forum in Germany, I must admit, needless to say that it's not like the internet is ignored. But in my opinion it isn't used as it could be. I don't think that a twitter account is a must, here at BCU getting one was one of the first things we were told to do. Not because of twitter getting more and more important, but also for the communication between students and tutors, networking etc. . 

I already heard some negative voices about Moodle (the university website with all the forums, courses etc. on it), but I must say: A site like that should be set up for every university. During my bachelor's degree I didn't have the opportunity to see who's in my course and contact them, there was no forum for every course, just general ones, if I wanted to download readings or lecture notes I had to use the computers at university as they were put on its server (given that they were actually provided). Moreover I never saw a tutor recording his lectures and making them available online. Social Media wasn't used at all.
At BCU I'm attending a "Social Media skills" course in addition to the use of twitter, Facebook groups and blogs (some courses' mandatory part is the students posting on a course blog) and being introduced to a lot of other useful sites like delicious, posterous etc.. 

And for all of those who might say "Well, that's just because you're studying "Online Journalism": a friend of mine is studying music industries, they are working with a blog and twitter in their course. The use of social media may actually be higher than in courses outside the Media School, I'm pretty sure. But nevertheless Moodle's a tool for every student. And in addition to that I think that not only media students should integrate the use of social media and the internet in their daily work flow. This is definitely also useful for other groups, as people aren't only speaking about journalism and music on twitter or writing about news and bands on their blogs... Social Media and the Internet is for everyone. But that's not a new conclusion. 

But the use of the internet at universities in Germany may have changed. After all it's been two years since I ended my BA-studies and sites like Facebook or Twitter weren't as popular when I started/studied as they are now (or didn't even exist, yet). A friend told me that they've got a site like moodle at their university, furthermore there will be a conference about social media and journalism in November (I'd definitely join that if I would be in Germany at that time). 

But nevertheless, I don't think I could use the same resources at every German university as I can at BCU. The internet isn't seen as a helpful, but necessary tool. Even a class about project management was combined with showing helpful resources - on the internet. 

So when I did my bachelor's degree, not having a computer would've actually been manageable. Now it would be quite a problem. 

p.s.: all of this is of course based on my personal impression, if anyone thinks I'm wrong about the use of social media and the internet at german universities, please feel free to correct me. It'd be very interesting for me, too. 

Magisto vs. Final Cut Express

I always use Final Cut Express to cut my videos, I really like the way it works and what you can achieve with it. A few days ago I heard of the the new website "Magisto", which allows you to upload your clips. Magisto will then create a video for you, including effects. All you have to do is choose your clips and the music you want to use. Magisto chooses which clips and which parts of them to take and creates a video. Which is a pretty nice idea - so I wondered how my video (first impressions of Birmingham, see earlier post) would look like if I used this service (here is the answer to that question).

In my case, the video was shorter than I thought and I couldn't upload all the clips I wanted to, as there is a maximum of 16 files and a 600 MB (which will probably be insufficient when you go out with the aim of shooting a short video). Also, there where pictures I really wanted to see in the movie but weren't included. 

But in general the result you get is interesting and well done (as you can also see on the examples on their websites) but in my opinion mainly (or even only) useful for private videos (of a family vacation or the like). But Magisto isn't claiming to be a service for professional video editing - it's for the private use of those, who don't know how to cut or don't want to spend time with it.

For my purpose of shooting a video about Birmingham it didn't turn out to be an alternative. 

But I didn't expect it to be one. 

When you expect more from your video than just to have a nice combination of the clips you shot, you want to decide on your own which picture comes first, which effects to use, how long you can see each clip, how they are combined etc.. Then, you will normally not get the result you wanted if you use Magisto. 

In the case of a personal video and at the same time not being focused on certain details (combined shots, order etc.) you "just" want to have a nice visual summary. So for the latter, Magisto is actually a very nice tool to use, which will be further developed and in my opinion arise more and more interest. 

But the headline I chose is actually not the right one - Magisto and programs like Final Cut are made for different users and different aims. But as mentioned before, this service doesn't claim to be a program like the latter. 

Nevertheless the development of Magisto will be very interesting. Perhaps this service may be used for news sites someday - as long as the video is just used to give an impression of a happening, like a fotoshow. But this would be the only use I could think of.

So what do you think about Magisto and how it's development could be? I'm very interested in other opinions and looking forward to your comments. 

What's the role of online video in the newsroom of the future?

This question is asked by the "Carnival of Journalism", calling other bloggers to answer it. My answer is pretty much linked to videojournalism. 

One of my favorite quotes is to be found on the homepage of the Rosenblum Institute, it says: 

"Small digital video cameras are the gutenberg's printing presses of the 21st century."

A few years ago, I already knew that I wanted to be a journalist, but never thought to be filming on my own. When I started my 2-years-trainee at a regional TV station in Germany, I had to. All the journalists there are shooting videos at the same time (and cutting their footage on their own afterwards). So now I am a videojournalist and I have to say: I love it. I'm aware of the fact that many people think that video journalism also means less quality. But I don't think so. Of course videojournalists are normally both not trained as a professional camera man and a professional cutter. Nevertheless I think they are able to report on a high level. 

In my opinion, this form of journalism will more and more be playing an important role in newsrooms. Not only because of cutting costs but also because of their flexibility and a motto, which is often linked to videojournalism: "Go out and find a story." This motto could then also be realised by people, who are normally not working as journalists, but just found a story that a newspaper/tv station/online medium could be interested in. Videojournalism, in my opinion, isn't just restricted to online publishing, tv stations could also broadcast the work of vjs, some already do.

In general I also think that online video publishing itself will get more and more important, as the audience may not only want to read about some happening, but also see it in a video. So I think in the future newsrooms, online videos won't be something special, but pretty important and common. 

And perhaps, at the same time, the videojournalist will. 

So this is it.

My very first blog. 

Well, actually that's wrong. I already blogged in 2008 while I was staying in the USA for six weeks (www.franzigoestohollywood.blogspot.com). 

But it was more a virtual diary, for me, my friends and my family. (which I am also doing this time: www.theblogbirdsdiary.blogspot.com)

Now there's this blog. Which will probably change a lot over the next year. I just started studying my MA in Online Journalism in Birmingham, UK. In this blog I want to put all the experiences I get there, try out a lot of things. And I have got to learn a lot of things, so the blog may look totally different when I finish my course. 

I'd like to write about my experiences as a foreign student in Birmingham, about German and English media, about video journalism, about current news etc. 

As I am a videojournalist (and I love being one), I'd like to start my blog with a video, containing my very first impressions of Birmingham. 

Feedback (either positive or negative), comments and tips are always very welcome.
I'm here to improve my skills, to learn how to work as an Online Journalist and I am very much looking forward to it and to read your comments on my blog!

Best wishes,

Franzi

P.S.: Many thanks to my friend EsAge, for letting me use his song for my video!