Digital skills, confidence and motivation: technology supported authentic learning in journalism education

Abstract

This study explores the use of technology to incorporate authentic learning practices into the Review and Lifestyle Journalism module at Staffordshire University. The research takes a constructivist view, considering both tutor observation and student feedback to evaluate an experiential journalism project, StaffsLive Reviews, developed in the academic year 2016-17. Here authentic learning is defined as designing activities to provide meaningful, ‘real-life’ situations which are relevant from a student’s perspective, while providing protective scaffolding to support learning (Icuc and Marin 2014 and Stein 2004). This encapsulates a broader institutional focus on employability, by designing activities that closely match ‘real-world’ tasks of media professionals (Lombardi 2007).