Journalism Tasks

  • Use this type of task when there is a specific event at the core if the what you want learners to learn.
  • Learners pose as reporters and gather facts; then organise them into an news reports or feature articles of the event.
  • Accuracy is important.

 

Tips

A well designed journalistic task will require your students to:

  • maximize accuracy by using multiple accounts of an event;
  • broaden their understanding by incorporating divergent opinions into their account;
  • deepen their understanding by using background information sources;
  • examine their own biases and minimize their impact on their writing.

To design such a lesson, you'll need to provide the right resources and establish the importance of fairness and accuracy in reporting.

 

Examples

  • In Freedom of Expression the learners research a community issue and have to write newsworty articles and feature articles to clarify the issue in the community.
  • The Mexico City EarthQuake WebQuest has students reading first hand accounts of the quake and creating a simulated news program recounting it.
  • The Gilded Age WebQuest guides students towards the creation of a documentary.

 

Adapted from Bernie Dodge's WebQuest Taskonomy: A Taxonomy of Tasks