Teaching Transmedia journalism in Colombia, a pedagogical experience with university students

Abstract

This article socializes the systematization of the pedagogical experience of teaching transmedia journalism based on the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) process, used with journalism students from the Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano in 2016 and 2017. In its approach, the students worked on the proposal, research, production and publication of journalistic content, an exercise whose main objective was to facilitate the theoretical and practical understanding of convergent processes, the production of journalistic narratives and interaction with audiences. The systematization is based on the observation of eleven projects in the stages of conceptualization, production of media and content at a narrative and technological level, as well as the management of social networks and the performance of activities in non-digital settings. Likewise, it is based on the assessment of the learning perception given by the students of the project groups. These observations allow us to affirm that PBL is key to achieving meaningful and comprehensive learning; this method develops skills in terms of strategy, technical and journalistic production for the multiplatform, and gives students assets to relate to their audiences. In the same way, it shows that transmedia journalism, from the academy, needs to be complemented and articulated synergistically with other proposals and media training spaces, beyond the classroom. This document provides elements to consider in the configuration of educational strategies in the teaching-learning of transmedia journalism.