A new study analyses two pilot courses where students in journalism developed newsgames together with computer science students. Newsgames are computer games designed to illustrate a specific aspect of news, and the students chose various subjects for their games.
The black-and-white photo used to illustrate this text is a character from one of the newsgames developed. It used archive photos and statistics from the history of Finland to create different life stories and provided multiple-choice questions for players to influence the game’s story.
– The study highlights the possibilities and difficulties of introducing open-ended, project-based content into journalism education, as well as creating newsgames in interdisciplinary collaboration, says Marko Siitonen, one of the five researchers behind the study.
Why is this study important?
– It highlights how interdisciplinary and project-based cooperation may benefit journalism education, says Marko Siitonen.
What is the contribution of the main findings?
According to Marko Siitonen, “educators may use the study as a sounding board for their curriculum development, and practitioners may use the findings to inform newsgame production as a part of journalistic work.”
Just published
“A Pilot Study on Developing Newsgames in Collaboration between Journalism and Computer Science Students” by Marko Siitonen, Panu Uotila, Turo Uskali, Jukka Varsaluoma & Tanja Välisalo.