Perhaps now more than ever, in the wake of yet another mass school shooting, the world is waking up to the power of student voices demanding to be heard.

Young people are using media and telling stories to change minds and to change politics—a pressing example of just how important communication skills and agency are in developing active and passionate citizens.

As a journalism educator and board member for the Journalism Education Association, I wasn’t surprised that the most compelling statements about what happened in Parkland, Fla., last week came from student journalists and a journalism educator at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (the school itself is named after an American journalist and social advocate).

Students who engage in journalism and media creation have the opportunity to practice authentic learning in ways a traditional classroom can only hope to replicate, and they often go on to embrace those habits in their social and public lives as emerging citizens.

These are exactly the skills and processes I’ll highlight in my Patterns of Innovation session, “Scholastic journalism as the front line of 21st century skills,” next month. More specifically, this session will explore the leadership, innovation, and decision-making opportunities inherent in student media programs around the country…

Read the full article here.

In doing so, participants will get a taste of the learning experiences happening in student newsrooms each day, where scholastic media participation represents a prime opportunity to improve student agency and empower young adults.

In particular, scholastic media programs embrace the following 21st-century learning methods:

  • Collaboration
  • Ethical communication
  • Technological innovation
  • Student-led decision-making
  • Civic engagement
  • Project-based learning
  • Self-assessment
  • Analytical and critical thinking

We’ll explore the dilemmas student journalists face in gathering and reporting news, and we’ll tackle the important ethical and legal questions they must face as they seek to cover potentially contentious topics.

Perhaps most importantly, we’ll link the practice of student media to critical 21st-century skills of media and digital literacy. Young adults are using media in creative and novel ways to establish themselves in the political and social climate of today, and it is our job to provide them the most meaningful learning experiences to responsibly shape their decision-making.

I hope you’ll join me for this hands-on session that couldn’t be more timely.

Attend P21’s Patterns of Innovation Conference in Napa, California March 27-28 to participate in this session! 


Megan Fromm, PhD., is the Educational Initiatives Director at the Journalism Education Association. Connect with Megan on Twitter: @megfromm.

%d bloggers like this: