Convergence Journalism Professor Earns 2007 Excellence in Education Award for Extracurricular Work with Students

Brian Brooks Journalism Studies Associate Dean Charles Davis Journalism Studies Faculty Lynda Kraxberger Convergence Journalism Chair Stacey Woelfel Radio-TV Journalism Faculty

Links

Apple Computer Apple Distinguished Educator Program Division of Student Affairs Freshman Interest Groups iLife Challenge iTunes University Moscow State University Shantou University

Columbia, Mo. (April 25, 2007) -- Mike McKean, associate professor and chair of convergence journalism, recently received a top award from the University's Division of Student Affairs for his extensive work with students outside the classroom.

Mike McKean

The Excellence in Education Awards, presented since 1996, annually recognize 10 University faculty members, academic administrators and advisers who have made significant contributions to students' out-of-class learning experiences. Nominees must demonstrate longstanding commitment to student learning and development, such as creating innovative extracurricular learning programs or serving as organizations' advisers or mentors. Any member of the University community is eligible to nominate an individual for the award.

"Throughout his more than 20 years at Missouri, Mike has worked across disciplines in ways that show he is dedicated to excellence in education," said Lynda Kraxberger, associate professor of convergence journalism, in McKean's letter of nomination. "He has also shown that his areas of interest affect the total student experience, not just what students learn in the classroom."

McKean's expertise in new media technology has allowed him to pioneer numerous cutting-edge programs for Missouri Journalism students. For instance, he helped build a partnership between Apple Computer and the University's Freshman Interest Group program that resulted in the creation of the annual iLife Challenge.

"Mike immediately saw value in promoting a source of learning that reinforced peer-to-peer small group interaction in a large University environment," Kraxberger said.

In addition, McKean uses iChat and other instant-messaging programs to make himself accessible to students outside of class and is leading the way to bring iTunes University to life at Missouri. iTunes U is a free, hosted service for colleges and universities that provides easy access to educational content, including lectures and interviews, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"Though there's no immediate payoff for our classes, Mike sees the overall benefit to students in being able to use an easy and familiar brand to access information about courses, about student organizations and as a way of connecting audiences from outside the University to life inside the University," Kraxberger said.

McKean's work with convergence journalism and technology reaches beyond the Missouri campus as well. For several years, he has helped develop a converged journalism curriculum at Moscow State University, and this year, he is working to establish a similar program at Shantou University in China. Last summer, he taught in an exchange program in Australia.

The Excellence in Education Award is not the first to recognize McKean's work in the areas of technology and student learning. In 2004, he received an Innovator Award for Teaching with Technology and was named an Apple Distinguished Educator for his use of technology in the classroom.

McKean joins four others from the School who have received Excellence in Education Awards, including faculty members Charles Davis and Stacey Woelfel, associate dean Brian Brooks and former director of external relations Ron Kelley.

Related

April 3, 2007: Convergence Journalism Project Offers Media Outlet for Columbia Schools One of the latest trends in media technology is giving community members an unprecedented insiders' view of Columbia's public schools, thanks to the work of a group of radio-television journalism and convergence journalism students at the Missouri School of Journalism, several faculty members, an alumnus, teams of high school students and their advisers. [More]

March 8, 2007: Convergence Journalism Students Use Cutting-Edge Skills to Promote Film Festival Since 2004, Columbia's own True/False Film Festival has been challenging the notion that all documentaries are "stuffy and dry" by bringing together some of the world's best filmmakers and interested movie-goers in downtown Columbia. The annual festival, which ran March 1 to 4 this year, showcased more than 40 documentaries on subjects as lighthearted as an air guitar championship and as hard-hitting as genocide in Darfur. [More]

Dec. 6, 2006: Freshmen Tackle iLife Challenge, Learn Career-Building Multimedia Skills Hundreds of University of Missouri students, faculty and staff members recently filled Bush Auditorium in Cornell Hall for the awards presentation of the third annual Freshman iLife Challenge, a multimedia contest designed by the Missouri School of Journalism. [More]

Nov. 10, 2006: Collaborative Merge of KBIA, KOMU and the Missourian Newsrooms Creates a New Convergence Experience for Students Missouri Journalism students and faculty from all areas of study recently participated in a groundbreaking convergence project called "Smart Decision," a multimedia Web site that provided in-depth coverage of the 2006 state and local mid-term elections. Three of the School's professional media outlets, whose newsrooms also double as learning laboratories for students, were involved in the project. [More]

May 1, 2006: Stacey Woelfel Receives the Excellence in Education Award Stacey Woelfel, a member of the Radio-Television Journalism faculty and news director of KOMU, is a recipient of the 2006 Excellence in Education Award at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Students select the 10 faculty members, advisers and academic administrators who have made significant contributions to the out-of-class learning experiences for MU students for the award each year. The award celebrates how critical these experiences are to the learning and success of students. [More]

Feb. 27, 2006: Missouri-Moscow State Faculty Collaborate to Offer New Convergence Course Seven Missouri School of Journalism faculty are working with 13 Moscow State University faculty in Russia this semester to teach a media convergence journalism course modeled on the School's new sequence in this area. The new course being offered to 50 MGU students brings together American and Russian teachers who specialize in different aspects of journalism, including photography, radio, television and print reporting, graphic design and Web publishing. [More]

April 4, 2005: J-School to Host National Summit for Technology In Curriculum The J-School and Apple will host 140 higher education and industry leaders at an interactive conference designed to make higher education more relevant for today's "digital generation" of students. The MU School of Journalism organized the conference as a founding member of the Apple Digital Campus initiative, a partnership that includes Stanford, Duke, Penn State and The Ohio State University. [More]

May 7, 2004: J-School Associate Dean Recognized for Excellence in Education Brian Brooks, associate dean of undergraduate studies, received the Excellence in Education Award from the Division of Student Affairs. Brooks was one of ten recipients of the award this April. "I am greatly honored because I was nominated by the students." Brooks said, "We have the best journalism students in the world, and I am privileged to work with them." [More]

Feb. 19, 2004: School Creates New "Media Convergence" Sequence Plans to offer a new "media convergence" sequence to Missouri School of Journalism undergraduate students beginning in the fall 2005 semester are under way. Media convergence is defined as some form of cross-media cooperation, usually involving broadcast stations, print outlets and Internet sites. [More]