| Title | Chapter 4: Authentic learning in the digital era: How running a digital news site equips students with 21st-century skills |
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| DOI | https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2024.BK466.04 |
| Landing page | https://books.aosis.co.za/index.php/ob/catalog/book/466 |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
| Copyright | Mirna Nel, Phil van Schalkwyk, Abiodun Salawu, Gustav Butler & Gilbert Motsaathebe (eds.). Licensee: AOSIS (Pty) Ltd. The moral right of the editors and authors has been asserted. |
| Publisher | AOSIS |
| Published on | 2026-06-09 |
| Long abstract | Digitalisation means that journalism educators need to respond to changes in the field of journalism and in their understanding of journalism to remain relevant in their teaching. The same technological advancements that have led to the current state of flux in journalism offer tremendous opportunities for educators. Using technology, the authors of this chapter have created an authentic teaching model at two South African universities, namely Stellenbosch University (SUN) and North-West University (NWU), that imitates industry. This authentic newsroom encourages journalistic learning in a realistic setting, allowing students some control over and ownership of what they are learning. Students become active participants in the ever-changing digital news environment, which provides them with the technological skills to become competent journalists and competence to graduate as adults who have been prepared for the world of digital work. In this chapter, the authors argue, through a review of the literature and a reflection on their authentic newsroom, that theory and practice in journalism education can be reconciled through a teaching and learning model that embraces authentic learning. An authentic learning model teaches students practical skills and competence to become responsible adults and full participants in the digital economy. |
| Print length | 21 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
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André Gouws is a digital and visual journalism lecturer at Akademia, an independent HEI in Pretoria, South Africa. Before joining Akademia, Gouws was a lecturer at the School of Communication at NWU, Potchefstroom, South Africa and the Department of Journalism at Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa. He graduated with an MA in Journalism and Media Studies (cum laude) from Rhodes University, South Africa. He is completing his PhD at Stellenbosch University, focusing on the digital public sphere. Gouws was appointed an extraordinary researcher at NWU Potchefstroom campus in March 2023. His research interests include journalism education, peripheral journalism and digital journalism. Gouws has presented several papers at South African and international conferences. His most recent international presentation was a paper on peripheral journalism at OCP23 (conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research) in Lyon in 2023. Gouws published a chapter on decolonising the journalism curriculum through open educational practices in the scholarly book Contextualised Open Educational Practices: Towards Student Agency and Self-directed Learning (AOSIS Books, 2022). Gouws received a Teaching Excellence Award at NWU in 2021 for teaching with information and communication technologies (ICTs).
Marenet Jordaan is a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Journalism at Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa. She graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, specialising in Publishing (cum laude) from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, where she was awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s medal for the best student in the Faculty of Humanities. After completing her Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil) in Journalism at Stellenbosch University, she worked in various roles at Die Burger and Rapport newspapers. Between 2009 and 2014, she was a lecturer in the Journalism Programme at the University of Pretoria. While working at the University of Pretoria, she obtained her Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Journalism from Stellenbosch University, focusing on the role of the then-still-new phenomenon of social media use in newspapers. Jordaan returned to Stellenbosch University in 2015 to lecture on the honours and MA programmes. She completed her PhD focusing on the Afrikaans online news publication Netwerk24 in 2018. In 2020, she received a Stellenbosch University institutional teaching excellence award. Jordaan has presented papers at various academic conferences, including two iterations of the World Journalism Education Congress and in 2023 at the International Communication Association’s annual conference. Jordaan’s current research interests include newsroom ethnography, newswork cultures, journalism ethics, journalistic role conceptualisations and journalism education.