Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communications
An on-line distance education program of the East Africa University (Bossaso), Puntland State University (Garowe), The Somali Institute of Management and Administration Development (SIMAD) (Mogadishu), Mogadishu University, University of Hargeisa and Amoud University (Boroma).
Participating universities
.
Universities of Hargeisa, Amoud and East Africa are currently offering through distance education a certificate course of journalism in collaboration with the AVU and IUP.
With enhanced capacity building and guidance, selected universities in Somali will be able to develop full Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
The program will be offered as needed to
meet an expressed demand via
videotaped (VCDs/ DVDs) lectures with occasional Interwise interventions
for
direct interaction between instructor and participants. WebCT and email
will also
be used.
Students will receive their primary
instruction through either videotaped or
streamed lectures. Additional instructional will be offered through the
WebCT as
well as Interwise or through the WebCT chat line for live interaction.
Students’ assignments will be submitted
through WebCT. They will be graded
and returned to the student through WebCT. The students grades will be
recorded on WebCT and students can trace their progress.
Assumptions
African journalism education institutions are inadequately staffed.
There is a lack
of specialized journalists to tackle complex socio economic issues in
Africa and
hence the need to train new, and retrain some of the existing
journalists as Africa
enters the Information Society.
Africa’s democratic, socioeconomic institutions will be enhanced by a
vibrant free
mass media. There is need for continuing education in journalism and
communication in Africa. Such distance education will complement
existing journalism education institutions which clearly have inadequate
instructors.
Course Content
The degree program will be offered at three levels; Beginners, Intermediary and Advanced.
A. Beginners. Here students will receive instruction in basic journalism through BBC lecture series. This will prepare them for the more advanced Intermediary level.
B. Intermediary. Students will proceed to the Certificate in Journalism level. This will build upon the previous level.
C. Advanced. This will be a degree-level course that will help build the students’ journalistic capacity into a profession. The course will also be a social science in that the student will be introduced to the multidisciplinary , practical and research approaches to the study of journalism and mass communication.
Students will also be required to take nonjournalism courses listed in the catalog schedule.
Each level will be modular. This means students can “drop off” at the end of any of the modules. A certificate of completion will be given at the end of the beginners and intermediary modules.
In the Certificate in Journalism, the course will proceed as
presently structured.
In the Bachelor’s degree program, students will be more involved
in writing
assignments.
Grading styles.
Students will be tested and graded on Levels 1 and 2 as follows:
Level 1. Letter grades will be used in this category.
A. overview of the role of the media in Africa
B WebCT- based spelling and grammar assignments;
C. basic writing, paying attention to style and grammar;
D. writing leads;
E. writing stories based on interviews with newsmakers, meetings
and
speeches;
F.. In social science journalism: students will choose one topic for research and develop social science questions to aid their research.
G. Editing, layout and design,
students will be introduced to the editorial
process as well as the software for layout and design. Assignments will
include designing and producing a laboratory paper or broadcasting
script.
Grading:
All grades will be converted to percentages. 90 percent and above will
earn the student an A; 80 percent to less than 90 percent will be a B;
70 percent
to less than 80 percent will be a C; 60 percent to less than 70 percent
will be a
D; and below 60 percent will be a Fail.
Level 2. Students will receive either a Pass with Distinction , Pass or Fail in this category
In the Bachelor’s degree program, students will learn theories of
communication and the mass media. Students will also learn the advanced
social science methods in
researching information.
H.
Students will work on researching and writing analytical and
interpretive stories in the fields of education, politics, the
economy, health, agriculture, culture and other social issues.
I.
Students will also learn to analyze statistics on the economy,
population trends.
They will be taught to use the statistical software to analyze raw data.
J. In
addition to analytical stories on individual assignments, students will
be
required to submit a portfolio of five well- researched and
written stories on
different topics.
K. Internship. Students will do an internship with any of the media in their countriesw..
Grading:
Evaluation will be based on letter grades as follows pass with
Distinction, Pass, and Unsatisfactory.