E-innovation platforms in journalism teaching: cybermedia as a professional educational tool

Abstract

This paper analyzes changes in the training of college students within the implementation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) with particular emphasis on teaching of future communication professionals. I focus on two cyberjournals, launched at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. During five academic courses a total of 2.349 students have participated in this project, with retention rates above 96 percent. In the period studied, the cyberjournals have generated 1.526 multimedia in-depth reports giving rise to more than 16.756 comments from media readers. Additionally, there have been 2.828 videos, now all online on the cyberjournals YouTube channel, which have received more than 400,000 views. This analysis concludes that there has been a real increase in teaching hours above the notion of ECTS credit, and that this situation is accepted by students without problem. On the other hand, based on the descriptive method used, it is shown that students accept and participate in the formation of journalistic projects in the digital environment that comply with the general regulations of the EHEA, and in the particular guidelines that each University can develop.