New York Times, Wikipedia and BuzzFeed chiefs highlight ASU's first-ever MOOC

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication is launching Arizona State University’s first-ever Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

The free online summer course, “Media LIT: Overcoming Information Overload,” will feature guest speakers such as Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan and BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith, among others.

The course – which ASU is calling an Open, Digitally Enabled Course – is hosted by Cronkite Professor of Practice Dan Gillmor on the edX platform and gives people anywhere in the world the opportunity to study media and news literacy at the Cronkite School.

The seven-week course, which begins July 6, is supported by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, a long-standing proponent of digital media literacy.

“We believe Cronkite and ASU are well positioned to produce a successful, high-impact MOOC on this important topic,” said Clark Bell of the McCormick Foundation’s journalism program.

The MOOC helps students understand, analyze and create media, said Gillmor, a digital media innovator and technology columnist.

The course includes readings, videos and conversations that give students the knowledge, tools and resources necessary to be active users of the media and to be better informed.

According to Cronkite School Dean and University Vice Provost Christopher Callahan, the new MOOC is one of the first of its kind to be offered by a major journalism program and offers unparalleled learning opportunities.

“This new course makes world-class journalism and communications instruction more accessible to people around the world,” Callahan said. “We are thrilled to be partnering with the McCormick Foundation to offer this innovative learning experience.”

The Cronkite MOOC is separate from the university’s recently announced Global Freshman Academy, but uses the same edX online learning platform.

The course is free and open to all interested participants. More information about the course and how to register is available at the edX course page.