Today was the first quiz in MMC 2100. I like to give a quiz before we have an exam. The students can see the format of the quiz/exam, and we can practice the testing procedures. With a class of 260, preparing the quiz involves logistics: Preparing three versions of the same quiz to reduce the […]

One of the reasons I set up my blog on tumblr was so I could submit blog entries from my iPhone. And it works! I just sent a trial-run e-mail and then a photo.  I see that I can’t send a message with the photo. The subject line of the e-mail of the photo becomes […]

Blogging from iPhone

The students this semester have more questions than usual. “When does the paper run the name of someone under the age of 18?”“When do we put a dateline on a story?”“Why don’t all the AP stories include a reporter’s byline?”“Is the news I’m reading at AOL real news or is it fake news?” They’ve only […]

The polls are open today in Gainesville for early voting for the Presidential primaries. I thought this would be a good day to vote and think about the power of change that is possible through civic engagement. Often voter turnout in primaries and elections is below 50 percent of eligible voters. The blame is placed […]

We’re beginning news writing in Writing for Mass Communication. When I asked the students who hasn’t written a news story before, about 220 of the 260 students in the course raised their hands. The other students were on their high school newspaper staffs – or a few on community college newspapers before transferring to UF. […]