Phase Two

The first phase of our project is complete and our senior project is over, but the project isn't over (as Will mentioned recently)- we aren't done experimenting with mobile tools and we love sharing what we have learned.

Now, the a new group of capstone students will be experimenting with mobile tools. Their goal is to explore further with Android applications, and hopefully tablets. Drew, Amanda and myself wanted to try out these tools, but weren't able to due to time constraints. The new group will also use these tools for reporting for the various newsrooms of Columbia - our original intention.

What is in store for us, you might ask? Drew has graduated and is interning/working at the Journalism Study Abroad office and working before he moves to New Zealand in the summer. Amanda and I will be working as consultants for the Missourian and Vox, the newspaper and magazine affiliated with Mizzou. In addition to assisting the Missourian, we will be giving a lecture for the new multimedia reporting class, J2150, on how to effectively use these tools. We are also working with Mike McKean to recommend purchasing some of this equipment for the various sequences and newsrooms for a more permanent basis.

Check back for details on our consulting experience..

Click here to download the 2010 Mobile Tools Guide (Google Doc).

Gowalla

This application is a lot like Foursquare in that it is a geo-location tool. You can see where your friends are and where you’ve been in the past. You can collect pins and items that people “drop.” It’s a good way to learn a city and know about hot spots and get tips.

However, in smaller towns this application is definitely not as affective as it would be in say, Chicago, or other larger cities. There are less people that actually play along with “dropping items” for you to find. There are also fewer locations that people have added in smaller cities and towns. I found myself adding a lot of locations to the application. That just means there aren’t many people using it in my area.

In terms of journalism it’s a good way to learn about the area you’re in if you’re not familiar with your surroundings. It’s also a good way to connect with others in your immediate area. It’s more of a game than Foursquare, but there’s no becoming mayor in Gowalla.

The user interface has a better design that FourSquare, but for an application that is all about finding friends it fails, simply because you (probably) won't find as many friends using Gowalla.

Meet the team

We are a team of senior multimedia journalism students at the University of Missouri. We hope to find the best practices for mobile journalism. To do this, we will test multiple tools for reporting and content creation. After we have completed using various types of equipment, we will train fellow journalists with the tools of mobile journalism. Hopefully, we will create a sustainable and long-term resource guide for the industry. From time to time, we will include examples and inspiration of this work being done currently in many different cultures. In the end, we hope to open people’s minds to the potential of mobile journalism.

For more information of who we are, visit The Team page.