Innovation and hi-tech tools in journalism education. The Wooclap case

Abstract

Teaching methodologies that employ ICT in times of pandemic have been forced to grow and adapt to the online reality experienced by both professors and students during this period. The context was an additional challenge for educators, insofar as it demanded all the imagination they possessed as well as all the digital methodologies they had at their disposal, in order to capture the students’ attention, which was generally dispersed, to invite their participation, and to assess the evolution of their training and the knowledge gained with regard to the content imparted. Given the situation, in this paper we present an example of innovation in the teaching-learning process in two subjects of the Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism at University Rey Juan Carlos, Spain, in which a single innovative methodology has been used to monitor learning and evaluate the content learnt by students: Wooclap. In addition, a comparative analysis of the experiences observed among the students is presented herein, depending on the course. In general, students acknowledge more strengths than weaknesses in the use of this tool.