Want to improve education? A news hunt may lead the way

Photo: "365÷52 Day 4: My Year in Playmobil 1/52"  by brotherxii

This week, I am co-hosting an education news hunt over at NewsTrust, a site which rates quality journalism. Through February 8th, readers and reviewers at NewsTrust will submit as many articles on education as they can find for the entire community to review and comment on.

Question: So, how could a hunt for news actually improve education? 

Answer: Increase knowledge on a topic = increased power to affect change.

Throughout the news hunt week, people who participate read many articles and greatly expand their knowledge about education. By submitting and reviewing the articles, reviewers become more discerning about which articles are best, and which information is most relevant. Participants read others' reviews, also, taking in other community member observations and opinions, adding another dimension to their own understanding of the topic.

By the end of the week, reviewers have immersed themselves in a week-long, community-led exploration into the current state of education worldwide. Because so many people participate, the collective mind critiquing these articles covers vast ground, learns more and becomes "smarter" about the topic; thus, so do participants.

If we become more knowledgeable about the complex issues behind education, we become empowered to help our local schools. Fortified with newly found facts and viewpoints on education, news hunt participants could participate more in their local communities. NewsTrust provides a continually refreshed resource of the best, most current education articles as a reference.

The state of education affects all members of society. With a landmark education stimulus package in the U.S. on the cusp of being implemented, now is an exciting time to focus on crucial issues which certainly will determine the quality of our future.

Interested? Click here to submit articles and start reviewing.

Also, on the right-hand side of this blog, I feature a NewsTrust widget. If you're a "news hound" (Thanks, Dale!) who would like to feature links to quality journalism on your blog, click here to get this feature.

Any questions? Leave a comment and I'll answer them.

Comments

[Kaizar (Associate Editor of NewsTrust)]

Kristin, this is a great way to think about the value of a News Hunt. I wonder what kinds of tools can we use to better organize and present the information one has gathered over the course of a News Hunt?

[Dale (co-host, NewsTrust news hunt on Education)]

Kristin,

From one news hound to another, thank you for blogging about our work on NewsTrust. I can absolutely attest to the educational benefits of participating in the news hunt process.

I noticed today, for instance, that there is a common theme among many of the stories out there on the topic of education. Due to budget shortfalls caused by the recession, schools in most states are looking at cutting vital services or pay to staff. Since education is for the most part a state and local function in the US, the seemingly universal nature of this problem on a national level hasn't been addressed very well by the national press it seems.

Similarly, threads of commonality run through stories this week coming from China, the UK and the US where college graduates are all finding a woeful job markets and adjusting their expectations accordingly. Again, this observation hasn't been handed to me by any reporter or blogger but has come from the news hunt experience.

It is so easy to fall into the pattern of seeing problems we face on a micro level and to miss the overarching story. Any blogger or reporter with an interest in improving their chances of catching hold of a story from a new point of view could benefit greatly from the news hunt experience. As you so succinctly put it, any citizen who is an active participant in a news hunt will benefit by "adding another dimension to their own understanding..."

[KG]

Kaizar -- Thank you! I'm going to do some brainstorming on your thought-provoking question. More soon.

[KG]

Dale -- It's been energizing and inspiring to co-host this news hunt with you. Thank you for that.

Your last paragraph has got me thinking about ways to present the news hunt experience to reporters and bloggers, as a way of benefiting their writing, knowledge, and skills.