As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the country, many K-12 schools and colleges and universities are holding classes entirely online.
Transitioning lesson plans, revising entire course structures, and restructuring newsroom operations to work in an online-only format is a massive challenge for journalism educators. To help, Student Press Law Center has collected some of our best online resources for teachers and advisers.
Related: More coronavirus resources from SPLC
Have an SPLC expert teach a lesson
Invite an SPLC expert to speak to your class or newsroom via Zoom video conference. Speakers will join you for up to 40 minutes (including Q & A) and can present on one of the following selected topics:
• High school student press freedom
• Copyright
• Freedom of Information / public records
• Libel and defamation
To schedule a speaker, please fill out the Student Press Law Center Virtual Speakers Bureau request form, give us a few scheduling options, and please provide at least 10 business days’ advance notice. Slots are set to eastern time.
All presentations will be conducted on the free Zoom video conferencing platform (download Zoom here).
Teach using SPLC’s student media law presentations
These PowerPoint presentations cover some of the most common media law issues faced by high school student journalists. Produced by SPLC’s legal staff, these introductory level presentations are intended for classroom or workshop use and provide students (and their advisers) with an easy-to-follow, practical guide for understanding and avoiding the problems most often confronted by high school student media.
Each includes presentation notes and a PDF version. For the Press Freedom, Libel Law and Copyright presentations, you also have the option to play a pre-recorded presentation of this PowerPoint by an SPLC attorney.
Assign student press law quizzes
Test your students’ knowledge of student press law, the First Amendment, copyright law, libel law and more using SPLC’s fun and challenging quizzes.
Watch SPLC webinars
Looking for more video lessons? Check out SPLC’s archive of webinars on everything from how to report on DACA, to how use public records to report on sexual assault to the legacy of Hazelwood on student media.
From Dynamics of Writing
A professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Vincent F. Filak, Ph. D., is an award-winning teacher, scholar and college media adviser. Here are his recent blog entries related to journalism education and the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Story ideas for college journalists in this time of crisis
- How to motivate your students and meet their psychological needs in an online, Coronavirus educational world
- Sports Event Coverage and Speech Coverage Exercises for journalism instructors who can’t send people to sports events and speeches, thanks to the Coronavirus
- Resources for Journalism Professors Teaching Writing and Reporting Classes Online, Thanks to The Coronavirus
- Catching up with the coronavirus: A look at some things student journalists might want to know
Check out these additional resources for educators
Whether you’re online or in-person, it’s always a good idea to keep this page bookmarked for quick access to:
- FAQs
- Legal guides
- Tipsheets for advisers
- Advice for working with administrators
- Professional associations for high school and college advisers