Tuesday, May 01, 2012KENT, Ohio -- Students from Kent State University’s schools of Journalism and Mass Communication and Digital Sciences have created a data-driven website. The new site features a recent feed of what’s happening in the Kent area including Kent State campus buildings.
Visitors to the OpenCampus Kent website will be able to get the latest crime updates, news, event listings, information on discount deals and restaurant reviews. Users can also check out the latest Kent photos and videos uploaded to Flickr and YouTube. “This resource will have a community-building effect, helping students and local residents look at what they have in common, be more knowledgeable about what’s going on around them and make better decisions about what to do with their time,” said Jacqueline Marino, assistant professor in Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
OpenCampus Kent is a product of the Kent State course Web Programming for Multimedia Journalism, which is co-taught by the schools of Journalism and Mass Communication and Digital Sciences. Last fall, the project was awarded one of 10 Bridge Grants funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation through the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
OpenCampus Kent uses the open-source software OpenBlock, which was developed through funding by the Knight Foundation. Customizations of OpenCampus Kent include the following:
Users can search events, news and other information by neighborhood, zip code or street. In OpenCampus Kent, the campus is also searchable by building.
The site will be taken over by Kent State student media once the class ends. Student media will continue to improve the site.
Users can view Kent area videos uploaded to YouTube.
The course was co-taught by Liz Yokum, an instructor in the School of Digital Sciences, and Sue Zake, a School of Journalism and Mass Communication professor and adviser to KentWired.com. The course also appeals to students who are not studying journalism but are interested in developing digital start-ups.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.