In case you haven't noticed, the very top line of the JSchool website is a list of links to student-produced media. This past year I got to add several new publications to the list, requiring me to shrink the font size down to an almost unreadable size. Here's an easy-to-read version of the list, with a brief description of each outlet:

ACRN stands for All Campus Radio Network. Better known around here as The Rock Lobster. The website's about section describes ACRN as "an all student run college radio station broadcasting ... on high bandwidth, playing a 'college rock' format (with specialty shows as well!)." While a relatively small number of journalism students want to become DJs, a good number do want to write about music -- concert previews, interviews, reviews, etc. ACRN's website is a great outlet for such writing.

ATHENSi.com is a comprehensive portal site run by the JSchool. The site functions entirely by RSS, so it updates 24/7 with news from many of the mainstream news organizations in Athens (e.g., The Post, the Athens News, WOUB), community news, blogs, podcasts, entertainment news, etc., etc. If you live in Athens, Ohio and have a blog, the JSchool probably will want to include it.

Backdrop is a student-created glossy magazine covering entertainment, health (including a humorous and often frank look at the college sex scene), and other sundry topics -- mostly on the lighter side.

College Green is a great outlet for journalists and other writers interested in ecology and the environment. The site includes videos as well as text/photo stories, so it's a good opportunity to get some multimedia skills while staying green.

The Essay Magazine is a collaboration of students across Scripps College. The web publication includes strong photography, video and writing. Another terrific outlet for multimedia and thoughtful writing. And another example of student-created media.

INC will look familiar to readers who frequent the JSchool website. We host it, but it is produced entirely by students in the Society of Professional Journalists chapter here at OU. According to the website, "regular features include Scripps news, Q&As with Scripps alumni, internship listings and columns by the Scripps community."

InterActivist is a print/web publication that focuses on progressive issues in Athens and the region. The online version includes multimedia, which allows students who write about activism and social justice to develop their new media skills.

MidDay, short for "Athens MidDay," is a live television newscast produced by students in the broadcast journalism sequence in the JSchool as well as students in the School of Media Arts and Studies. The TV program is shown on cable channel 25 in Athens, available on campus and throughout the community on Time Warner. The website includes extended stories and interviews, as well as reporter blogs.

OJ, short for Ohio Journalist, is a web-only magazine published by journalism students in the newsletter journalism course (JOUR 437). Stories focus on the JSchool's alumni, students, and faculty.

SEO, or Southeast Ohio Magazine, is a print/web magazine that focuses on the region surrounding Athens, Ohio. According to SEO's new website, "Southeast Ohio is the only magazine specifically for residents in the 20-county region of Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. The magazine aims to engage the reader with personal, lively profiles of one of the nation's most under-appreciated areas. Being America's only student-run regional magazine, Southeast Ohio generates a fresh look at the region with every issue. It is the staff's goal to provide our readers with unique news, issues, entertainment, history and trends pertinent and special to Southeast Ohio and its readers." The magazine is produced by students enrolled in JOUR 431.

Speakeasy was one of the earliest student produced web publications to appear on the scene in Athens. According to the website, "Speakeasy is a student-run, alternative Web magazine serving the Ohio University campus in Athens, Ohio. We have a staff of 50+ ... [S]taff members are writers, editors, copy editors, photographers, multimedia producers, graphic designers and bloggers." Stories include text/photos & video.

The Post, the granddaddy of student media at Ohio University, is an independent daily print/web newspaper. One of three newspapers published in Athens, Ohio (see below for the other two), The Post is a journalistic force much admired or criticized, depending on the day of the week. The fact is, what The Post writes in its pages matters. To students, to faculty, and to the administration.

Thread Magazine, another of the new web-only publications to hit the scene in 2009-2010, calls itself "the guidebook for encouraging the creation of a personal style through confident self-expression while showcasing Athens fashion culture. Also, we hope to highlight a fashion identity through activism and cultural influence." Besides the stories there are the excellent fashion pix. To look good, check it out.

WOUB News is radio. It's TV. And it's online. The public broadcast station (NPR/PBS affiliation) has been around a long, long time. Want to get on-air experience? You can start working your way up the food chain your first year at Ohio University. Stay with it and you can get some serious broadcast experience before you graduate.

NOT on the list at the top of the JSchool site (but also commendable options:

Athens Messenger. The Messenger is the local daily newspaper, with offices located in The Plains. Website includes multimedia and subscription-based content.

Athens News. Website: "The Athens NEWS is a twice weekly controlled circulation newspaper serving Athens and Athens County, Ohio. Established in 1977, The Athens NEWS has the largest and fastest growing circulation of any newspaper in Athens County." Website contains multimedia/videos.

AVW (formerly known as Athens Video Works). According to AVW's blog site, "AVW Productions is an entirely student-run video production house at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Students take part in all aspects of the production process, from writing the script to editing in the final touches and everything in between. AVW offers opportunities for work in single-camera field productions, to in-studio productions."

Soul of Athens, an award-winning multimedia storytelling website produced by students and faculty in the School of Visual Communication as well as students in other parts of the Scripps College.

"Q2S," as it's referred to here at OU, involves not only creating a new semesters-based curriculum (which we've done), but explaining that new curriculum to students who will be transitioning from the one academic calendar (quarters) to the other (semesters). Most important is this "bottom line" question: Will students graduate on time when they start on one calendar and finish on the other?

I'm happy to report that yes, journalism students starting under quarters and ending on semesters will graduate on time, provided they pay attention to their advisers. Of course, that's always been the case. In fact, the average time-to-degree for journalism students at OU has been about 4.05 years, and that includes transfer students and double-majors. Not bad.

OK, back to the topic of this post.

Prof. Cary Frith and I worked together to create explanatory videos, posted to YouTube on the /scrippsjschool channel, which explain key parts of our new curriculum. Most important, the videos explain how students starting out this fall will follow our new semesters-based curriculum, even though semesters don't begin for two more years. By doing so, students will easily transition to semesters in the fall of 2012, while also enjoying the benefits of our new (and improved, we think) curriculum.

Here's where the QR codes come in. By creating a QR code linked to each video for each part of our advising process, we can make it easy for a student (or parent, for that matter) to review -- at their convenience -- any topic related to our academic advising process.

Here's how it works.

1. Print out the newest advising checksheet from our website (or, you can simply display it on your computer screen).

2. Point the camera on your smart phone (e.g., iPhone) at one of the QR codes on the checksheet (or at an image of a QR code below). NOTE: your smart phone needs to have an installed QR code reader app* for this to work.

3. Assuming you have 'net access via wireless or a cell tower, your phone should then "register" the QR code and start pulling up the video that we've "linked" to that particular code. (Caution: make sure your data plan can support downloading videos without adding a substantial cost!)

For example, the QR code at the top of the advising checksheet provides an overview of the advising process.

It's linked to this video, featuring Prof. Frith providing an introduction to advising at OU and the JSchool.

By the way, don't worry if you don't have a smart phone. You can get to the videos on your computer by going to scrippsjschool.org/advising, a special part of our website focused on the Q2S process.

The following QR codes, which also are on the printed checksheet, likewise are "linked" to videos that explain the various parts of our new curriculum.

QR code for the journalism core requirements

QR code for general requirements and gen eds

QR code for specialization requirement

*If you can't locate a QR code app for your phone, check out this site: i-nigma