Written by Jorge Pontarelli
Students and faculty of all disciplines are invited to attend a free Google tools workshop on Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. During the one-hour Zoom training, titled “What’s new with Google tools?” attendees will learn how to use Google Trends, Google Fact-Check Explorer, Google Public Data Explorer, Google Earth Measure Tool, search shortcuts and more.
The training will be conducted by Michael Reilley, a senior lecturer at the University of Illinois in Chicago. The workshop is part of the Google News Initiative sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). SPJ is providing universities with this training to help adequately prepare journalism and communication majors for reporting and research using Google tools and data.
School of Journalism and Communication (SJC) Professor Alva James-Johnson learned about this opportunity after she attended a National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR) conference in Atlanta, Georgia, in the spring. While there, she networked with journalism educators from universities all over the United States.
“They added me to their email list, and after the conference I began receiving emails from the group,” James-Johnson stated in an email. “In one of the emails, Michael Reilley informed us about the free Google training that is available for university journalism programs.”
According to James-Johnson, there is no limit to how many people can attend the workshop, and she encourages everyone to take advantage of this learning opportunity.
“I believe learning to master and maximize online tools such as Google Fact-Check Explorer and Google Trends can benefit not only journalism and communication majors but any student or faculty member who conducts online research,” she said.
The Google training is the SJC’s latest effort to equip students for investigative journalism and data-driven reporting, according to James-Johnson. She said the school recently developed a relationship with theSchool of Computing, where students are also being encouraged to attend the Google workshop.
In a recent article published in the SJC’s magazine, “The WiRE,”School of Computing Professor Harvey Alférez explained that students of any discipline, including journalism and communication, can now obtain a certificate in data analytics.
“The certificate is designed for students not pursuing a tech degree and can be completed in two semesters,” he said in the article. “ … Project-based learning is used in every course so students can apply data analytics in their areas of interest.”
James-Johnson believes students from the School of Computing also can benefit from a partnership with the SJC. They can add deeper meaning to their work by taking journalism and communication classes, she said in the article, and by working on projects with SJC students that could get published.
“The possibilities are endless,” she said in the article. “We look forward to continuing our relationship with the School of Computing as we aim to provide our students with the best training possible.”
