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JMSC data journalism MOOC launches with a global mix of participants

More than 3,800 people from over 100 countries have registered for the JMSC’s ‘Data Journalism Fundamentals’ massive open online course, which began on 4 April.

People have registered for the course from around the world

People have registered for the course from around the world

Many of those taking the course, produced in partnership with Google News Lab and top news organisations in Asia, are professional journalists. They come from the Asia-Pacific region—including more than 1,000 from mainland China—Europe, the Middle East, states of the former Soviet Union, Africa, North and South America, and the Caribbean.

Marketing and promotion for the course has been done almost entirely through social media and word of mouth, using languages including Chinese, Arabic and Spanish.

‘We are not only teaching, but also creating a global community of learning and sharing,’ said Professor Ying Chan, JMSC Director and leader of the project.

The course, taught by a panel of experts on data journalism, introduces the latest tools in data acquisition, analysis, interpretation and visualisation of the massive amount of data available on the internet. Students are also learning how to integrate these skills to tell compelling stories.

‘I’m very interested in new media and digital culture, and I would like to improve in transmedia narrative,’ said Nicolás Braguinsky Cascini, a journalist from Argentina. ‘It´s my first time in a distance [learning] international course, a new world for me.’

Michael Suantak, a participant from Myanmar, which has recently adopted democratic institutions after decades of military dictatorship, wrote: ‘I believe that data information is one of the keys to sustaining and promoting transparency and democracy.’

The course is still open for registration. Click here to learn more.