Evaluating a blended-learning platform for data journalism education: results from two pilot studies

In recent years, education has increasingly relied on data, a trend accelerated by the recent pandemic, highlighting the need for enhanced digital skills among students and educators. Journalism, in particular, requires robust data and digital competencies to ensure accurate, unbiased reporting. This abstract discusses the growing field of data journalism in Europe, supported by initiatives like the JOULE and WEBJOU projects, funded by the European Erasmus+ Programme. The JOULE Project (2021-1-IT02-KA220-HED-000030349) involved participants from Italy, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, and Greece, creating online and in-person courses to bridge the gap between data users and non-users, focusing on data literacy, analysis, visualisation, and storytelling. The WEBJOU Project (ERASMUS-EDU-2022-CBHE-STRAND-2-101083122), currently in its final stages, continues this work for the Western Balkan region. Our findings indicate that the job market increasingly demands IT and data skills in communication and journalism roles, alongside soft skills like teamwork and communication in technical fields. This underscores the necessity for higher education curricula to evolve, integrating data science with communication and storytelling to meet future market needs. The innovative approach of these two projects allows educators to rethink the courses they teach by providing access to a learning platform with open content and a learning path that can be reused in their own classes. This prepares students with skills and competencies that will be useful in the future. Can this approach have an impact? We believe it is a step forward in reshaping education from a traditional to a more digital and data-centric model. The more projects like these exist, the greater the impact they will have on higher education and potentially other levels of education as well.