Exercises

Exercise 1
Slide Shows

Watch one of the slide shows produced for the New York Times Multimedia page. Make sure to provide the specific URL for the slide show you watched. When you have finished, answer the following questions:

Questions--Slide Shows

  • URL of the slide show you watched
  • What did you like about the slide show? What didn’t you like?
  • Would the story have been more effective as a video story? Why or why not?

 

Exercise 2
Interactive Graphics

Find a graphic on a news website. The site FiveThirtyEight regularly publishes what they call “interactives” and is a good place to start. Read the story that accompanies the graphic and analyze the graphic's interactivity.

Questions--Graphic Analysis

  • URL of the graphic you are analyzing
  • How does this graphic make good use of interactivity?
  • What additional interactive features could be developed for the same story?

 

Exercise 3
Skill Building--Creating Interactive Maps

Clickable maps allow you to organize information about multiple locations in a way that provides the audience more perspective or more specifics. For example, if you mapped all the coffee shops near campus, you could add information about hours of operation, specific addresses, and more that would appear when a user clicked on the map icons.

ATS4-Mod9-Maps

After reviewing the Google My Maps tutorial, create your own Google map of information that a newcomer to your area would find useful. Choose one or more of the following types of locations to pinpoint on your map:

  • Hospitals and clinics
  • Drug stores and/or convenience stores
  • Post offices and mailboxes
  • Polling places

Questions--My Google Map

  • Provide the URL to my Google Map

 

Exercise 4
Online Storytelling

This exercise is designed to get you thinking about the opportunities online storytelling offers. Let’s say your local school system has a plan to eliminate recess in elementary schools. Administrators say students need more instructional time to do better on the state’s standardized tests.

Your TV story includes interviews with the superintendent, a teacher, a parent, and some kids outside playing during recess.

What are three things you could do to enhance this story online? (If you need to, go back to Chapter 1 and review the key strengths of the online medium.)

Questions--Enhancing a Story Online

  • First enhancement:
  • Second enhancement:
  • Third enhancement: