Give us the Goodies!

J-schools have a unique way of shoving it down students' throats that digital media is the way to go when it comes to the future of journalism. For most of us poor college students, buying new iPads, Kindles, and smartphones aren't always within our budget.

Here's where J-Schools can come into play.

I believe firmly that journalism programs need to put their money where their mouth is. If they want us to "believe" in digital media, then provide us with the goods. We, as students, want to know how to digitize our news. We just need a little jumpstart.

The statistics how digital use don't lie. In the State of the Media report, 84 percent of the surveyed population said they use a mobile device of some sort. In the same report, the number of tablet use is doubling by the month.

Other schools are using mobile digital media. Southern Cal's program is learning how to report news with an iPad. Abilene Christian down south was one of the first college newspapers to release their app back last April. The Iowa State Daily hopes to launch an Android and an iPad version of their paper towards mid-April.

Let us play with some new toys so we can gain an advantage. Isn't that what college professors are giving students anyway?

Photo Credit: Cheth Studios via Creative Commons