2013-03-04 13:57:29 - Cross-media publishing software developers Oppolis provide digital publishing software to the Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, which is being used to teach the next generation of editors and journalists how to create content for the iPad and all major tablet devices.

Oppolis have been working with the school of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies for over 5 years now, and during this time they have been using GoPublish as part of their journalism training, for traditional print publishing. For the 2012/13 academic year students have started to use the software to create publications for tablet devices such as the Apple iPad, Amazon Kindle and Google Nexus.

The Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies is a world-leading centre for media teaching and research. The School combines a long-standing record of excellence in teaching and training with an outstanding research portfolio.

In a recent article Glynn Mottershead, who teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, specialising in digital journalism and is a former

newspaper reporter, feature writer, subeditor and production journalist talks about the importance of teaching students the skills for tablet publishing, alongside traditional print publishing.

“We’re trying to keep up with the industry and innovate at the same time.” wrote Glynn “So when the industry went for digital print production, so did the college newsroom. The industry went onto the web, so the academy started teaching multiplatform journalism.”

“We’re introducing our tablet software to the students this year. We’re working with GoPublish, a system built on InDesign to create app content. Rather than just a page turner, it offers the opportunity for audio-visual content and interactive layers (which can execute javascript to allow for breaking news). We are also keen to look to engage a community through calls to action with social aspects within the app.”

“This ability to incorporate multimedia content makes the app a perfect place for the wider digital skills we’re already teaching “print” journalists to come together in one place. Tablets are a great opportunity to add in engaging content, but they can become cluttered.”

“So maybe, just maybe, we need to be teaching elements of user experience alongside the traditional page editing skills that have been required for the newsrooms.”

Glynn’s full article can be viewed online via: economistgroup.com

“It's great to see GoPublish being used to prepare the editors and journalists of tomorrow for a career in tablet publishing, and we couldn't agree more with the points raised in Glynn’s article.” said Jon Simcox, Managing Director. “As tablet publishing begins to shift from providing just duplications of print issues, to creating standalone content, it is important for students to have knowledge of this medium. This will provide them with the best possible start in their journalistic careers and at Oppolis, we’re proud to be part of their development.”