The objects and connections can be visualized in multidimensional ways, which allows discrete types of information and linkages to be filtered and shown at will. This type of tool is well-suited for concept maps, both concrete and abstract, and is scalable from small simple networks to larger complex ones. We are currently utilizing the Network Analysis Tool in the Business School in the area of leadership development and organizational network theory. Students enter data on-line into a database detailing their personal and business contacts, in response to a questionnaire. The web based software tool then generates an individualized network report.
Students then use the tool to create a dynamic picture of their networks.
Students construct new versions of their networks, both real and hypothetical, in order to test and evaluate possible revisions. This project will serve as a model of a simulation that can be incorporated into journalism courses that focus on topics such as ethics, reporting, writing, interviewing, news gathering and basic journalism fundamentals. By using the simulation, journalism students will practice their news gathering skills, interviewing techniques, and lead writing in a controlled digital environment that approximates some of the conditions found in the real world by reporters covering common news stories. News Sim will contain a series of scenarios, each intended to teach students different aspects of news reporting. For example, the first scenario is a fire story.