GJA to roll out more courses on its virtual learning platform

The Course Administrator of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) Media Response virtual learning platform (VLP), Mr Charles Nii Ayiku Ayiku, has called on stakeholders in the media landscape and corporate institutions to embrace the concept of e-learning to enhance the professional competencies of their staff.  

Mr Ayiku who is also a technical advisor with the GJA stated that the VLP, which can be assessed on www.gjamediaresponse.org, has about 16 courses and offers a flexible and friendly learning environment to enable participants to study at their own pace without necessarily interrupting their busy work schedule or missing out on lessons.

According to him, continuous developments in journalism means staying up-to-date as many skills and knowledge are quickly outdated.
Mr Ayiku made this known during the award of certificates to participants who completed the maiden course on 'Journalism, Fake News, and Disinformation' on the VLP.

In all, 32 journalists made up of news editors, senior journalists, media managers and regional correspondents from state and private media organisations across the country went through the week-long training.

The training was jointly organised by the GJA and Media Response a non-governmental organisation.

The course provided participants with strategies for evaluating the quality of information and for understanding differences in the ways that high and low-quality information emerges in the digital space.

Some of the key topics treated under the course are News Literacy, What is Fake News, Key Terminologies, Technology that makes fake news possible, How big a problem is a fake news, Evaluating fake news and what you can do to fight fake news.

Mr Ayiku hinted that some local and international instructors and educational institutions had been identified and talks have begun towards a possible training partnership for the award of certificates.

The second batch of trainees for the Journalism, Fake News, and Disinformation course would soon start.

He said aside from the current courses available, corporate institutions could get in touch with the GJA for tailor-made courses designed to meet the needs of and that could be arranged with GJA by companies and other institutions.