The Melbourne Media Map project originated at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) when Dr Christina Spurgeon developed the Brisbane Media Map in 2000 in response to what she had identified as: “various challenges for curriculum and learning design in Media and Communication studies… [arising from] shifts in tertiary education policy in a global knowledge economy” (Spurgeon et al 2006). As an “interactive educational system” the media map project aims to engage students in both the practice of online media production and the broader study of how media industries are evolving and converging in the digital age, while also providing a publishing platform for contemporary student writing about the media. Spurgeon et al argue that media mapping offers “authentic learning experiences for students preparing for work in the rapidly evolving media and communication industries” (2006).

I began to develop the Melbourne Media Map at La Trobe in 2003 in consultation with QUT staff. The media mapping assignment is now an integral component of the third year media studies subject that I coordinate and teach, Media Project Development. Students undertaking this subject assume an entrepreneurial role, researching and developing cross platform media project proposals. This major project follows their completion of the media mapping assignment in which they review and renew the media map site, contributing new research data and essays.

The media map is primarily an online directory of Melbourne’s media organizations, associations, industries, products, providers, and regulators. Every profile or company entry contains a synopsis, a brief history, a summary of the target market and contact details. The website is targeted to both secondary and tertiary students interested in the media, to job seekers wanting to identify potential employers in the media industries, and to professionals wishing to do business with the media in the greater Melbourne metropolitan area and parts of country Victoria.

In addition to the Media Directory, the Melbourne Media Map website includes a Media Issues menu linking to short student essays on topics relating to nine broad themes – Audiences, Culture, History, Industries, Participation, Regulation, Services, Technology. These Issues Papers are also linked to relevant media categories on the media map. Technical supervision of the Melbourne Media Map site is managed by Mr Marcus de Rijk, Manager, Flexible Teaching & Learning Development.

Please visit the Melbourne Media Map and give us your feedback so that students can continue to make improvements to the site.

Dr Mary Debrett, Media and Cinema Studies Program. Email: m.debrett@latrobe.edu.au

Reference

Spurgeon, Christina L. and Foth, Marcus and Severson, Pernilla and Collis, Christy (2006) Media Mapping: Reflections on Australian and Swedish Experiences with a New Educational Technology in Media and Communication Studies. Electronic Journal of Communication, 16(1-2). Retrieved on 12 June 2009 from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/4346/