Fred Endres spent a year as a Moulton Hall Scholar experimenting with online writing styles and studying digital design so that he would be better able to "teach the gospel of non-linear writing."

People read from a computer screen differently than they do from a traditional newspaper, so journalists have to learn how to best communicate through this new medium, the news sequence professor says.

Endres introduces students to non-linear writing techniques to facilitate story-telling in an unstructured, non-chronological format. "Students are entering a

The Web allows reporters to tell their stories in different, enhanced, ways. They may add not just still photographs, but video, audio and interactivity.

Writing, designing and conceptualizing a Web news story involves using different elements to better tell the story. And, it requires thinking about how the audience reads differently on a computer screen. Information has to be in shorter blocks, with sharp, concise, dynamic writing.

"Stories can be told in a much more compelling manner," Endres says. "But, students need to learn how to think about this different approach to reporting and producing." The bottom line, however, Endres says, is always good story-telling.

Courses in Online Journalism and Collaborative Online Producing were developed by Endres to teach students how to write and produce news and features for the Web.

The theoretical concepts of convergence and collaboration are turned into actual practice in Endres' classrooms.

In the Online Journalism class, students develop their own online news sites and produce stories on campus events for it. They even take their own digital photographs.

"They learn about almost the entire process of producing a news site," Endres says, "from reporting and writing, to design and graphics, to file management."

The class has print and broadcast majors in it and there is a lot of "cross pollination" of ideas, while they're all learning a new way of thinking and writing, according to Endres.

Endres is Web Editor of the 300-page JMC Web site. He has used it to create an outlet for advanced students in Collaborative Online Producing to apply their new skills. Students provide major feature articles and news packages for the site.