HellO

I'm Adam Maksl.

Journalism/MEDIA Prof EdTech Pro News Literacy Researcher

More About Me
About

Let me introduce myself.

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I am an educator and leader focused on the nexus of academic innovation, technology, and student success. 

 I believe technology can help people stay informed about and connected to the wider world.  But as educators, we must design experiences that focus on our goals and outcomes, rather than adopt technology for technology's sake. 

I believe in the power of storytelling — in media and in education — because stories help us learn and connect. 

I believe that in a democracy, education, and journalism both can play essential roles in social advancement and progress.

CV

An applied academic.

I've always been interested in how journalism and education mix, especially in digital environments.  In teaching, research, and service, I've placed myself at the intersection of media, education, and technology.

Academic Appointments

Faculty Fellow for eLearning Design & Innovation

July 2019 - Present

Indiana University (Learning Technologies division of University Information Technology Services)

I bring a faculty perspective to the division of IU's IT organization that supports faculty in their use of educational technology. I help IU faculty in designing, developing, and promoting more innovative ways to teach, especially using digital tools. I'm charged with helping connect faculty with peer institutions, educational technology vendors/solutions, and others who support innovative teaching and learning. I am the co-founder and co-lead of the Digital Gardener Initiative, a university-wide digital literacy program, and I co-led the redesign of Teaching.IU, a university-wide repository for peer-reviewed faculty teaching stories and resources about the use of educational technology.

Associate Professor of Journalism and Media (with Tenure)

July 2018 - Present

Journalism & Media Program Coordinator

July 2016 - June 2019

Director of Student Media

August 2012 - June 2019

Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media

August 2012 - June 2018

Indiana University Southeast (School of Social Sciences)

I teach courses focused on digital journalism, including multimedia storytelling, audio storytelling, social media strategies, and online journalism. I focus on journalism innovation, including interactive graphics, immersive video, and other tech/tools. I also regularly teach communications law. I've helped develop a multi-campus online degree program in digital media and storytelling, and I teach courses for that program as well. 

I've developed and taught 11 courses, including seven fully online. Three of my online courses are Quality Matters certified.

My research focuses on news and media literacy. My work has been published in top-rated journals including Journalism; Communication Theory; Communication & the Public; Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly; Journalism & Mass Communication Educator; the Journal of Media Literacy Education; Electronic News; and Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking. I am the co-author of two books: one focused on news and media literacy, "American Journalism and Fake News: Examining the Facts," and a reference book that outlines the history of attacks on the press in the United States ("Attacks on the American press: A documentary and reference guide.")

I served as coordinator (the functional equivalent of department chair) for the Journalism & Media Program from July 2016 to June 2019, leading faculty colleagues, including working on scheduling, program assessment, program development, marketing/development, and other program administrative issues. In that role, I oversaw increases in the number of students majoring in our area as well as the number of students enrolled in our courses, all while the campus experienced overall enrollment decline.

I was also director of student media from August 2012 to June 2019, where I directed business operations and advised students on editorial decisions for Horizon Media, including a newspaper/news website and internet radio station. I strengthened our financial health, increasing revenue substantially and building strong reserves, all while being able to extend our technology resources and travel/professional development opportunities for students. I coached students on editorial decisions, and students won more than 290 state, regional, and national awards under my leadership, including twice winning the Pacemaker Award, considered the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism.


Graduate Instructor

August 2009 - July 2012

University of Missouri (School of Journalism)

I taught as instructor-of-record for four different courses, including a large-lecture Principles of American Journalism class and several sections of online graduate-level courses for high school journalism teachers working on their Master's in Journalism Education.

Instructor of Journalism

July 2007 - July 2009

Assistant Director of Journalism Workshops

July 2007 - July 2009

Ball State University (Department of Journalism)

I taught journalistic writing and editing courses.

I also helped develop and coordinate journalism workshops and other large-scale journalism education events for high school students and teachers. Part of these duties included general public relations and marketing work for the Department of Journalism.

Education

Ph.D. in Journalism

2012

University of Missouri (School of Journalism)

Dissertation: On parents, peers, administrators, and advisers: Developing a system to understand self-censorship of controversial topics in the high school press.

Master of Arts in Journalism

2007

Ball State University (Department of Journalism)

Thesis: The road to scholastic press freedom: A survey of Midwestern high school newspaper advisers to determine the effects adviser backgrounds and school demographics have on student press freedom.

Bachelor of Science in Education

2005

Indiana University-Bloomington (School of Education)

Focus: Journalism Education (major) and English Education (minor) Licensed to teach secondary journalism and English in Indiana

Research, Presentations, & Awards

Selected Research

Books

Journal Articles

  • Tully, M., Maksl, A., Ashley, S., Vraga, E., & Craft, S. (2021). Defining and conceptualizing news literacy. Journalism. DOI:10.1177/14648849211005888.
  • Vraga, E., Tully, M., Maksl, A., Craft, S., & Ashley, S. (2020). Theorizing news literacy behaviors. Communication Theory. DOI:10.1093/ct/qtaa005.
  • Craft, S., Ashley, S., & Maksl, A. (2017). News media literacy and conspiracy theory endorsement. Communication and the Public, 2(4), 388-401, DOI:10.1177/2057047317725539.
  • Ashley, S., Maksl, A., & Craft, S. (2017). News media literacy and political engagement: What’s the connection? Journal of Media Literacy Education, 9(1), 79 -98.  
  • Maksl, A., Ashley, S., Craft, S., & Miller, D. (2017). The usefulness of a news media literacy measure in evaluating a news literacy curriculum. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 72(2), 228-241, DOI: 10.1177/1077695816651970.
  • Craft, S., Ashley, S., & Maksl, A. (2016). Elements of news literacy: A focus group study of how teenagers define news and why they consume it. Electronic News, 10(3), 143-160.DOI: 10.1177/1931243116656716.
  • Maksl, A., Ashley, S., & Craft, S. (2015). Measuring news media literacy. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 6(3), 29-45.Measuring News Media Literacy

Looking for more research? Download my full CV.

Selected Recent Presentations

Teaching-Related

  • October 2021 — Cultivating digital literacies: Seven campuses, two centers, one IU,” Adobe EduMAX (with Julie Johnston, Justin Hodgson, & Victoria Sykes)
  • October 2021 — “Lights, camera, teach! Tips for DIY course videos” breakout session, IU Online Conference (with Sean Winningham & Kim Seeber);
  • October 2020 — “Are we all in this together? How IU faculty and staff are pioneering new online collaboration strategies to promote equity, access, and student success” panel, IU Online Conference (with Sharon Wavle, May Moore, Trish Davis, Tammy Fong-Morgan, & Michael Morrone)
  • August 2020 — "We've got this: Best practices in online teaching, and how teaching journalism and mass communication prepared us for the big pivot online" panel prensetation, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference (virtual) (with Aileen Gallagher, Carolyn Hedges, Rebecca Cooney & Damian Radcliffe)
  • June 2020 — "Beyond the Walled Garden: How Social Media and Custom LMS Roles Can Connect Students to Local and Global Communities" discovery breakout session, Online Learning Consortium Virtual Conference (with Adam Bunnell & Mengyuan (Alice) Zhao)   
  • June 2020 — "Surrender the Crown: Informal, Student-centered Discussion with CourseNetworking" discovery breakout session, Online Learning Consortium Virtual Conference (with Adam Bunnell & Mengyuan (Alice) Zhao)   
  • October 2019 — "Easy-to-Use Tools to Create and Deliver More Interactive and Engaging Online Courses" breakout session, IU Online Conference

Scholarship-Related

  • June 2019 — "Real News vs. Fake News" Panel, IUS Civic Engagement Series event, sponsored by the School of Social Sciences and the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
  • March 2019 — "Structural issues in news literacy" keynote and digital tools breakout session, Media Literacy in the Secondary School Workshop, Indiana University Bloomington Media School

Looking for more presentations? Download my full CV.

Selected Awards & Honors

Regional/National Awards and Recognition

Campus- and University-Level Awards & Honors

Looking for more awards, recognition, & certifications? Download my full CV.

Contact

Let's share ideas.

Where to find me

Crestview Hall 009
4201 Grant Line Road
New Albany, Indiana 47150

Email Me At

amaksl@iu.edu

Call Me At

Phone: (812) 941-2892