"In the flow" at CNN Academy

In December 2023 SPS travelled to Abu Dhabi to support Rex Brynen in delivering along side CNN a simulation training for budding new journalists.

Rex Brynen, a Professor of Political Science at McGill University, has posted at PAXsims before about the CNN Academy journalism simulations (here and here), but this new, longer video from CNN gives a really good sense of “what we do and how we do it” he writes. “We work very hard to keep students “in the flow,” a psychological state is associated with improved learning. This involves balancing high demands on their skills to meet significant challenges, without it all becoming overwhelming (or too easy). Students need to be deeply engaged in the narrative, have real agency with real choices to make, and receive prompt and useful feedback (without breaking the sense of immersion). Some of this can be designed into the scenario and simulation from the outset, but a lot of it needs to be done dynamically as the simulation is executed. As you will see from the video, Jim Wallman (Stone Paper Scissors) is part of the team that makes this happen because he’s so very good at it. So too are the CNN journalists and staff who make it happen, who are able to call on their own professional experiences to generate real-world challenges”. Posted by Rex Brynen “In The Flow”