David J. Miller

David J. Miller

David J. Miller

Instructor, Media Production & Criticism Concentration Coordinator, Director; Student Video Center

Media production and criticism, Journalism, Distance Education, Instructional Design

David J. Miller is a seasoned Senior Instructor and the Coordinator of Media Production and Criticism at George Mason University's Department of Communication. With over 25 years of teaching experience in media production, criticism, and journalism at the university level, he is a highly knowledgeable academician. David's passion lies in designing curriculums and facilitating hands-on learning experiences through online education.

His dedication and hard work in designing courses on Media Criticism for Distance Education at George Mason University was recognized when he received the 2018 Blackboard Catalyst Award for Teaching and Learning. He was also honored with the 2015 Sloan-C Effective Practice Award at the Eighth Annual Emerging Technologies for Online Learning International Symposium, proving that his contributions to the field of education have made a significant impact.

The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) is a highly respected professional organization committed to advancing the quality of online learning. Their mission is to provide valuable guidance, publications, and professional development opportunities to educators, online learning professionals, and organizations. By leveraging the expertise and knowledge of its members, the OLC aims to support the growth and development of online education and help ensure that learners around the world have access to high-quality online learning experiences.

Mr. Miller is a highly accomplished individual who has achieved a Certificate of Distinction from The Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning at George Mason University. His exceptional skills and dedication have been recognized through the prestigious Online Course Excellence Award for Online Journalism (COMM 361) by the Office of Digital Learning at Mason in 2016. Along with his academic achievements, he has acquired extensive professional experience in various fields.

With his vast experience in the radio and television industry, he has worked in terrestrial non-commercial radio and broadcast television. As a freelancer, he has worked with esteemed organizations such as the Military and History Channel, Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority (MWAA), Voskresnoye Vremya (Sunday Time), Channel One Russia, and The Center of Excellence in Command, Control, Communications, Computing and Intelligence (C4I Center at GMU). Moreover, his expertise in film support has been utilized for exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. He has also honed his skills as a film editor for Paramount Television Network.

Living in the Washington Metropolitan area his entire life, he realized that the world was full of endless possibilities waiting to be explored. His love for international travel, both work and pleasure, allowed him to broaden his horizons and embrace all life offers.

Selected Publications

DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THROUGH MULTIMEDIA-BASED ACTIVITIES AND BLOGGING

Courses Taught

COMM 208:  Introduction to Multimedia Production (3)

This is a beginner’s course designed to provide students with an understanding of camera operation, framing, and composition, lighting, audio, and editing. Grading will be heavily based on technical proficiency and artistic expression using the basic tools of media production. This course is demanding in terms of one’s time and technological abilities.

COMM 361:  Online Journalism (3)

The asynchronous online course focuses on online journalism, research, reporting, web page and weblog creation, and writing for the Internet.  Using the constructivist approach to learning, students conduct sustained research and reporting on a predetermined theme for the duration of the semester. The student will identify and produce compelling and effective stories by collecting and interpreting data and illustrating one’s findings using a variety of visual elements such as photographs, infographics, and multimedia presentation tools. 

The approach I have taken with this class is to move away from the faculty-centered approach to learning to student-centered learning. To that end, I have gone away from lecture-based learning to what I described as experiential learning. This means that the focus of activities and assessment is on students working with and learning from doing as well as from each other i.e. peer to peer learning (P2P).

COMM 380:  Media Criticism (3)

This asynchronous online course examines practical criticism of a wide variety of media texts including television programs, newspapers, articles, films, photographs, and advertisements. This course introduces principles of major contemporary modes of analysis for systematically interpreting visual and verbal forms of communication. Additionally, the course is designed to enable students to formulate their own philosophies on the role of mass media-making and popular culture through the careful analysis of key theories of communication, the meaning, and interpretation of media-making, and the institutions that shape our social, political, economic, cultural and social values in contemporary society.

Education

B.Sc.

M.A.I.S.

Recent Presentations

Librarian-faculty collaboration: Effective strategies for embedding online and face-to-face library services
Panel & Roundtable Discussion
Innovations in Teaching & Learning Conference (2017)

Are You Ready to Teach Your Online Summer Course?
Facilitator, small-group discussion at the Online Faculty Learning Community (2017)                                                      

Best Practices for Creating Videos
Presenter, Online Faculty Learning Community (2017)

Integrating multimedia and LMS tools to cultivate creative and reflective learners
Presenter, Innovations in Teaching & Learning Conference Proceedings, (2016) 

Thinking Outside of the Box to Assess Learning
Presenter, Faculty Development Lunch & Learn (2015)

Designing and Implementing Experiential Learning through Multimedia-Based Activities and Blogging in Asynchronous Online Courses
Co-presenter, Innovations in Teaching & Learning Conference (2014)

                             

 

In the Media