Civic Impact

Thirty OCAD undergraduates have published an e-zine aimed at Toronto teens. It covers technology, culture and life in the city. And it was made in just three days. 

 

The OCAD students, enrolled in the university's new Digital Futures Initiative (DFI) program, not only had to create and publish an e-zine, they had to do it to the satisfaction of their three clients, high school students invited in as "guest editors." 

 

Despite the challenging task, over the course of three days (and a few sleepless nights), the team produced more than 60 articles, designed a website and maintained an active progress report on Twitter and Facebook. 

 

Called Torontosaur, the e-zine officially went live on November 8, just 72 hours after the first editorial meeting. Complete with photographs, videos and comics, Torontosaur covers everything from the future of gaming to advice on how to make pancakes. 

 

While the project was student-driven, the students weren't entirely on their own. Experienced Toronto journalists were on-hand to offer advice and help out along the way. The guest experts included Yonge’s own Hamutal Dotan, senior editor and co-owner of Spacing magazine (also former Yonge Street managing editor) Shawn Micallef, and MyCityLives founder Adil Dhalla. 

 

"The guest experts worked really closely with the students" says Tom Barker, chair of the Digital Futures Initiative. "They were really hands-on and certainly helped direct the magazine."

 

"By the time the experts arrived on the first night, the students were already so organized, working together and divided into separate departments. So each editor worked closely with a separate department."

The high-school guest editors also contributed to the final product. They worked closely with the team, providing feedback on what they like to see online and, says Barker, "even producing content."
 

The project is officially finished, though Barker anticipates that the DFI students will continue to update the magazine as volunteers.  

 

"Torontosaur is not over," the team tweeted late Sunday night. "We just needed to sleep."