M.I.T. Taking Student Blogs to Nth Degree By TAMAR LEWIN The New York Times October 2, 2009
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Cristen Chinea, a senior at M.I.T., made a confession in her blog on the college Web site. "There've been several times when I felt like I didn't really fit in at M.I.T.," she wrote. "I nearly fell asleep during a Star Wars marathon. It wasn't a result of sleep deprivation. I was bored out of my mind." Still, in other ways, Ms. Chinea feels right at home at the institute - she loves the anime club, and that her hall has its own wiki Web site and an Internet Relay for real-time messaging. As she wrote on her blog, a hallmate once told her that "M.I.T. is the closest you can get to living in the Internet," and Ms. Chinea reported, "IT IS SO TRUE. Love. It. So. Much." Dozens of colleges - including Amherst, Bates, Carleton, Colby, Vassar, Wellesley and Yale - are embracing student blogs on their Web sites, seeing them as a powerful marketing tool for high school students, who these days are less interested in official messages and statistics than in first-hand narratives and direct interaction with current students. But so far, none of the blogs match the interactivity and creativity of those of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where they are posted prominently on the admissions homepage, along with hundreds of responses from prospective applicants - all unedited. Not every admissions office has been so ready to welcome uncensored student writing. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/education/02blogs.html *********************************** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *********************************** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
