GetOut of My Space!

The Times ran a short piece in last week's Public Agenda section reporting that the Times HES says that under-graduate students are rejecting attempts by tutors to colonise spaces such as YouTube and MySpace.

According to a poll by Ipsos MORI:

students regard the virtual worlds as a place for entertainment, socialising and information-gathering.

This doesn't really surprise me - the idea of getting a tutor's mugshot on my friends list on FaceBook is as cheesy and toe curling as the supply teacher using "street slang" in an attempt to get down with the kids.

Of course, this runs contrary to another report a few weeks ago in the Gruaniad, and picked up by Donald Clark, stating that an MIT lecturer's iPod videos are doing a roaring trade. I suspect the difference is that, as Donald says, his are quite excellent examples and are being picked up by all comers, rather than the rather tatty, droning automaton working in the local FE college who is looking to fill his/her evenings by starting online relationships with their students...