Harnessing the Power of Video

Monday, Feb 22, the New York Times ran a tech-forward article about Tufts University Admissions, now accepting YouTube videos as a “delightful way to get to know the applicants.”

High School Seniors made videos as an essay supplement to the application for general undergraduate admission. There is tremendous value in allowing applicants to present themselves visually, and take full use of technologies that many in this college-bound generation grew up with.

A few quotes directly from the article (available at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/education/23tufts.html):

“We’ve got some who are really good with the technology, there’s a real technical savvy out there in this generation, and this lets them show off their splicing, their stop action, their animation,” said Lee Coffin, the dean of undergraduate admissions.

Even without prompting, admissions officials say, a growing number of students submit videos. Maria Laskaris, the dean of admissions at Dartmouth, noticed the trend last year, and said this year had brought even more videos, mostly showcasing music, theater or dance talents.

At heart, this is all about a conversation between a kid and an admissions officer

This also reminds me a little of  Google’s 2008 Project, YouTube Symphony, where musicians uploaded auditions for a free trip to Carnegie Hall, to play a commission from Tan Dun, under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas. A few words from Tan Dun can be found here (http://bit.ly/19EyUM).

The benefits with using a platform like ArtsApp for rich media is in the administrative backend reporting, privacy, control and integration with the existing application process. We hope to reach out to you as social web technologies continue to show value as educational tools.