Ruby is a student in her first year at the University of Exeter, she started creating videos about studying whilst working towards her GCSEs and now she has over 340,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel. I saw Ruby deliver a brilliant keynote speech at the Change Agents Network Conference 2019 and I thought it was worth sharing the key ideas behind the movement she is involved in.
Ruby is part of a new movement called StudyTube – where students share their study tips and encourage others to study along with them using videos. The viewers use these to motivate them, helping them to stay focused and feel less lonely through sharing their experience. It replicates online some of the elements which students get from working in a library, or in study groups where you feel motivated by seeing those around you studying. You can see some of her videos on her YouTube channel.
The key here is authenticity. People like Ruby are creating these videos, becoming advocates for good and healthy study habits which encourage others to do the same. The different types of people sharing these experiences helps to provide multiple perspectives on the experience of university. Prospective students and current students see others going through a similar experience to them, or having the type of experience they would wish to have, making university feel more inclusive as well as providing them with really good study advice.