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The Importance of YouTube in Education

Image: MakeUseOf.com


By Steve Armstrong*

Online education is becoming virally spreading across every corner. Many students and even lecturers are moving away from the traditional methods of studying and teaching. Comparing the education systems about 10-15 years back to the present times, many students are given assignments to research on, topics discussed in class, and many write-ups to provoke out-of-the-box thinking plus self-learning.

With the developed technology and a generation moving away from physical pen and paper to mobile, tab, palmtop, etc., access to online education looks more practical and a timely solution.

Solution providers such as YouTube have taken the responsibility of helping our generation move forward in this manner.

Evolution of Education

From the days of early civilization, we are pushed through a process of learning, from one generation to another. This process of learning habits, cultures, sciences, lifestyles, and skills is defined as 'education'. Our ancestors started off their education by learning how to rub two stones to build a fire, how the leaves and barks could be used as means to cover their bodies, how to look at the sky and predict rainfall for the coming days, and so on.

Looking at society now, being educated in one or more aspects is a requirement for a profitable survival. At the age of five, a person starts his primary education to a retired person, education takes you through an undying process. With the rising importance of being educated the cost of attaining this education doubles. Many institutions are coming up with university-affiliated degrees and so on. However, with time, the most obvious questions come up, such as 'How much could an average earner spend on his/her children’s studies?' 'In a fast-paced society is it practical to attend each and every lecture moving from one course to another while balancing family and work as well?'

Doorway of YouTube education

Identifying the above as an opportunity from a marketing angle, few companies launched online learning programs at a cost. Among the few, YouTube, a video-sharing website now owned by Google, made a bold decision to make education freely available to those who seek it. They extended to an educational arm allowing the users to access videos of their aspect of interest at no cost. In 2011 YouTube announced that they had an 80% increase in hits on their educational videos and they believe their investment in this has been fruitful.

Best Educational Channels on YouTube

YouTube has mainly three categories of education, namely Primary and Secondary, University and Lifelong Learning.

A few of the best educational channels on the website are explained below.

1. Research Channel provides new information about the scientific world. It mainly targets the audience that would be interested in knowing information such as new gene modifications, new cures for cancer, and improvements in nanotechnology, etc. Once in a while, they let popular figures such as Bill Gates’ discussions be run on this channel.

2. National Geographic Channel is a must-subscribe channel on YouTube regardless of age. There are thousands of videos that could answer many curious questions in one’s mind.

3. Sometimes, being bombarded by information, could easily bore you, yet the Discovery channel has a twist to it. The channel provides educational information with the flair of entertainment and fun, which makes the channel more interesting letting itself stand out among the other channels.

4. The Khan Academy is also another popular website initiated in 2006 by a well-known celebrity, Salman Khan. This website provides over 4000 micro-lessons with useful information doing justice to their aim of providing high-quality education anytime anywhere. Yet, there are a few critics claiming that the website has been less interactive recently, however, the benefit of the channel is indisputable.

Discussed above are only a few of the top educational channels on YouTube, but we all know there are many more. Personally having written this, I too realized the importance we should give in educating ourselves when information is readily available for free just one click away. After all, we reap what we sow. Isn’t it? We invest our time and we gain knowledge in less than double proportion.

(*) Steve Armstrong writes for a college paper writing service at www.solidessay.com where he consults students on how to write research papers and theses. Read more here.

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2 Comments

  1. I think YouTube can be a great platform for education. PowerPoint presentations are great for lectures, and YouTube videos can enhance them and also they would be easy for students to understand. YouTube videos can often be cited as references or used to prove a point which will again be great effort to help students understand things in better and easy way.

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  2. Hi,
    I am Rebecca Antinozzi I am school teacher. Youtube has brought a great revolution in the field of education. Education is now closely related to YouTube. With the help of YouTube, a video sharing social networking site, the quality of education has developed. In the modern era YouTube place great position. Both the students and the teachers are getting best results in education to use YouTube. Thanks for this great post.

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