This is may seem like a very unorthodox post, and rather an odd theory, but as a student who has been interested in science his whole life, I feel many students and parents should know how I feel Youtube is revolutionizing education.
So What Am I Talking About?
As I am writing this post, I feel that many should try to realize better how to utilize one of humanity's greatest resource today, Youtube. This all started when a parent asked me, how should they help expand their child's exposure to science and give them more opportunities in learning more science beyond our classes. My response, was probably considered very unorthodox, but I responded by saying, "let your kid watch more Youtube."
That's right, no reading more books, no tutoring, no additional classes, no prep, nothing. I said, "just watch Youtube." And you maybe wondering why, but it all comes down to my theory on how people balance learning and entertainment. Usually, kids are told that learning and entertainment is distinctly two things, and I don't blame the parents that make that claim. It's obviously right at first glance, but it's important to ask one question: "what if learning is entertainment?"
Think about it, if one spends 1 hour learning and 1 hour of entertainment, what if the same person can spend two hours learning but consider it entertainment? This was a thing I realized a few years ago, and due to my parents being largely lenient on my controlling my screen time, I think their approach worked.
I am not one who likes playing video games, but likes spending time learning. However, at the same time, I am not a studious saint always reading or doing workbooks either. I feel learning only becomes fun, when we don't classify it as a burden. That's where youtube came in my life a few years ago. When I was little, like many parents my parents also put cartoons on for me to watch on Youtube, and let me play basic web-games and such. However things really changed for me, when they got me my first computer. It was at that point I could start messing with computers, play whatever I want, and read whatever I wanted. They didn't overly limit me in terms of "I can only spend so and so amount of hours" per day, and other time in doing homework. They said, "get your homework done" before it's due, but it doesn't matter whatever you listen to, or however many hours I spent on the computer.
At this point, after some time passed, I realized there was no true fun in playing games, and I think the novelty of spending hours on the computer really wore off. At this point, I was actively only using the computer when I really needed it, and was reasonably productive when using it.
And some time later, I discovered Youtube. Youtube was amazing, I could watch anything to my heart's content, videos on cars, rockets, gadgets, science, whatever I wanted. It was truly liberating to discover all the amazing things on the platform. Then over the years, I came to discover that Youtube is probably one of the best sources that I have utilized to expand my general knowledge.
So What's The Point?
This post is simple. As people like myself, and my friend Shiven, in effort of trying to get kids to expand their knowledge and foster new interests, we feel that Youtube is one of the great ways to expand upon this for kids outside of our class. What we suggest in this article shouldn't be forced at your son/daughter. They can if they want to, they don't need to. It's all about finding their personal interest and letting their internal passion to learn more drive them.
In this post, we have enclosed a list of channels with probably the best quality educational content on Youtube. All of it is clean and kid friendly, and is largely educational. Not all of it is science, some of it spans stuff like interesting economics or worldly news, but we feel that no matter the genre, in this list, most kids will find something they like. These channels if at worst, will boost your child's general knowledge, a key factor that we believe is important to grow from an early age. Understanding the world around you, from a scientific standpoint to a socio-economic view and all other forces, is how people grow and progress.
Where's THE LIST?
Okay, enough rambling, here's the list. In this list, we have included partial descriptions of each channel and hyperlinked it. We would suggest your child see this post and select and watch whatever he/she wants. For sure, they will find something they like, and as a result will learn something new from the channels. Youtube is a hotbed of people making high quality content, and this list has a few of our favorites. Over time we will add on to this list if we forgot anything! Thank You, and please let us know if you have questions.
NileRed- Talks about Chemistry that is really interesting, highly recommend
Mark Rober- Talks about engineering videos in a fun way, also recommend
Kurzgesagt- In a Nutshell- Cool videos that talk about concepts to a deep depth, covers many different topics of science also recommend
SciShow- General Science and various science topics- Recommend
ASAPscience- General Science and various science topics- Recommend
MinuteEarth- General Science and various science topics I highly recommend.
BeyondScience- General Science and various science topics I highly recommend.
ColdFusion-Some Science and Some Non-science, but all are interesting topics that can be about tech, business, but truly interesting and will learn a lot- highly recommend.
Engineering Explained- If into cars, or cool machines like fancy engines and anything that does with speed, it's really interesting and I highly recommend.
Wendover Productions- "Wendover Productions is all about explaining how our world works. From travel, to economics, to geography, to marketing and more, every video will leave you with a little better understanding of our world."
Half As Interesting- Interesting education-y videos about science and non-science topics like history and other random things, very interesting and will always learn something new, highly recommend.
Mustard- Very well illustrated videos about airplanes and other things like rockets, highly recommend.
Brew- Many interesting science videos, and non science but guaranteed he will learn something new also- recommend
Summoning Salt- Videos about video game theory, and game design, which goes over how people tackled video game World Records in an interesting way.
Riddle- Doomsday science, which is interesting, fun to watch, and cool to learn. I recommend it.
ChubbyEmu- Talks about unique medical situations in an interesting way that digs deep into Biology & Biochemistry, also recommend.
OverSimplified- This channels talks about great historical events in a approachable and simple manner with fun graphics and narration. I recommend this even though there is no science.
ExtraCredits- This channel talks about interesting theories on history, academia, game theory, literature and more in a fun way. I also recommend.
Kento Bento- Animated documentary-style videos on Science, History, but with emphasis on notable asian events.
Megaprojects- Explorative narrative on interesting archaeological and geological projects around the world.
Gotham Chess- Interesting tactics on chess, ratings, strategy, with lots of descriptions and explanations on what the "pros" do in terms of tactic.
Barely Sociable- An interesting channel, with some analysis on grim and unknown and unexplained parts on the internet. Highly interesting, but watch with discretion.
RealLifeLore - Animated commentary on world problems, including interesting scientific solutions.
BioArk - Animated commentary on biological processes and uncommon biological facts.
I can reasonably guarantee that your child will find something interesting in this list. I almost always learn something new everyday from watching something from this list of channels. It's truly entertaining and of very high quality, all of these videos. None of these channels are ranked best to worst in this list, rather I just wrote down the list as I remembered it.
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