Whether you need help with homework or want to expand your trivia knowledge, YouTube’s many educational channels are there for you.
Recently, my dad was trying to fix something that had gone wrong with our van. After getting a few estimates from dealers, all of which were several hundred dollars, he tried searching for solutions to his problem on YouTube. There, he found a video that taught him how he could do the repair himself while only spending seven dollars for the necessary parts.
Why do I share this anecdote? To show that YouTube is more than a bottomless pit of cat videos and ‘Let It Go’ parodies. In fact, YouTube can be a treasure trove of knowledge. British scientist Thomas Huxley advised that you should “try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” I assume you’re going to college because you want to learn everything about some particular field that interests you. As for the other half of his recommendation, to learn a little bit about everything, YouTube can be a great educational resource.
Perhaps one of the most well-known producers of these educational videos is John Green, who has been in the news more recently for his work as the author of the popular book and film adaptation, The Fault in Our Stars. He and his brother Hank run two YouTube channels, “vlogbrothers” and “CrashCourse.” The two channels combined have garnered over four million subscribers. Their short (usually ten minute) videos, with titles such as “Money & Debt,” “Intro to Psychology” and “Human Population Growth,” make it easy to gain an introductory knowledge about a variety of subjects.
There are many YouTube channels that focus on particular subjects. Science-focused channels such as “vsauce” or “Veritasium” answer theoretical questions such as, “If everyone in the world jumped at the same time, would it cause an earthquake?” Or there’s the “PBS Idea Channel,” which uses theories of philosophy, math and art to examine different aspects of modern culture. Plus, you can stay up to date with current events or politics with channels such as “Phillip DeFranco” or “The Young Turks.”
So what makes these channels, many of which are independently produced on a limited budget, so effective? First, the videos are relatively short, so we college students who lack the attention span to sit through a forty minute lecture without checking our smartphones can still learn something. The content of the videos is delivered in an entertaining way, making it easy to pay attention. The channel hosts present the information in an informal manner, with likable personalities and connections to modern culture that keep the subject relevant and interesting.
If you have the self-discipline to avoid getting distracted by videos of cats falling off shelves and babies dunking basketballs, you have thousands of years’ worth of thinking and discovery available at your fingertips. Learn a little bit about everything, and, who knows, maybe one day you will win a million-dollar trivia game show.