YouTube Doubles Down On Education
While it is starting to feel like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram are all morphing into one app, YouTube continues to differentiate itself with investment into learning and education. As the second largest search engine in the world, YouTube has become one of the most important education destinations on the internet. Whether you’re studying for a calculus test or you need help fixing your thermostat, YouTube has you covered in ways TikTok and Instagram simply do not.
To continue distancing itself ahead of the pack, YouTube is launching two new features, which they announced on their 9/8 blog, The Next Chapter For Learning on YouTube. In short, the two new features “allow learners to go deeper on subjects they are passionate about and creators to provide structured learning content.”
Player For Education:
There are hundreds of different types of educational channels on YouTube. Each of these has different needs to best distribute its content. Identifying that educational organizations, such as universities, are now using YouTube to host and distribute content to students, YouTube has created a more robust “Player for Education,” to fit their needs. Jonathan Katzman, Director of Product Management at YouTube Learning writes, “To improve the YouTube experience in educational environments, we’re launching YouTube Player for Education — a new YouTube embedded player that shows content on commonly used education apps without distractions like ads, external links, or recommendations.” While these changes likely do not have any impact on the creators who read this blog, I do start to wonder how companies / sponsors such as Skillshare and UDemy might be impacted as more and more premium educational content gets stored on YouTube.
Interactive Learning:
To that point, YouTube is making a massive move for the creator economy by announcing that they will soon launch two new interactive features: courses and quizzes. YouTube writes, “Next year, qualified creators can begin offering free or paid Courses to provide in-depth, structured learning experiences for viewers. Viewers who choose to buy a Course can watch the video ad-free and play it in the background. Courses will arrive first in the United States and South Korea in beta before expanding to more countries.” And lastly, YouTube shares they are launching interactive “quizzes” for both free and paid content. “Finally, to help learners apply what they’ve learned, we’re introducing Quizzes — a new way for creators to help viewers test their knowledge.”
In my opinion, educational, how-to, and DIY creators would be wise to reach out to their contacts at YouTube to try to get involved in the beta. Education and learning is a major initiative at YouTube. For that reason, YouTube is doing everything possible to support content creators in producing exceptional educational content. If you are hoping to grow your channel or better monetize your educational content, consider reaching out to YouTube and seeing if you qualify to participate in these new feature betas.
