YouTube is sometimes underrated as an EdTech tool for the classroom, perhaps due to the potential to stumble across inappropriate material, or the risk of students getting side-tracked by ‘suggested’ videos and ending up watching skateboard tricks and cute puppy montages instead of educational videos!
But as long as you’re in control of the mouse, there are a whole host of fantastic YouTube channels out there with great educational content for teachers to take advantage of. Here are 7 of the best…
YouTube for Teachers
1. Big Think
This fantastic channel encourages students to expand their horizons and their ambitions by featuring videos of some of the world’s leading thinkers and innovators on a wide and diverse range of topics. The channel is engaging for younger students, with questions like ‘Can 4th Graders Teach World Peace?’ and features such as ‘A day in the life of your gut’. But it also serves as a great introduction to important academic concepts and schools of thought for older students, from physics to philosophy.
2. Intelligence Squared
Great for introducing students to the art of debate and the academic techniques of weighing up both sides of an argument, this channel features debates from excellent world famous speakers and thinkers on topics from religion to political beliefs.
3. American Museum of Natural History
This great channel includes a host of fascinating videos on topics from birds to algae to whales! The perfect starting point for almost any biology topic, the channel also features brilliant shorter ‘science bulletins’ updating viewers on the latest news and developments from the world of natural history.
4. Spoken Verse
A brilliant collection of over 400 famous poems and pieces of literature read aloud.
5. Thinkr
An excellent platform for introducing students to diverse ideas, arguments and debates, Thinkr promises to expose the viewer to “the people, stories, ideas that will change your mind”. From Tedx teen talks to hip hop remixes of science, its classroom applications are endless, from debate starters to essay inspiration.
6. Khan Academy
A go-to resource for teachers of almost any subject, Khan Academy features hundreds of videos on a massive variety of academic topics, organised helpfully by subject. It’s a great resource for teachers experimenting with the flipped classroom, as it enables students to watch a video explaining the basics of a particular topic before engaging on questions and tasks in the classroom.
7. National Geographic
This fantastic collection of short videos from National Geographic introduces students to a whole host of natural and biological topics, from animals and their habitats to mountain exploration.
Are there any particular YouTube channels for teachers that you would recommend? Is YouTube even a source you consider for class resources? Let us know in the comments below!
Feature image courtesy of Flickr, gothopotam.
I like “jaromir’s Grammar Ear” small homespun English language videos, but then I would say that cause I make them :) for fun :)
Thanks Scott! Keep on keeping on!
Extremely helpful list. Thank you! I would love to hear from people whether Big Think is worth paying the subscription for.
YouTube has a plethora of resources. This is a topic I would love to see discussion on because I feel there are a lot of hidden jewels out there.
For science I really like https://www.youtube.com/user/bozemanbiology?feature=watch. I think Paul Andersen does a wonderful job on these videos. They are very informative.
Great discussion. I would add http://www.youtube.com/educationuofa to the list.