More Than a Decade of Educational Content on YouTube
I have been a regular consumer of educational content on YouTube for the past decade and it has formed my knowledge, world view, and personality alongside the Czech formal educational system. In this essay, I shall dive into the research to better understand how free educational video content on social media sites such as YouTube has affected students like myself as well as education in a broader sense. I will also explore some of the unique strengths of this form of education as well as its pitfalls compared to formal education. Finally, I encourage the reader to dive down the rabbit hole of educational content on YouTub and form their own opinion on this unusual educational landscape.
A Taste of the Research
Much research has been conducted relating to educational content and science communication on social media and YouTube specifically, especially in recent years. Some researchers concentrate on educational videos as a medium supporting the formal education of students, for example, Aldallal et al. (2019) examine YouTube as a learning resource in oral surgery among undergraduate dental students, or Rayenda et al. examine the benefits of YouTube videos for undergraduate students in engineering and technology in India. Others investigate YouTube videos in a broader sense of science communication and lifelong learning, such as Davis et al (2020) who analyze the effect infotainment has on learning compared to more traditional expository narration. Scholarly articles also address concerns regarding the reliability of the information provided in YouTube videos, as done by Hawryluk et al (2021) who examine the quality of videos with medical information specifically about the Frailty Syndrome on YouTube. In a similar vein, Abdulhadi Shoufan (2019) uses learning analytics to investigate the quality of educational videos on YouTube and how they support cognitive features.
Kohler and Dietrich (2021) examine two prevalent perspectives taken in the literature relating to online educational video, Knowledge Gap Hypothesis and Learning Styles Models. The Knowledge Gap Hypothesis emphasizes the differences in knowledge growth between groups. Factors such as a student’s existing knowledge, communication skills, and social contact affect how much they learn through online video even in an otherwise low barrier learning environment. Learning Styles Models emphasize differences between individuals, rather than groups. People have different learning preferences and the format in which educational content is provided affects the efficiency of learning. It has been shown that students with a dominant visual mode gravitate toward video more, the medium can also be highly efficient for kinesthetic learners if experiments are shown. Learners with an auditory preference for learning can also benefit from online lectures and to some extent also discissions in the comment section. Media literacy is also a major consideration in regards to learning on platforms such as YouTube, learners must have developed information-seeking and evaluation skills as well as basic computer literacy for it to be a viable tool for independent informal learning.
The social internet has brought with it a revolution not only in teaching methods but also in the democratization of the production of educational content. Aside from concerns about the factual quality of such content, the presentation style of amateur and enthusiast educational content creators is dramatically different from that which is more traditionally employed in formal education. It has been found, that these videos are perceived as less trustworthy than the ones employing traditional narrative methods, however, videos in an infotainment style receive more views and viewers remember more from them, it can therefore be an appropriate format for science communication. (Davis et al, 2020) Godwin et al (2017) came to the same conclusion when they analyzed public comments on a viral schizophrenia simulation video on YouTube. The three-minute video was able to reach a broad audience and was received mostly positively, leading to a better understanding of the topic from the public even without funding for marketing.
Bello-Bravo et al (2021) researched the factors that affect the impact of Internet-delivered informal learning. Specifically, they evaluated the impact of short animated videos from the YouTube Channel Scientific Animations Without Borders of the Michigan State University in the US. It was shown that YouTube’s analytical and statistical metrics do correlate to awareness, consideration, and action, even though further research is needed in understanding the cultural significance of actions like subscribing, liking, and commenting, and the effect aspects such as gender and English level of the speaker have on these metrics in animated versus live videos.
However, one of the flaws of many studies analyzing educational videos on social media sites, including the aforementioned one, is that they assume a straightforward correlation between having more information and being more knowledgeable, which does not have to be the case, especially in long term. (Kohler and Dietrich, 2021)
What Have We Learned?
On one hand, YouTube has a plethora of freely available educational videos, which can assist the informal learning of learners with multiple learning preferences. The quality of the videos varies and depends on their authorship, however, the quality was mostly found to be good (Aldallal et al, 2019; Hawryluk, 2021). The engaging and entertaining format allows for a greater reach of the information and students remember more from them compared to more traditional forms of information communication. YouTube analytics has also been shown to be a decent indicator of the impact of educational content. For these reasons, YouTube videos can be an appropriate form for science communication and support informal lifelong learning.
On the other hand, students which are already more knowledgeable and which have existing advanced media and computer literacy skills, like myself, learn more and faster than their less privileged peers. In this sense, online educational videos can deepen the existing socio-economic divide.
Down the Rabbit Hole
Almost anything can be learned on YouTube, no matter how niche the knowledge may seem. From practical skills like cooking, knitting, or bookbinding to complex concepts in philosophy, physics, or medicine; from random bits of knowledge to full-on academic courses. While user-generated open educational content on social media sites can never replace the role of more comprehensive formal education and while it is not as big of a socioeconomic leveler as it may seem at first, it is still an invaluable medium for engaging and entertaining learning. Therefore I encourage the reader to dip their toes in the depths of the accumulated free educational content on YouTube, just select a topic of interest and ponder the future of educational videos on social media platforms.
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References
Aldallal, S. N., Yates, J. M, & Ajrash, M. (2019). Use of YouTube as a Self-Directed Learning Resource in Oral Surgery Among Undergraduate Dental Students: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study.” 57 (10), 1049–1052. doi:10.1016/j.bjoms.2019.09.010
Bello-Bravo, J., Payumo, J., & Pittendrigh, B. (2021). Measuring the impact and reach of informal educational videos on YouTube: The case of Scientific Animations Without Borders. Heliyon, 7(12), E08508. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844021026116
Davis, L. S., León, B., Bourk, M. J., & Finkler, W. (2020). Transformation of the media landscape: Infotainment versus expository narrations for communicating science in online videos. Public understanding of science (Bristol, England), 29(7), 688–701. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662520945136
Godwin, H. T., Khan, M., & Yellowlees, P. (2017). The Educational Potential of YouTube. Academic psychiatry: the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry, 41(6), 823–827. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-017-0809-y
Hawryluk, N. M., Stompór, M., & Joniec, E. Z. (2021). Concerns of Quality and Reliability of Educational Videos Focused on Frailty Syndrome on YouTube Platform. Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland), 7(1). https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/7/1/3
Kohler, S. & Dietrich, T. C. (2021). Potentials and Limitations of Educational Videos on YouTube for Science Communication. Frontiers in Communication, 6. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2021.581302/full
Rayenda, B. H., Buddayya, R., & Nagaraja, L. G. (2019). Benefits of Videos in YouTube for the Undergraduate Students in Engineering and Technology in India. Webology, 16(2), 57–71. https://www.webology.org/abstract.php?id=58
Shoufan, A. (2019). Estimating the Cognitive Value of YouTube’s Educational Videos: A Learning Analytics Approach. Comput. Hum. Behav. 92, 450–458. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2018.03.036
