Happy Thanksgiving!
For most of my life, educational programming on TV was limited to a few well-tested formats: Documentaries based on a particular format of photos or video with a narrator and talking heads, or children’s programming. Because of the cost of operating a station, educational programming was limited to public broadcasting or the depths of extended cable. Today, once edutainment-driven channels like TLC and the History Channel now feature shows about child beauty pageants, giant families, pawn shops, and fishermen. It’s fortunate, then, that YouTube has risen to more than cover our needs.
There are literally hundreds of YouTube channels dedicated to educating the YouTube audience. If you’re looking to broaden your horizons, there is now a seemingly endless stream of educational channels for you to do so. These are targeted to a wide variety of ages, so finding the right one for you or your kids is certainly doable.
I’ll let author and CrashCourse co-founder John Green explain:
Some of my favorite channels are the Green brothers’ CrashCourse, channels from PBS Digital Studios, such as Idea Channel and Space Time, and the excellent The Great War Channel (which tells the story of WWI in “100 years ago this week” snippets.
I encourage you to check out these channels, and find others that fit your interests. Maybe, over your holiday or semester breaks, you might learn something wonderful!
The Reporter 