What used to be a depository of cat videos and dimly-lit vlogs has
quickly become the Internet giant of all kinds of video content. YouTube
is now the go-to place for nearly any video you could want — and that
makes it
a wonderful educational resource.
Whether you want to
learn about sex,
learn about STEM fields,
learn about cars, or
learn about photography, YouTube has you covered. There’s even a YouTube kids app for
educational content aimed at children, and there are certain steps you can take to
optimize your YouTube learning experience.
Today we’re going to take a look at 10 educational YouTube channels
that are so funny and fascinating that you’ll want to sit down and
binge-watch all of the content they’ve produced over the last few years.
What Is Marathoning?
Marathoning, or
binge-watching,
is when you watch large amounts of content all at once. Think of it as
the Netflix model. Instead of watching one YouTube video every week as
it’s released, you find a channel that you love and watch several years
of videos in the span of a few hours or days.
Like it or not, this is the model to which we’re moving. Having
TV shows
that air at specific times on specific dates is becoming a thing of the
past. Many people record their favorite TV shows to watch when they
want, and YouTube and Netflix are basically made for this kind of
consumption. In fact, many folks — especially the younger generation —
are
ditching traditional cable for more versatile streaming options.
It might not seem practical to sit down and watch hours of a single
YouTube channel’s videos, but once you find a channel you really love,
you’ll find that it hard to stop. And besides, they’re educational, so
you be comforted by the knowledge you’re acquiring!
CGP Grey is a legend within the YouTube community. His videos are known for explaining extremely complex topics (like
gerrymandering,
first past the post voting, and the
process of becoming the Pope) and making them interesting and relatable.
You’ll never see his face; instead, you’ll see graphics, images, and
drawings explain everything, which means this is very visual rather than
just someone talking at you. Occasionally you’ll see a stick figure guy
sitting at a desk explaining things, but that’s a part of his signature
style.
His most popular video, shown above, explains the difference between
the United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England. It currently has almost 8
million views, and as an American, it taught me so much about that
confusing mess of islands across the ocean.
He doesn’t release videos that often — maybe one every couple of
months — but he has built up an impressive backlog for you to tackle in a
few sittings.
Physics can be a tough subject to wrap your mind around. It deals
with such complex subjects, often on huge, unimaginable scales, and it
can be difficult to get a concrete idea of what is actually being
discussed.
But physics is super interesting, and MinutePhysics has tons of short
videos (under five minutes, often under three minutes) that allow you
to get all of the interesting with none of the confusing. The drawings
illustrate concepts that might otherwise be too abstract to comprehend.
This channel’s most popular video, shown above, deals with the
classic question: What happens when an unstoppable force meets an
immovable object? The other videos deal with topics ranging from
Schrodinger’s cat, through
parallel universes, to
why the solar system is flat, and things are explained that you might never have thought to question, like,
Why is the sky dark at night? And,
What exactly is fire?
Recently, the upload schedule has been inconsistent, but again,
you’ll find a large backlog of wonderful content just waiting to be
binge-watched.
What’s that? You find science fascinating but hate that it’s always
explained in such a dull way? Well, worry no longer, because AsapSCIENCE
has your back.
Run by Canadians Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown, AsapSCIENCE is
home to tons of videos explaining scientific concepts — again by using
drawings. It’s a similar style to MinutePhysics, but covering a wide
range of scientific concepts, including classic questions like,
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? And, What hurts worse,
getting kicked in the balls or giving birth? You can even find more adult topics addressed, like
penis size,
orgasms, and
marijuana.
More recently, Mitchell and Gregory have been appearing in videos
themselves to explain topics, giving their channel a nice diversity of
content. They have
a whole playlist of interesting illusions,
and their most popular video (over 20 million views!) brings us back to
the “What color is this dress?” fiasco from earlier this year (shown
above).
Seriously, even if you don’t like science, you have to give this
channel a try. You’ll find you love science after watching just a few
videos.
Veritasium is a YouTube channel with such high production values that
you’ll feel like you’re watching a real TV show. Instead of drawings,
you’ll walk through the streets with Derek Muller as he goes to
different locations to try out various experiments and test different
scientific concepts. It feels like a real science show — because it is.
With over 3 million subscribers, this is no amateur YouTube channel.
Derek’s videos tend to be on the longer side of YouTube — around 10
minutes — but that’s because he really delves deeply into the various
questions and ideas, and explores them to their conclusion. The length
makes them even more ideal for binge-watching, since you’ll be changing
videos less often.
You can meet the
world’s roundest object, learn about
how the six degrees of separation work, and find out if
silence actually drives you crazy. Give it a shot. You’ll love it.
“Hey, Vsauce, Michael here.” Trust me, that’s a phrase you’re going
to hear a lot. Every video on this YouTube channel subscribed to by 9
million people and counting starts with that sentence, and Michael
Stevens’ iconic voice and persona are sure to draw you in right away.
Vsauce is about exploring the bizarre, about answering the questions
you never thought to ask, and about teaching you something in a way you
wouldn’t expect. You’ll mostly see his talking head, occasionally with
graphics or images to demonstrate different ideas, but this channel is
very much made by Michael’s charismatic personality.
Find out
who owns the moon,
why we kiss, and is
your red the same as everyone else’s red?
His most popular video, “What if everyone jumped at once?” (shown
above) has over 17 million views. Watch one, and you’ll be sure to want
to watch more.
I’m not going to lie, the word “math” always conjures up memories of
hours of boring homework for me — so I wouldn’t be recommending this
channel unless it was genuinely fantastic. It’s an entire YouTube
channel themed around mathematics, specifically around numbers (as the
name might suggest).
Anything related to numbers is fair game, from
how big infinity is through what a
googol and googolplex are to
what 666 is. You can even learn
how to shuffle cards or how to cut a cake (shown above).
Numberphile’s concept — making videos about numbers — sounds boring,
but watch a couple of videos and you’ll be hooked. People are
interviewed about fascinating, obscure ideas that you may never have
heard about otherwise, and they talk about it in understandable terms.
This is math made accessible to the masses.
We can’t talk about all these other science channels without talking
about SciShow. SciShow is one of the classics — it was even around back
in 2012 when
we talked about scientific YouTube channels, and it has got even better since then.
SciShow’s main goal is to make science accessible to everyone. So, in
order to reach that goal, everything talked about is discussed in a way
that even science amateurs like myself can understand. SciShow explain
what anesthesia does to your brain,
how to escape quicksand,
do you really only use 10% of your brain, and,
What happens after you flush the toilet?
Most of the videos tend to be short, around five minutes, but they often delve deeper into topics that require it (like
overpopulation) and SciShow has a series of videos called Quick Questions that answers specific questions in under 3 minutes, like,
What does your uvula do?
With a constant stream of new videos, you’ll likely never run out of content, and there’s something for everyone, from a
Quiz Show, to a
Talk Show, from a
List Show, to a
News Show. Get to watching!
Crash Course offers the gold standard of educational videos. The production quality of its animations is amazing, and the topics range from
economics, to
astronomy, and from
the U.S. Government, to
World History, and more!
These videos are legitimate educational materials used in schools all
over the United States — and for good reason. They’re well-made,
they’re insightful, they’re interesting, and best of all, they’re
fun.
If you had told me in high school that after graduating I would
willingly sit down in my free time and watch hours of educational videos
about world history, I would have called you crazy. But now as an
adult, I’ve done just that.
If you’re curious about a topic or even still in school studying, these are videos that can really help you.
Healthcare is confusing. And I don’t just mean the crazy healthcare
system in the U.S., but in general. Trying to find out what is best for
you is a nightmare. What is actually healthy? What’s a myth? How do you
sift through thousands of studies and decide which were done well?
Thankfully, Healthcare Triage has done the sifting for us. They go
through all of the studies, the evidence, and the science, and present
the audience with fact-based videos to help inform their lives.
You can learn
how vaccines don’t cause autism,
how organic food isn’t better for you, and
how video games don’t cause violence — all backed up by reputable sources that are linked in the descriptions of the videos.
You won’t find a more entertaining format for learning about healthcare. It’s a boring topic, but so necessary to learn about.
Maybe you have just graduated high school or college and moved out on
your own. Maybe you’ve been living on your own for a while now but
still haven’t quite figured out what you’re doing. If so, you might be
asking yourself, how do I adult?
How to Adult is one of the most useful things out there for anyone
just trying to figure out how to handle the basic things we aren’t
taught in school. What’s the
difference between renting or buying a house?
How do you do your taxes?
How do you do laundry?
How do you write a resume?
If you have any kind of question about how to do something you should
probably know how to do, How to Adult has you covered. This channel
covers a wide array of topics from career advice to relationship tips to
how to handle your mental health. For practical, real-world advice that
you can use in your day-to-day life, look no further.
Source:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/educational-youtube-channels-marathoning/
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