YouTube/Techdesignwork

On Monday, YouTube announced plans to spend $20 million (£15.4 million) on educational content; a substantial sum that’ll see money given to independent creators, alongside a handful of news sites and online learning firms.

Pitched by YouTube boss Susan Wojcicki as a way to bolster “high quality learning content,” the investment includes a new fund for YouTubers, as well as a dedicated channel called Learning. To people give a taste of what to expect, YouTube revealed that the YouTube channels TED-ed – centred on educational TED talks – and Hank and John Green’s Crash Course have both secured unspecified amounts of funding.


Education, education, education. YouTube has long been a resource for the self-taught, and the sheer vastness of Google’s search means it finds itself lecturing on everything from canoeing to sex ed; a Borgesian library with ‘hit subscribe’ carved on the crest. But the site’s authority as a reliable source of information has also been undercut as of late, by algorithms that churn out cartoon cannibalism to children, not to mention the struggle to stop the spread of conspiracy theories and misinformation. Is the investment in education a step in the right direction, or a further shuffle towards a teaching landscape influenced by the machinery of big tech?

“This is a difficult area,” says professor Rose Luckin, from UCL’s Institute of Education. “For a lot of the big tech companies, they can give the impression of doing something charitable, but we always have to be wary about the ethics of what’s happening. We need them to guarantee that no harm will come from anyone that views the material, because that’s what education is about.”

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YouTube’s interest in education has spiked over the past year. Speaking at a ReCode event in February, Wojcicki indicated educational videos were a growing area of interest for the company. In July, the site launched its YouTube Learning initiative, with a dedicated engineering team for education features. YouTube has now opened applications for its Learning Fund, promising support to creators making educational, multi-session videos.

Importantly, this growth has come alongside mounting criticism over YouTube’s ability to filter hoaxes, conspiracy theories and inappropriate content. The site is trying everything from linking to Wikipedia pages to investing in channels that promote greater media literacy, but it’s still fighting the spread of misinformation. Greater curation of educational content seems like a fitting response, and the Learning channel could be a controlled space free from nightmarish Peppa Pig clips and flat-earth theories, but is it enough?



For starters, there’s the lingering question of authority. Applicants for the Learning Fund need to fill out a form with details about their organisation and project, but how does YouTube ensure its creators know what they’re talking about? Would someone making an educational video about climate change need to have a degree in climate science to be supported? Seemingly not.


Children's YouTube is still churning out blood, suicide and cannibalism Long Reads Children's YouTube is still churning out blood, suicide and cannibalism

“All global creators with a channel that has at least 25,000 subscribers are eligible to apply [to the fund],” says a YouTube spokesperson. “On relevant degrees and licenses, we ask that recipients of Learning Fund support either demonstrate expertise and/or a scrupulous approach to accuracy including but not limited to research, fact checking, and objectivity.”

While it’s understandable YouTube doesn’t want to dissuade people from all walks of life from applying, this is nevertheless a woolly set of requirements. The restriction on having 25,000 subscribers but not a qualification in a subject speaks to an underlying emphasis on market appeal. These videos are supposed to make money, after all. “If you’re badging this as a ‘learning’ channel then you need to have some evidence that it supports learning,” says Luckin. “Subscribers might be a good proxy for entertainment, but I would be hard pressed to find it is a good proxy for learning.”

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There’s also the question of how these videos fit alongside traditional teaching. “Students already use YouTube a lot, and the channel’s huge reach means we should welcome steps to curate and improve the quality of their educational content,” says Dr Marco Gillies, senior lecturer in computing at Goldsmiths, University of London. “However, video can only provide one aspect of learning. It can't be a substitute for an active learning experience, whether that is a campus university or an online degree.”


NAHT, the school leaders’ union, which represents head teachers in the majority of schools across England, Wales and Northern Ireland has cautiously welcomed the proposals, saying that “the quality of the videos would need to be closely monitored and guaranteed by YouTube in order for teachers to feel confident about using them in class.”



“There are clear educational benefits to be gained by using technology and the internet, however the drawbacks are just as clear. YouTube, like other online providers of content specifically for young people, would need to be able to guarantee that viewers were being protected.”

Harm can come in many forms. Taken on good faith, YouTube’s emphasis on “a scrupulous approach to accuracy” may squash misinformation, and partnerships with online learning platforms edX and OpenClassrooms will hopefully be fruitful, but there’s Google’s deeper business model to consider. As Luckin says: “The question is not only what content is put in front of young people, but also what content about those young people is provided to YouTube.”

Google’s approach to education is therefore caught in a similar bind to how the company handles news. It knows people come to it for information, but it doesn’t want to be seen as a news organisation, or as a school. It wants to be a source people trust but it ultimately makes money from advertising data, not lessons. DIY tutorials are all well and good, but as YouTube solidifies its ‘learning’ output, should the same level of scrutiny be placed on it that would be levied at any other educational establishment?

While the University of YouTube is still a unlikely prospect, for Luckin it’s important that the video giant isn’t completely off the hook when it comes to educational muscle. “If you’re claiming it’s a learning channel, then you need to have some credentials to show that,” she says.

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