Emily Graslie is the chief curiosity correspondent for The Field Museum as well as the host and writer of The Brain Scoop, an educational YouTube channel.

Considering that YouTube receives more than 1 billion unique visitors every month, with 80 percent of that traffic pouring in from outside the United States, it’s hard to ignore the appeal of free, accessible online video. In the coming years, educators and STEM supporters are going to be responsible for either taking advantage of this growing audience or for missing a terrific opportunity.

Parents are turning away from the stagnant models of cable television and looking to the relatable, comforting personalities of D.I.Y. video.

I’m proud to be a part of an extremely successful YouTube educational community, and we’re not just sitting around giving each other high-fives. We’ve infiltrated classrooms, university lecture halls, and cultural and academic institutions of every kind. Instead of your son or daughter staying up all night to ogle the newest racy dance craze, they’re with us, consumed by world history and biology with Crash Course, brushing up on their physics with MinutePhysics and finding beauty in a mathematical world with Vi Hart. And yet “YouTube” is still something of a dirty word, often bringing to mind those infamous cat videos or the antics of young pop stars.

We still haven’t entirely won over the hearts and minds of all parents, and the tides may not be changing for good. But the waves are growing. I receive photos from parents showing their family sitting down for family TV time, but they’re not to watching Discovery or the History channel: they’re watching The Brain Scoop. Teachers send similar photos, depicting class discussions formed around my dissection videos. With the support of The Field Museum I’ve made it into the homes of not only Americans but also curious families around the globe searching for contemporary yet intellectual sustenance in a sensationalist, shallow world.

Parents are turning away from the stagnant models of cable television and looking to the relatable, comforting personalities of the Vlogbrothers and others. YouTube is a young, transforming, malleable platform with the potential to affect anyone on the planet who has a fast enough Internet connection to stream 360p.

We can either seize this platform as STEM content creators or let this opportunity fly by. I believe YouTube has great potential, but it’ll take real-world institutions and communities to give it the credence it deserves.



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