Online video giant highlights flexibility of the medium

December 15th, 2011

One of the giants of the online video world, YouTube, has launched a new version aimed at educating school students

The largest video sharing service in the world is now offering YouTube For Schools, which aims to provide classrooms with easy access to educational videos.

Another benefit of the YouTube For Schools, is that students will not be able to be distracted by the ‘latest music video or cute cat,’ reported by the BBC, as the video viewing will be tailored to the educational needs. Subject matter and intended age levels will be taken into account and online video playlists created to suit by the Google-owned website.

Brian Truong, project manager at YouTube For Schools, wrote in a blog, “We’ve been hearing from teachers that they want to use the vast array of educational videos on YouTube in their classrooms, but are concerned that students will be distracted by the latest music video or cute cat, or a video that wasn’t appropriate for students.

“While schools that restrict access to YouTube may solve this distraction concern, they also limit access to hundreds of thousands of educational videos on YouTube that could help bring photosynthesis to life, or show what life was like in ancient Greece,” Mr Truong added.

This new slant on online video proves its flexibility and increasing prevalence in use by all sorts of different markets, from retail advertising to educational segments.

The online video sharing site has also created a sister site, called YouTube for Teachers, which offers advice on how to get the most out of the new educational site.

Some of the videos included on the site have been produced by educational heavyweights at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the US-based private research university.