By Avrena Ghatas
Social media platforms are a significant source of entertainment and news in our era. YouTube takes up a sizable portion of your everyday life, so why not benefit from the time you spend on the platform to learn more about the topics of life, culture, science or any other curiosity you may have about the world? Here’s a list of channels with reliable information and sources that will educate and entertain you about current and past events.
Vox videos include analysis of current and ongoing events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as many other political events happening around us. Vox stands to “cut through the noise and understand what’s driving events in the headlines and in our lives,” according to the about page of their channel. By providing a succinct and unbiased point of view on complex and usually partisan matters, Vox educates viewers on the reality, not the appearance, of a situation.
The content of What If is all about answering questions and thoughts people may have, which includes theorizing possibilities of nearly impossible situations. Through focusing on visuals, What If’s videos aid in providing a better understanding of such scenarios. Their videos answer interesting questions using science and history to reach factual conclusions.
With over 1600 videos, TED-Ed has a massive and well-kept database of informative videos about everything from the sciences to historical inquiries. The target audience for this YouTube channel is students and teachers; for that reason, every video is a lesson as the channel’s purpose is to “[create] lessons worth sharing,” according to the about page of their YouTube channel.
The animation and idea behind every TED-Ed video makes each one unique in its own way. For example, the video “What is the coldest thing in the world?” by Lina Marieth Hoyos presents fast-paced imagery that keeps the viewer interested in the video while also educating them on a scientific topic.
TED-Ed also covers topics that people may be curious about; the videos “The language of lying” by Noah Zandan and “What is déjà vu?” by Michael Molina may grab a viewer’s attention due to the fact that both works provide psychological and scientific reasoning and explanations.
Another appealing factor of TED-Ed videos is their five-minute average duration; the short length is a middle ground for someone who may have trouble focusing for a long period of time and wants to learn about a topic or a story through a reliable source.
Crash Course is one of the most popular educational YouTube channels with over 11 million subscribers. If you’re a high school student, you’ve probably watched at least one Crash Course video in your history or science class. The reason why Crash Course videos are appealing to educators is that whether the topic is science, math or history, lessons are always taken from credible textbooks already used in the educational environment.
