YouTube invests US$20 million in the YouTube Learning initiative

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YouTube yesterday announced that it will be investing US$20 million to expand the YouTube Learning initiative to make the platform better for educators and learners.

According to the official YouTube blog, the video sharing platform will be taking three key steps.

#1 Funding support for great educational creators

A new Learning Fund will be created to support creators who make some of the best learning content on YouTube. Such content include videos covering a wide range of topics from career skills, like interviewing and resume building, to computer science, like coding for game development and JavaScript basics.

These funds will not only go into supporting the some of the most respected names in online education like TED-Ed or Hank and John Green’s Crash Course, but also emerging EduTubers like Socratica and Linda Raynier.

In addition, YouTube is also developing new YouTube Originals focused on learning like Mind Field: Season 3 from Vsauce creator Michael Stevens, and a new series with Vox Entertainment.

#2 Partnering with trusted institutions

To make it easier for users to find tutorials, DIY videos, explainers, and skill-based playlists, YouTube will be launching a new channel - Learning - where major partners like Goodwill and Year Up are contributing curated playlists highlighting videos that teach career skills.

Apart from that, the video sharing platform is also partnering with leading online learning platforms like  edX, a non-profit offering courses from the world’s best universities and institutions, and OpenClassrooms, an education platform based in France. This will help bring some of the most popular video courses from these platforms to YouTube.

#3 Expanding resources and support for EduTubers

This year, YouTube EduCon conferences were held in California, Mexico, and Brazil to connect EduTubers with new resources and each other.

In 2019, YouTube plans to further support EduTubers in the following ways:

• Expanding YouTube EduCon to Europe and Asia, starting with India in December and the UK in February.
• Providing more resources to aspiring EduTubers such as the Creator Academy course for educational channels, and its new Learning Best Practices.
• Hosting a NextUp creator camp specifically for emerging EduTubers.
• Working to connect EduTubers with brand partners through FameBit. YouTube has already secured investments for sponsored content specifically for the EduTuber community.

Announced in July this year, YouTube Learning is an initiative to support those who use the platform to share their knowledge and those who go to it to learn.

Moving forward YouTube aims to continue supporting learning on the platform by providing greater opportunities for anyone who wants to learn and teach on YouTube.