Learning with YouTube

YouTube is a much-used channel by young people - also for learning. It can be particularly useful for pupils during the coronavirus crisis. What children and parents should bear in mind when using the video platform.

In collaboration with Swisscom
YouTube is one of the most popular online offerings among young people. The video platform is not only used for entertainment and distraction, but increasingly also for targeted learning for school. Whether it's French grammar, maths or the structure of an essay: In the huge range of educational videos, there are several videos explaining practically every school subject, sometimes short and sweet, sometimes overly long. It's no wonder that YouTube has become the ultimate search engine for young people for things they don't understand - including the pause and rewind buttons.

Maths stars with a fan base

According to a German study by the Council for Cultural Education, almost half of 12 to 19-year-olds use YouTube for school. This may seem strange to the parents of digital natives. However, there is a great need for this type of learning: some YouTube teachers and video experts have created huge fan bases through very well-made explanatory videos. In German-speaking countries, for example, the channel #LetsRockMathe by Daniel Jung is a top address for maths with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Maths topics ranging from binomial formulas and adding fractions to far more complex problems are explained there in an understandable way.

The pearls in the crowd

Many other broadcast-conscious teachers, ambitious young people and self-proclaimed experts also produce educational videos for their own YouTube channel. For example, student Alena explains French grammar on her channel «Study with Alena», the popular «Lehrerschmidt» gives lessons in maths, geometry or physics, and German grammar is explained in many videos on «Musstewissen Deutsch». This channel has 104,000 subscribers.
To find the exact video that explains the subject you are looking for in the confusing YouTube universe, it helps to enter the problem to be learnt as precisely as possible into the search mask. Experienced young people who have found a Youtuber who suits them and explains things clearly subscribe to the channel in order to reach their goal more quickly. Last but not least, YouTube teachers can also help parents who want to help their children with their homework - but who have just forgotten what exponential growth or the passé composé were like again.

On Medienstark you will find tips and interactive learning modules for the competent use of digital media in everyday family life. swisscom.ch/medienstark