<< 21st Century Classroom - Preamble
While it is ranked as the 2nd most popular site in the world, its latest endeavour, Youtube EDU, has started attracting serious learners and educators as well. Although it has been supporting informative and worthwhile documentaries and tutorials since years, Youtube Education puts learning into perspective. Its global video classroom is a well-researched project that has the potential to revolutionize 21st century education system.
Learning is a lifelong process which knows no borders. However, traditionally, learning is hindered in most schools not just by cultural or political boundaries, but also by the walls of their classrooms. In the public school system of today, the most viable source of knowledge is the teacher who ‘knows everything’ and the text book which ‘has everything’. Unfortunately, this thought has carried on into the 21st century as well. This understanding, however, is not valid anymore, especially after the internet revolution.
Following this, not many learners fall for this kind of misconceptions any more. Teachers are humans, not gods. They cannot ‘know everything’ and text books cannot hold all the information. Therefore, it is important to make the classroom boundaries thinner for learners to utilize the never-ending database of knowledge which is so easily accessible through the internet.
Youtube has capitalized on this vacuum in the field of education. As a first step, they have introduced lessons by various educationists and researchers to supplement textbooks and classroom learning. Some of the world’s leading universities find this site an effective medium to sell their full courses. Professionals and entrepreneurs can also groom their skills through the professional development courses available on here. All in all, it has emerged into lot more than a mere hub for popular culture.
The videos on YouTube EDU are divided into three basic categories; primary & secondary, college & university, and lifelong learning. Users can browse through the various subcategories under these headings to find priceless information in the fields of their interest. They can learn whatever they want to regardless of their age and background.
The ever-expanding bulk of its educational resources can make Youtube EDU a forerunner in the 21st Century Classroom concepts. It is a good first step towards this end. However, it can definitely seek contributions from more educators and researchers to meet the needs of the curious 21st Century learner.
>> 21st Century Classroom - Youtube EDU for Educators
In my future posts I shall further explore the scope of technology in the field of education. Subscribe to my blog, or follow me on twitter, to keep track of these posts.
Learning is a lifelong process which knows no borders. However, traditionally, learning is hindered in most schools not just by cultural or political boundaries, but also by the walls of their classrooms. In the public school system of today, the most viable source of knowledge is the teacher who ‘knows everything’ and the text book which ‘has everything’. Unfortunately, this thought has carried on into the 21st century as well. This understanding, however, is not valid anymore, especially after the internet revolution.
Following this, not many learners fall for this kind of misconceptions any more. Teachers are humans, not gods. They cannot ‘know everything’ and text books cannot hold all the information. Therefore, it is important to make the classroom boundaries thinner for learners to utilize the never-ending database of knowledge which is so easily accessible through the internet.
Youtube has capitalized on this vacuum in the field of education. As a first step, they have introduced lessons by various educationists and researchers to supplement textbooks and classroom learning. Some of the world’s leading universities find this site an effective medium to sell their full courses. Professionals and entrepreneurs can also groom their skills through the professional development courses available on here. All in all, it has emerged into lot more than a mere hub for popular culture.
The videos on YouTube EDU are divided into three basic categories; primary & secondary, college & university, and lifelong learning. Users can browse through the various subcategories under these headings to find priceless information in the fields of their interest. They can learn whatever they want to regardless of their age and background.
The ever-expanding bulk of its educational resources can make Youtube EDU a forerunner in the 21st Century Classroom concepts. It is a good first step towards this end. However, it can definitely seek contributions from more educators and researchers to meet the needs of the curious 21st Century learner.
>> 21st Century Classroom - Youtube EDU for Educators
In my future posts I shall further explore the scope of technology in the field of education. Subscribe to my blog, or follow me on twitter, to keep track of these posts.
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