YouTube launches investment in educational content, creators

Google-owned YouTube has announced an investment of $20 million in educational content and creators to expand its initiative to support people across the world in sharing knowledge and pursuing learning on the platform.

YouTube said on Monday that it was creating a new Learning Fund programme to support creators who make some of the best learning content on YouTube, the world’s largest video-sharing site, with 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.

The company said it had completed the first round of investment to fund some of the most successful channels on the platform, such as TED-Ed, which is dedicated to educational Ted Talks, and brothers Hank and John Green’s Crash Course.

YouTube has pledged investment to support EduTubers through the Learning Fund and plans to fund content from independent creators, traditional news sources and educational organizations to broaden its content offering.

The company also said it would partner with third-party studios and networks such as Goodwill and Year Up to create videos that teach career skills.

Its major partners include 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.

The Google subsidiary held YouTube EduCon conferences in California, Mexico and Brazil to connect EduTubers with new resources in 2018.

In a further push for its global education efforts for next year, YouTube said it plans to expand YouTube EduCon to Europe and Asia, starting with India in December and the UK in February 2019.