Generation Z — aka post-Millenials –prefers learning from YouTube and videos rather than printed books, reports Lauraine Genota in Ed Week.
In a survey conducted for Pearson, 59 percent of 14- to 23-year-olds said YouTube was a preferred learning tool, while 57 percent chose in-person group activities, 47 percent picked learning apps or games, and 47 percent chose printed books.
YouTube, a Google-owned platform, offers “explainers and tutorials” that are “short and easily digestible,” said Peter Broad, the director of global research and insights for Person.
YouTube’s Crash Course channel offers short videos in humanities and science subjects.
Schools are trying to adapt to students’ tastes, writes Genota.
In the Mineola school district outside New York City, Superintendent Michael Nagler has been encouraging teachers to use more video in the classroom. The district has a YouTube channel for educators and students, with videos covering topics from growth mindset to science and math lessons. Videos complement the regular curricula and give students real-life connections about why they’re learning something, Nagler said. . . . Andrew Biggs, a social studies teacher at New Technology High School in Napa, Calif., said that students like YouTube because “it’s on-demand content.” For students, the strength of video is that you can play and pause it “as many times as you want, without having to feel like you’re inconveniencing someone,” Biggs said. It also makes sense to use it for learning because “a lot of students already use YouTube recreationally.”
Teenagers grew up with YouTube, which debuted in 2005. A Pew survey found 85 percent of U.S. teenagers use YouTube. According to the Pearson poll, 47 percent spend three or more hours a day on YouTube.
Three or more hours a day?
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