A Parent's Blog About Parent Interests by our Tutoring Company

Following our article on educational YouTube channels for older learners (part 1), we’re continuing our list of places to find videos that would be suitable for high school or university-age students. Or the curious-minded adult!

Plus, don’t forget our two original posts listing even more educational YouTube resources:

• Educational YouTube resources for better learning
• More educational YouTube resources for expanded learning

YouTube engineering learning channels

We found a few that are great for the budding engineer or science major and decided to group them together separately here:

Practical Engineering – engineering that affects your life is brought together in a video series on this channel.

Learn Engineering – for the young adult that loves machinery. You know who they are.

Real Engineering – this channel does a great job at explaining in a simple way the ‘why’ of how things are made. For instance, why are plane windows round? But it doesn’t stop there. The creator of this channel also delves into things like the materials and inventions that changed the world. They are illustrated with voiceovers.

The Future Is Now – partially a news channel, except it covers lots of recent inventions and futuristic devices. Great for inspiration, or for the teen who likes the idea of creating gadgets.

YouTube psychology education channels

BrainCraft – explores the neuroscience topics of all brains – even those of animals. And it explains the curiosities of how our brain may trick us in many ways.

Bite Size Psych – also a hard one to know where to place in our categorization of educational YouTube channels. This one covers an array of topics that help to open up the mind for intrepid thought, though it is a smaller channel with slower development thus far.

Crash Course Psychology – this is not a new channel that we’ve talked about. However, since writing our original article on educational YouTube videos, the creators at CrashCourse have come up with a series devoted to psychology. It’s dedicated playlist is linked to here. Production quality is done extremely well, although the presenters do talk quite fast, so you may need to play them more than once to keep up.

Educational, current affairs YouTube channels

Being a well-rounded person with an awareness of a variety of topics is important. A lot of the time learning references other subjects. Plus, knowing current affairs can be argued to make our young adults more knowledgeable as contributing citizens in our world community. For that reason, we’re listing some ‘newsy’ current affairs channels that do a great job of breaking down complicated news topics for those who may not have much background on what the 6 o’clock newscaster is talking about. Or, they simply do a better job reporting to the young masses.

Here they are:

Vox – this current affairs channel challenges what we think to be ‘normal,’ They sometimes do investigative reporting into issues like possible scams (such as the word ‘natural’ being used on food labels, or the hidden cost of having a baby in America). Other times they explore a unique side of an issue, like how political polarization can affect dating. They also do relevant-to-today history pieces. And, if someone is not very aware of the American political process, this would be a great channel to catch up on it. As they describe themselves, Vox “helps you cut through the noise and understand what’s driving events in the headlines and in our lives.”

AJ+ – similar to the style of Vox, this channel also aims to “challenge the status quo” with their news reporting. In some ways you could say this channel gives a voice to the unheard aspects of news. The channel does a lot of international reporting as well. But you’ll see when you watch the pieces that they do things in a ‘cool’ way, which is great for the younger generation to absorb.

Attn: – Not a very active channel, however it’s a source for explaining news stories that may be a bit more in-depth from a certain angle.

NowThis – These are short, shareable videos with typographic captions explaining the news clip. Learning all your news from this channel however, is not advisable, as short clips and headlines rarely give anyone an in-depth view of an important news topic. But for the quick bites, this channel has some eye-grabbing headlines.

The Seeker series – produced by the same people behind DNews (by Discovery), the Seeker series span into three channels with great quality educational content:

Seeker Network – From glass blowing to holy doors, this channel explores the world’s corners and niches with photography and high quality video footage and narration.

Seeker Stories – This channel delves into stories that show us how fascinating of a world we live in. Focused on human interest stories, it delves into topics of inspiration, and the ‘I didn’t expect that’ type of reporting.

Seeker Daily – If you have questions after reading trending news of the day, this channel answers those questions. Or, it will answer the questions you didn’t know you had.

The Economist – Yes, this is YouTube channel of the magazine our older generation already knows about. While not all topics are on current affairs, the channel does provide video-format explanations on political news, cultural news, tech news and so on. For visual or auditory learners, this is a great option to get caught up on feature stories such as the ones on “The Economist explains” playlist.

New York Magazine – this one is not entirely educational, nor mostly on current affairs in the traditional sense. However, they do have a great animated playlist called “The Science of Us”, which delves into answers on questions like how to get better sleep, why kids are vulnerable to advertising, and so on. Some of these topics may be great research references when writing papers or essays.

Don’t you just love these open educational resources (OERs)?

The search doesn’t end there! YouTube is becoming more and more of a resource for Open Educational Content. Read our article on the subject here. And, let us know how you use these resources for educational purposes! We’d love to hear your stories!

This article is a follow up to our other articles listing educational YouTube resources. Check those out at the links below:

• Educational YouTube resources for better learning
• More educational YouTube resources for expanded learning

Those provide extensive resources and reviews of some great free content you can find on YouTube that is educational and fun!

Below we’re going to expand our list of educational YouTube resources by delving into the channels that may be best suited for older learners.

Here goes!

Educational YouTube channels for an expanded mind

Piled Higher and Deeper (PHD Comics) – this is a YouTube channel that uses the learning ability of illustration to explain university-level topics. However, they’re not all extremely complicated, and some younger kids may also like this channel. Also, not all are animated, but that doesn’t mean they lose their power of interest!

Wendover Productions – a great channel getting popular by explaining in a detailed way, with animation, the ‘why’ of life’s hassles and questions. For example, why is flying so expensive? When you find out what goes into a plane ticket, you may not hate airlines so much anymore! But there are also fun topics like, “Which way should toilet paper face?” and how to keep time on Mars. Great for creating a well-rounded mind that is aware of how our practical universe works.

The Infographics Show – while not all topics on this show are only for older learners, the YouTube channel does present some mature content that teens may be curious about, but too afraid to ask. Parents do check them out before suggesting to your kids!

The School of Life – all about philosophical subjects on life in general. They present animated and narrated videos on subjects about human emotions, human motives, and all things ‘human nature.’ These are not necessarily fact-based, but more a form of exploratory thought.

Big Think – we almost would have put this in the ‘science’ section below, but technically the channel covers other subjects, such as philosophy. Big Think brings together ‘big minds’ that give talking-head lectures in short, edited format. Here you’ll find ideas spoken by the engaging scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson and again, Bill Nye (of course!), among others.

Vlogbrothers – this is a more ‘vlog’ style video series, as the name suggests. However, the creators, brothers John and Hank Green, use their fame to educate their followers on important current issues. They also explore thought-provoking topics of epiphanies they have had during their week. Given the ‘smart-ness’ of their brains put together, there is no shortage of knowledge to be gleaned from their conversations to one another. And yes, this is the famous John Green who wrote the popular teen novels, ‘Paper Towns’ and ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, both of which have become theatre-hitting films.

And, by the way, this duo is also a successful YouTube channel generating factory. They are the minds behind Sci Show, Crash Course, and other niche channels such as 100days (coming up) and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (a fun mini series for any Jane Austen literature fan). And that’s just touching the surface of their accomplishments.

How to Adult – a great channel for learning very practical life skills and knowledge. For example, should you rent or buy? And just how do you manage finances? Or get a job? Although the channel has announced it’s ending, it’s still a great resource available online for, you guessed it, how to adult.

Nerdwriter1 – also an exploratory thought type of channel, this presenter uses essay-style scripts in voiceover format with great visuals to raise questions. The topics range across the board of what could count as a ‘thing’ to think about. The interesting factor here is the way in which the writer presents his ideas of thought, the structure of the thought and the things in life he notices. It may be the way that Donald Trump answers a question. Or it may be on the way that another YouTuber has revolutionized vlogging and filmography style. Or an observation about a movie. In short, nothing goes unnoticed in this detailed analysis of ‘anything.’ And teaching young minds to think this way, and then articulate it, or even just to absorb the thoughts is what is so interesting.

PBS Idea Channel – another channel where the focus may not be clear, but the presentation and articulation of ideas is what matters the most. Topics could be about copyright, or bias in algorithms. The aim seems to be more on dialogue than on sticking to a single subject.

Science YouTube channels for older learners

Business Insider Science – from climate change, to drug effects and the planet Mars, this channel explains a myriad of current and popular science subjects with video. And sometimes, science celebrities are featured on the channel, like Bill Nye and Richard Dawkins.

Scientific American – this is the official YouTube channel of the Scientific American magazine. Here you’ll find all things science, answering questions on topics from gravitational waves to how dogs understand us.

Conservation Strategy Fund – this is the type of channel you’d want to bookmark for when you have a research paper due on forestry or conservation policy topics, and need an easier way to digest the science of it all. Or, if you’re just interested in how policy affects our use of energy and resources.

Alex Dainis – made by a genetics grad student, this channel is a vlog-style YouTube channel that covers science topics. Great for high schoolers or university students trying to get a grasp on some class subjects.

Healthcare Triage – this channel may also be of great interest to parents. It’s a ‘talking head’ video style series on subjects related to current health news. The presenter is a doctor who also is a published writer. Any kids interested in medicinal sciences may like what he has to say.

DNews Plus – we’ve mentioned DNews in our first article on educational YouTube resources. Since then, the network has started a channel where a presenter delves deeper into a subject matter over a series of videos. The style is more like a podcast, with an unstructured script. However, it presents ideas and research on a scientific subject from different aspects. For

Thebrainscoop – although this channel’s presenter was mentioned before in our article on ‘more’ YouTube learning channels, the channel itself that brought her to fame was not. This one has been slightly controversial because of the graphic nature of the videos it presents. Therefore, we thought to include it in the list for older learners here. The interesting thing about this channel is that the presenter, Emilie, is passionate about taxidermy and natural history research in museums. She, along with her museum co-hosts aim to ‘normalize’ things like bugs and the dissection of animals in a scientific way, which is what any high schooler would need to do in a biology class anyway. Her motivation for the advancement and education of the field is evident, especially where females are involved (but not only females!).

Stated Clearly – while this channel could theoretically be used to show to younger learners, its topics may require a background understanding of high-school level (or higher) science. A strong proponent of evolutionary theory and the science behind it, these animated videos answer questions relating to DNA, biology, natural history, and so on.

We’ve got more YouTube resources!

It seems the search for quality educational content on YouTube is expanding and never ending. Stay tuned for next week when we list more educational YouTube channels, including current affairs channels for the new generation, engineering channels, and psychology learning channels.

Traditionally, schools are places where kids learn to sit still, listen, follow instructions, pay attention. But ADD students won’t be able to fulfill such requirements as their brains work in the opposite way. So how can tutors help students with ADD? Here we give you 5 tools you can use to engage these unique kids:

1. It’s all about the chairs

There are several options you have when it comes to “sitting” ADD students:

• Thera-bands: Wrap these bands around the feet of the chair. ADD students can fidget with it while working on a task.
• Balance balls: Originally designed for physical therapy, balance balls are proving to be of great help for students with ADD. This is because balance balls require kids to be constantly moving so as to not lose their balance. So their physical energy is redirected into something positive. Gaiam.com offers a great example of a second grade teacher who got a few balance balls for her classroom. She immediately saw a change for the better with of some of the ADD students’ behaviour.
• Chair-free classroom: The idea here is to redesign the entire classroom so ADD students have multiple choices when it comes to sitting while doing a task. They can sit on the floor, stand by the desks, lay down on floor mats, and other options. This encourages physical movement and allows students with ADD to learn however they feel most comfortable at any given time.

2. Incorporate quick physical games during lessons

Get up and move activities can help kids who can’t sit still for too long. So take 2 minutes a few times out of your lesson and play a game! Jumpbunch.com has a great list of simple games you can play with your students. Some of them include Simon Says, Wall to Wall, and Duck, Duck, Goose.

3. Use individual timers to help students with ADD concentrate

Starrstrangledplanner.com suggests giving students their own timer if you need them to stay focused at a given task. This visual reminder may help students to be less distracted when doing an activity. But still, with ADD students, try to keep tasks short enough so their attention span lasts an appropriate length. Say, giving them 5-10 minutes for one task and then taking a quick movement break. This may be easier to achieve for ADD students.

4. Give them something to chew on

Theinspiredtreehouse.com says that “certain smells, tastes, and textures have been associated with more attentive behaviour in children.” So give them a chewable tool like y-chews, chewable pencil toppers, or a chewable necklace.

ADD students can still learn!

Finally, remember that, although you can help students with ADD, they are quite capable of learning. They just learn in a different way. And each individual ADD student will be different from another. So the above tips may offer general help for teachers struggling with ADD students. If you need more specific tips for helping ADD students, check out the following articles:

• Teaching students with ADD/ADHD
• Suggested classroom interventions for children with ADD & learning disabilities

Also, check out our articles on similar topics for further information:

• Tutoring ADHD children
• Brain food for kids: Help your child with ADD, ADHD, or Autism to focus