25 Great YouTube Channels for Blended Learning

By: Emily Lucas
Unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to go to the best schools, universities, or even has the time to go to extra courses to fill out their knowledge base. Additionally, not even every college student has enough time to absorb all the information in their courses or to write every paper that their professor assigns them. But luckily, the internet can step in and serve to fill in some of the holes and to take away some of the burden of essay writing. With many YouTube channels that are designed to teach people more about the topics they discuss, gaining knowledge on a plethora of topics is easier than ever before! We have created a list of the best YouTube channels that can help you learn and be more prepared in class or to write a “best essay” caliber composition. At the very least, these channels make learning fun and could give you a much needed study break that is more enlightening than watching the latest cute cat video.

Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
One of the most premier quantitative higher-learning centers in the US, MIT now has a YouTube channel that anyone can access and learn from without paying high tuition fees. The channel’s goal is to educate people in science, technology, and other academic areas to further educate the world. It has many affiliated channels like MIT News Videos, MIT +K12, Art at MIT, MIT Computer Science, and MIT Tech TV. No matter where your interests lie in the realm of science and technology, this channel is sure to have it.
Google
Google’s YouTube channel showcases the goings on at Google and how their programs and projects are making a global impact. It also highlights their new contests, educational projects, and their latest inventions.
Microsoftedu
On this channel, Microsoft posts all their K-12 and higher education videos and content. They have many how-to videos, vision videos, and product ideas in addition to many other different types of general content.
TechnoBuffalo 
This channel is dedicated to everything electronic from a CNBC contributor. It provides reviews on electronic products in addition to showing how they work. TechnoBuffalo also has many hands-on videos and first look videos featuring the latest gadgets and technology.
Kipkay’s Hacks, Pranks, and How to Videos
Kipkay’s channel is a how-to channel that shows users how to make extraordinary things from everyday items with electronics and other technical devices. One of the videos can show users how to make a glow stick from using a pen and other materials. And, of course, there are some pretty good prank ideas on this channel as well.
CNET
Reviews on the latest technical gadgets and devices are given on this channel in addition to reviews on these devices. There are also many how-to videos, videos showing tech news, podcasts, and the latest innovative software downloads.

Science

SciShow
SciShow discusses the latest scientific developments, the history of science, and scientific concepts with equal parts enthusiasm and skepticism.
ASAP Science
This channel shows the practical use of science in everyday life. There are lots of strange and interesting videos that they have uploaded that can also teach users about science. Examples of their videos include “Why Do We Cry,” “The Science of Cats,” and “the Scientific Hangover Cure.”
Veritasium Science Trailer
This is a science vlog. It has many videos of experiments, interviews from scientific experts, demonstrations, and public discussions about science. A good example of a video from this channel is “Why the Sky Isn’t Blue.”
Brusspup
This channel is dedicated to science and illusions. There are many subcategories like amazing illusions, anamorphic illusions, and cool science tricks. They have many visually interesting scientific experiments that users can easily replicate at home because they list all the materials as well as the exact measurements to make the experiments work properly. An example of one of their most viewed experiments is the “Giant Dry Ice Bubble Experiment.” They place dry ice in a bowl with a liquid solution then run a rag with dish soap over it, creating a huge foggy bubble of dry ice. Great for teachers to gain some cool experiment ideas for their students.
Scientific American Space Lab
This channel discusses any and all topics related to space and space exploration. It has an ask-the-experts section where you can ask real astronomers and astrophysicists about the secrets of the universe. Videos on this channel include topics like “Galactic Collision,” “Map of the Local Universe,” and “The First Woman in Space Tereshkova.”
Sick Science
By sick, this channel clearly means awesome or amazing science. They show many different kinds of scientific experiments and demonstrations that are very visually interesting. Every experiment is clearly and thoroughly explained how to do and with what materials to do them so that users can try them at home. Examples of these experiments are “Hovering Plane” where they make a paper plane fly between two fans and “Strawberry DNA” where they show how to extract a strawberry’s DNA.
The Spirit Science
The channel seeks to connect new information with ancient prophecies and modern physics to gain a better understanding of the universe. They acknowledge that this channel doesn’t pretend to have all the answers but that they only want to foster healthy discussion of interesting metaphysical subjects. As such, this channel is more new age than actual science but is still quite interesting.

Nature

Discovery Channel
As the YouTube companion for the actual TV channel, this channel is dedicated to promoting and piquing interest in their informative and educational TV programming. It has many clips from their TV programs though not full episodes.
BBC Earth
Like the Discovery Channel listed above, this YouTube channel is dedicated to promoting programming that appears on BBC Earth. However, this channel also has many older clips from over 50 years of nature videos, research, and natural history to explore as well.
Minute Physics
This YouTube channel is dedicated to reinvigorating the subject of physics to make it fun and interesting for everyone to learn. Unlike your high school physics class, this channel wants to keep you excited by their videos. Examples of their uploaded videos include “How to Turn Sound into Light” and “The True Science of Parallel Universes.” While their videos run longer than one minute, this channel gives great explanations about complex physics topics.
Periodic Table of Voices
The Periodic Table of Voices channel seeks to educate users about the elements present in the periodic table of elements. The hosts explain how the different elements work under different environments and combined with different chemicals. They also explain the physical characteristics and show what reactions occur when combined with different elements.
Sixty Symbols
This channel has many educational videos about astronomy and physics. Their videos explain different aspects of astronomy and physics and why they occur in nature. Past videos include “Northern Lights” where they take a plane to the far northern hemisphere to examine the stars and the northern lights up close and personal. Another video explains why rainbows and double rainbows occur.

History

History Channel
Like the BBC Nature and Discovery Channels listed above, this is the YouTube promotional channel of the actual History Channel on television. While you can browse topics on this channel and it provides a link to their website where you can watch full episodes of their normal programming, there’s one big problem with this channel. Many of their clips and episodes have nothing to do with history. However, if you do manage to find different episodes and clips about history topics you are interested in, they could be most helpful.
BoredShorts TV
This is an informative YouTube channel that is aimed primarily at school age children. The hosts investigate a wealth of history and other broad topics from a uniquely kid perspective. They examine topics like “Valentine’s Day (Imagined by Kids)” and “Marine Biology (Imagined by Kids).” While this may not be the most informative channel or interesting for adult viewers, children would likely find it entertaining.

Language

Speack English with Misterduncan
This is a great YouTube channel for anyone who is learning the English language and would like to know a little bit more about the subtleties of the language. This channel is run by an ESL teacher with experience in both the UK and in China who shares his years of teaching wisdom with his users. Most of the videos examine definitions of words, idioms, and silent letters. Something that ESL students will find most helpful from his videos is that there are subtitles at the bottom of the screen of everything Misterduncan says in English. This is especially useful for students who struggle understanding the British accent or those that need to sharpen their listening skills more.

Ideas

TEDtalks
TEDtalks is a channel that is dedicated to making people think about many different aspects of the world. Examples of topics on this channel are “Anatomy of a New Yorker Cartoon,” “What if We’re Wrong About Diabetes,” and “Saudi Woman Who Dared to Drive.” It is designed to provoke and to make users think differently on many topical subjects.

Mix Topics

Crash Course
This channel provides brief explanations on complex topics. For example: “Battles of the Civil War,” “Lab Techniques and Safety,” and “Women in the 19th Century.” It is a mix of educational videos that are designed to be appealing for school-age children while also educating them on important topics.
CGP Grey Channel
This channel breaks down difficult topics from government, history, foreign policy, astronomy, biology, and many other educational topics.
PBS Idea Channel
From TVs most educational channel is a YouTube channel where people can learn about a variety of topical subjects that are explained from a learned perspective. Some topics include, “Why We Love Zombies” or “Is Math a Feature of the Universe or a Feature of Humanity?” These videos are designed to be thought-provoking, philosophical, and intellectually exciting.
All these educational channels are extremely important for broadening people’s minds and showing them all the possibilities that they may not have considered before. Not all school districts are created equally and YouTube channels like these can help bridge the gap between educational inequalities in society, particularly with school-age children.
 
Emily Lucas is an experienced freelance writer and blogger for many sites, including topbritishessays.com. Her areas of interests are very wide, but mostly she writes for educational websites and blogs. She aims to share ideas with young audience and provide useful tips for education and private life. 

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Getting Smart loves its varied and ranging staff of guest contributors. From edleaders, educators and students to business leaders, tech experts and researchers we are committed to finding diverse voices that highlight the cutting edge of learning.

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10 Comments

Craig Seasholes
9/12/2013

Wow! What wonderful www worth watching and sharing with students and teachers. Thanks.

Crystal Koenig
9/28/2013

Superb list. Thank you for sharing !

Alec
10/25/2013

I'm rather surprised you mentioned SciShow, but neglected to mention Crash Course (from several of the same people). They have several excellent series on world history, U.S. history, chemistry, literature, ecology, and biology.
Definitely worth a look:
https://www.youtube.com/crashcourse

Eli
2/4/2014

No love for Vihart or TheBrainScoop? I'm surprised.
TheBrainScoop was done by the makers of CrashCourse and SciShow and it's pretty awesome stuff.
And ViHart is just an awesome lady. Plus it's nice to add some diversity and let students see women do science and maths.
Vsauce might also be of interest for kids.
I liked his videos.

The Eye Guy
2/10/2014

Check out The Eye Guy with videos about your eyes! http://www.youtube.com/user/eyeguyedu/videos

Rajat Dhameja
6/18/2015

I had been looking for a list of good youtube channels. This is very helpful. Thanks.
Rajat Dhameja

cherish
3/19/2016

Thank you for sharing. So great!

Miku G
10/28/2016

You forgot to add this site to the list https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEp3SR3KaDzg8jSe12tGnCg Excellent for English

برامج
12/16/2016

Thank you for sharing. So great!

welma110
8/29/2022

Very interesting and different ideas you have put up in this article. Thank you for adding to our knowledge with these insightful points and everything is explained really well.

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