Learning Through YouTube

Maybe you’ve been wondering how to write a fugue? Do the moonwalk? Water an orchid? Yodel?

Who says YouTube is rotting our brains? For those looking for something more than drunk squirrels or allegedly hilarious bloopers, there is a growing group of how-to and educational videos on YouTube and other video sites. My boyfriend brushed up on tying a tie, I found out how to keep an orchid alive, and my colleague Avishay Artsy learned to drive a stick.

Who’s making these things, and why do they work? Our resident Internet Sherpa Brady Carlson is here with a few examples of what works and where to look.

Brady's links:

How to Swaddle a Baby by kimmiestars - something on Brady's mind, with twins on the way. This exemplifies some of the best qualities of how-to videos - it's short, it's available on-demand, it's easy to follow and mimic, and it's made by a "regular person" instead of an "expert."

Great Depression Cooking with Clara - Ninety-something Clara Cannucciari is becoming a pretty big YouTube celebrity. She shares recipes she learned and ate during the Great Depression, and tells stories about what it was like to eat these meals. In this video she makes a "Poor Man’s Feast", which includes a little bit of meat and a lot of lentils:

Howcast is a really slick series of short videos on how to do practical things, like saving money on travel, making homemade marshmallows or "how to kiss with passion."

Expert Village is similar to Howcast, but its videos tend to be more lo-fi and less “produced”, which can be a plus for some learners.

TeacherTube is geared more toward academics, so you’ll find videos on usual classroom subjects – some are straightforward, others are really jazzed up, like Mr. Duey's video on fractions:

Make Magazine offers a Weekend Project series for tech enthusiasts who like building gadgets. Our favorite is How to make a fireball shooter: