it’s already a key destination for people who want to learn a skill or learn more about a topic. The platform will add more educational features, including a way for creators to offer structured video courses. As such, creators would not need to direct their fans to other sites or apps (such as ) where they sell such materials. YouTube could also take a cut of the sales of course.
These courses are meant to be “deep, structured learning experiences,” according to YouTube. Creators will be able to charge for courses or offer them for free. Videos that are part of a paid course will have no ads and can be played in the background (in other words, you can treat it like a premium podcast). The courses will initially be available in beta next year in the US and South Korea. YouTube plans to expand the feature to more countries later.
To reinforce the educational content on the platform and perhaps help people taking a course to test their knowledge, YouTube will also implement a feature called Quizzes. Creators will be able to add a quiz to their community tab, where they can ask viewers about something they discussed in a video. A beta version of the feature will be available in the coming months, and all creators with the community tab will be able to use Quizzes next year.
In addition to those features, YouTube announced a new built-in player for educational apps. The company says that Player for Education skips potential distractions, including ads, recommendations, and external links. He added that the player improves on the one used to offer “an even better version.” Initially, US edtech companies like EDpuzzle, Purdue University, and Purdue Global will use the player.
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