Expanding your educational horizons might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of YouTube. Since 2005, the online video provider has been entertaining us with videos about our beloved pets, fierce passion for our favorite celebrities, and mischievous kids. Today’s most popular YouTube video is a parody of Korean pop star Psy’s hit “Gangnam Style” that- with its “invisible horse dance,” sexualization of the cat cow yoga pose, and fake snow scene- seems like a parody itself.
Well, move over Psy, because there’s a new trend on YouTube. According to NPR, educational videos have been viewed 70% more this summer than last. Perhaps the rising cost of education has something to do with it, or simply the greater availability of education content. Whatever the reason, UCTV, which has partnered with YouTube since 2006, is glad to be at the forefront of this exciting, growing demand for knowledge.
Want to learn how to garden? Get up to speed on climate change? Hear from the U.S. Supreme Court Justices? Whatever your interests may be, we have over 5,000 videos and 70 subject playlists on our UCTV YouTube Channel, as well as our website and iTunesU.
This past March we were honored to become the first university to partner with YouTube on their original channels initiative. Earlier this year we launched UCTV Prime, which features collections of short mini-series on topics like obesity, the 2012 election, public art, and science fiction.
Will UCTV videos ever surpass the 3 million hits per day that Psy’s “Gangnam Style” video gets? We can hope (and our viral video hit “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” is at 2.7 million and growing)! In the meantime, we’ll be busy fulfilling our mission of providing in-depth content that informs, educates and enriches the lives of people around the globe — and we thank you for being there right along with us!


