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Feature: What to watch while under quarantine

3/20/2020 07:35:00 PM Media Center 0 Comments
Binge-watching, sprawled out on the sofa, eating whatever you can salvage from the fridge. That is probably the situation you've been in ever since classes were suspended. But instead of drowning in your favorite K-dramas and Netflix series, why not try binging on some Crash Course, TedEd, Khan Academy, and School of Life videos?
The recent suspension of classes in Metro Manila in relation to the community quarantine proclaimed by President Rodrigo Duterte due to the recent outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has pushed some schools to continue schooling through online platforms and others, to cancel the rest of their school year. For our school, any form of classes have been momentarily postponed until April 14, according to UP Diliman Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo's announcement on March 16.
If you fear that you won't remember any of your past lessons once classes resume (after a whole month!), don't you worry. With all the time on our hands, especially with our easy access to the internet, we can find supplementary sources of information that can help us understand and study old lessons and find new ones. Compared to simple text and print materials, videos "create a more engaging sensory experience" by letting the student see and hear a certain concept and process like an everyday interaction (Bevan, 2017). We can find many educational videos on YouTube that can help us students somehow receive what we'll be missing from actually going to school. Videos made by the following channels will absolutely help you understand complicated lessons, widen your knowledge, and deepen your understanding. Some might even entertain you!
1.      CrashCourse
LEARNING IS FUN. Crash Course’s playful approach to learning is seen on their YouTube banner. Photo Credit: Crash Course’s YouTube Channel
Crash Course believes that “high quality educational videos should be available to everyone for free”. They discuss topics under Anatomy, Astronomy, Big History, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Ecology, Economics, Film Studies, Games, Government, Intellectual Property, Literature, Mythology, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, Study Skills, U.S History, World History, and World History II.
Most of their videos are structured like the speeches we’re required to write for English and Filipino wherein rather than diving right into the lesson, the speaker lightly introduces the topic first in a way that the audience can relate to. As the discussion goes along, the screen switches between showing the speaker, slides with text and illustrations, and animations that help viewers picture concepts better. What’s special about their videos is the friendliness and fun manner of their videos with speakers who talk to you as if they know you personally and are discussing as if you’re their student but also a peer.

2.      TED-Ed 
FUN IDEAS. The creativity and diversity of ideas on TED-Ed is evident on their YouTube banner. Photo Credit: TED-Ed’s YouTube Channel
 TED is a global nonprofit organization that believes “ideas have the power to change attitudes, lives, and ultimately, the world” and TED-Ed is the “youth and educational initiative” under it. TED-Ed produces animated videos discussing various topics under Philosophy, Science, History, Psychology, and much more.
Their animated videos have a way of making any topic fun, sometimes featuring random ideas and concepts that many people find interesting but don’t normally take the time to focus or learn about, just like in their videos Why isn’t the world covered in poop?, What are those floaty things in your eye?, and A glimpse of teenage life in ancient Rome. They also provide animations to popular works of literature and present fun mind-boggling riddles. Surely, you’d find yourself enjoying it while you learn.
If you like TED-Ed, try checking out other TED channels such as TED, TEDxTalks, TED-Ed Student Talks, and TEDxYouth. 
3.      KhanAcademy
ACCESS. Khan Academy’s mission displayed on their YouTube banner. Photo Credit: Khan Academy’s YouTube Channel
If you don’t like ads, this channel is for you! Khan Academy is a nonprofit organization that believes "Everyone should have access to learning." In their videos, teachers tackle topics under Economics & Finance, Computing, Art & Humanities, Biology, Chemistry, Science & Engineering, and Mathematics. Not only do they push for academic growth, they also have meditation videos that help students grow spiritually, help calm their minds, and reduce test anxiety. 
Most Khan Academy videos are similar to how a student learns in a classroom. The teacher records his/her screen while presenting photos or drawing illustrations and writing down keywords as he/she discusses the lesson. What I find most helpful about their videos are the examples they present—they not only focus on the conceptual side of the discussion, they also help students apply their understanding of each lesson.

4.      The School of Life
SMART IN LIFE.  The School of Life’s YouTube banner makes it clear what is important for us to learn. Photo Credit: The School of Life’s YouTube Channel 
The School of Life is an organization that strongly believes in the importance of finding fulfilment and that it begins with self-knowledge. Unlike most educational channels that focus primarily on academics, The School of Life focuses on social well-being and lifestyle with topics pertaining to relationships, careers, anxieties, and emotions, things that are important for us to learn but are not often taught in school. Their videos discuss the themes Self-Knowledge, Relationships, Work, Calm, Sociability, and Leisure & Culture.
The School of Life presents content through animations with a speaker doing a voice-over. Aside from their videos being easy to understand and absorb, their videos are very eye-opening, and to an extent, quite mind-blowing.  I have found them as comforting and educational in a sense that I’m learning more about how to deal with my relationships, feelings, and interactions involved in my everyday life.
Online education will never be the same as what we receive in school but we sure can still continue to find information, process it, and discuss and share it with others through online platforms. What’s important is that we maintain our initiative to learn and know more about the world and ourselves. We shouldn’t let the current COVID-19 situation hinder our education, instead we should find ways to quench our thirst for knowledge through other means—just like through watching free educational videos online.
Aside from the four channels listed above, you can also check out the following channels for good educational content: SmarterEveryDay, ASAPScience, National Geographic, minutephysics, RealLifeLore, Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. //by Rain Tiangco

Sources:
Bevan, M. (2017, February 1). Why Videos are Important in Education. Retrieved from https://nextthoughtstudios.com
Crash Course. Retrieved from https://thecrashcourse.com/about
Khan Academy. Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/about
TED. Retrieved from https://ed.ted.com/about
The School of Life. Retrieved from https://www.theschooloflife.com/about-us/
Tags: english,feature,Rain Tiangco

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