Findings from a survey of more than 1,000 parents and teachers show how students are learning both inside and outside the formal school system through online social platforms, and often from unvetted sources, writes Julia Gilban-Cohen of the Center for Digital Education in a Government Technology essay.
YouTube, TikTok and other creator-driven video platforms are becoming a parallel learning ecosystem for students, according to the survey. This marks a distinct shift in how and what students learn — and a challenge for educators when that information is inaccurate.
The study was conducted by K12, a website owned by for-profit online education company Stride Inc. Results suggest that online social platforms are now a major academic support tool for students. Some families report improvements in grades, confidence and curiosity. But educators see the same platforms as also promoting misinformation, forcing them to spend time correcting inaccurate content students encounter online.
The data shows educational video content is increasingly integrated into students’ at-home learning experiences. Almost three-quarters of respondents (73 percent) report their child uses YouTube to learn or review school topics. The survey describes how parents recommend videos to help their students with difficult subjects. More than one-third of adults say they would struggle to support their child academically without video explainers.
“On average, students spend about five hours per week watching educational videos online, which adds up to 260 hours each year,” the survey reports. “For some families, this way of learning has become essential. More than one in three parents (37 percent) admit they rely on YouTube and TikTok to explain tricky school concepts to their kids.”
Parents perceive several academic benefits with educational video content — higher grades, greater confidence and increased curiosity or independence. The report states that video platforms can help support learning habits: Many families and teachers say creator content allows students to “stay engaged in school subjects and grasp new concepts more easily.”
Educators acknowledge these benefits, but many say the platforms also introduce incorrect or misleading information into classrooms. The survey found 67 percent of teachers have had to correct or “un-teach” misinformation their students got from online videos, and 49 percent say they had to do so more than once. About 86 percent of teachers said they’ve sometimes reviewed educational content mentioned by their students, and 35 percent said they always make sure to do so.
Other survey findings:
- More than half of parents (55 percent) say their children showed greater interest in science when learning through videos.
- Art and music follow at 37 percent, with math (35 percent) and history (32 percent) close behind.
- Educators face pressure to emulate creator-style teaching to keep their students engaged in class. This reflects changing expectations for how academic information is delivered — often in short, visual and highly engaging formats.
- Despite concerns about misinformation, many teachers said they are incorporating creator-made content into their instruction.
- About two-thirds of teachers (65 percent) say they have embedded social video content, such as from YouTube or TikTok, into their lessons. This was most common among middle- and high-school educators.
- Some teachers report adjusting their instructional delivery, with 37 percent feeling an overall sense of pressure to make their teaching style align with that of a content creator to keep students engaged.
Educators should not feel threatened by the evolving learning landscape, says K12’s Chief Learning Officer Niyoka McCoy.
“For many teachers, this is not something to compete with. It is something to harness. Creator-style content can be a powerful way to spark curiosity and connect with students in formats that feel familiar to them,” she wrote in an email to the Center for Digital Education. “The opportunity for educators is to channel that engagement while providing the structure, context, and critical thinking that turn interesting content into meaningful learning.”
As consumption of “edutainment” — where education and entertainment intersect — continues to grow and influence students’ learning processes, the survey suggests teachers, parents and schools may need to more deliberately help students navigate the accuracy of online information while recognizing the role creator-driven content now plays in how many students engage with academic topics.
Government Technology
