Entertainment is at your fingertips in an age where television and films can be streamed at home. Some streaming services, from documentaries to instructional series, are also educational that can help you gain new knowledge.
However, finding educational content that is both entertaining and educational can sometimes be a challenge. Here are five tips to help you navigate the streaming platforms for academic content.
1. Use Specific Search Terms
Be specific in your search terms. Searching for educational content can yield many results. It is particularly true when searching for simple terms like science or history. If you are just trying to learn something new in these fields, you will probably be overwhelmed with results.
Use more specific search terms related to what you want to learn to improve your chances of finding content that better suits your educational needs – trying “Civil War documentaries,” or “beginner’s guide to Python,” or “How Photosynthesis Works” and seeing what turns up are better bets.
Even though streaming services benefit those who want to expand their knowledge, sometimes students receive a large number of homework assignments and writing tasks that they need help with. In such cases, they can buy essay UK, which will provide them with professional and knowledgeable assistance with essays, research papers, and other academic assignments.
By outsourcing some writing tasks, learners can free up time to watch educational documentaries and programs that enhance their learning.
2. Explore Dedicated Educational Sections
When choosing streaming content for educational purposes, one of the best ways is to consider some of the curated learning areas provided by various services. Since then, many services have realized the value of structured learning and discussed their offerings.
Netflix and Amazon Prime have sections offering focused content, such as documentaries. These cover various topics in nature, technology, art, and history. It’s a great way to provide information on numerous topics in an entertaining and informative way.
3. Check Out Learning Channels and Networks
Educational channels on the sites can enrich your learning to a large degree. The following are various educational channel streaming sites and their specialized content.
- CuriosityStream: a service that offers documentaries and series on topics including science, nature, history, and technology, as well as in-depth explorations of a given topic.
- The Great Courses: Offering audio and video lectures and courses taught by university professors and other experts, this series offers a virtual classroom experience in everything from academic subjects to hobbyist passions.
- YouTube: a universal repository of educational channels for almost any subject you can think of, including academic lectures and DIY tips – all free.
- Khan Academy: Based on YouTube, Khan Academy provides structured courses in maths, science, economics, and other subjects for students who need additional resources.
Navigating these channels allows you to draw upon a large, diverse body of resources suitable for many learning styles and educational backgrounds.
4. Read Reviews and Recommendations
Make intelligent choices of what you watch by borrowing others’ eyes and smarts. Should you choose this route, it’s helpful to leverage reviews and recommendations to help you make intelligent choices about what you are watching. You can find the reviews on many of these streaming platforms.
While they are unlikely to be as insightful as a scholarly review from the Journal of American History, they can still be helpful to establish whether or not the show or documentary is educational, how educational, and if it’s relevant to your interests. The same goes for educational blogs and forums, where many posts include a curated list of recommendations.
Utilize Parental and Educational Controls
If you’re setting up streaming content for children or students, you must take advantage of the parental and educational control features that can be found on many streaming services. These features usually allow you to configure your streaming settings to provide a safe, educational viewing environment.
By using these features and settings, you control what shows up on the screen so that young viewers are not exposed to content that might be inappropriate for learning. It prevents them from being distracted by content that is towards content that will improve their learning experiences.
Setting up streaming controls in this manner is a strategic way to support educational content and make the viewing experience more beneficial to the students and the teachers assigned it.
Streaming services aren’t just for entertainment – they can form the basis for learning at any age through a combination of personalized self-directed search strategies, dedicated sections for learners, subscriptions to educational channels, reviews, and other features built into the streaming platform.
Whether you are a lifelong learner, a student hoping to supplement your studies, or a teacher who wants to use media in your lesson plans, the platform holds the keys to a treasure trove of learning. Take the plunge and stream your way to a better-informed life today!
