If you’re a software developer or you work in other technical roles, YouTube definitely played a part in it. Being the home of thousands of resource materials, YouTube is pretty much an academy of its own. The platform has finally decided to capitalize on this by launching a “courses” section.
Last year, during the Google for India event, YouTube announced that they’ll be introducing structured learning and now it’s finally in beta testing. In this post, we’ll share everything you need to know about the new YouTube Courses.
What are YouTube Courses?
“Courses” is one of the new YouTube products that’ll allow learners to dive deep into subjects they want to focus on while connecting to other learners.
Now this is quite different from organized learning videos in playlists. Instead, creators can organize their lessons into series and group them into a course – quite similar to Linkedin Learning.
YouTube Courses will help clarify concepts better, organize and structure topics while also providing reading materials. This means the creators will add these materials in addition to quizzes and assignments – just like a standard online school.
The benefits as a learner are that you can switch video courses to your preferred language, get automatic captions or subtitles, ask questions, and connect with the creator or other learners. So you get a more structured learning experience as opposed to combing through hundreds of similar content available on the platform.
How Does it Work for Learners?
With this new feature, as a learner, you can take a free course, purchase a paid course and request for a refund in certain scenarios. Here’s what you need to know;
- Courses will be available on your home feed, watch next, in creator playlists and search results.
- You have to be up to 18 years to purchase a course
- You can only purchase a course on a computer or Android device
- Once you purchase a course, you can watch it on any device
- If there are additional resources attached to a course, you can only download them on a computer
- If a course requires a one-time fee, you can always watch it ad-free
- There will be free courses available
- In the unlikely event that a purchased course doesn’t work and you haven’t viewed it, you can request for a refund within 7 days.
What Creators Can Expect from YouTube Courses
If there’s one thing Creators love about YouTube, it’s that they’ll always offer monetization and this isn’t different. YouTube Courses is a platform designed for creators to offer their educational content, build an audience of learners and monetize this content.
Since it’ll require more details and attention to content creation, creators will be able to offer paid vocational and academic courses. So if you already have an audience, you should start creating a proper learning syllabus. That way, you can start selling your courses and become a thought leader in your industry.
It’s also a great way to increase your engagement which means, you don’t have to launch a paid course immediately. Since most users would want to start with free courses before committing to a paid one, you can still earn through your views.
With your comments section which will be a hub for course reviews, plus the community section for polls and other discussions, you can build your engagement organically. It’ll also be a great way to identify areas for improvement or get content ideas.
How Can I Access the YouTube Courses in Beta?
Unfortunately, the beta isn’t available worldwide yet. However, some qualified creators already have access to the Beta in India, South Korea and the United States. We still don’t know when it’ll be available for creators in Africa.
But, it only means that there’s still enough time to start building your courses, brand and audience you’ll be converting into students as a creator.
