In a bid to increase the presence of educational content, YouTube is investing a cool $20 million into how-to videos and creators online.

YouTube will also launch a new learning channel, which will serve as an educational hub made up of original programmes and content from existing creators. 

Year Up and Goodwill are two organisations that will have a hand in creating playlists and shaping content for this new channel.

Educational content

Speaking to the BBC, YouTube's global head of learning Mike Ducard said there is no "formal definition" as to which creators the fund would support. Learning content ranges from how-to demonstrations to creators focusing on a specific skill, and the platform wants to "support a range".

YouTube's algorithm favours watch-time, so the longer a video is, the better it will do. The platform has been criticised for favouring long-form, sensationalist content, putting creators off making shorter, educational videos.

In order to counter this, YouTube wishes to bring more sponsors aboard that have a big interest in supporting educational content.

"A lot of creators in the education space are not fuelled by making a buck, they're fuelled by making a difference. We want to honour that and strive for removing the friction and the pain points." Ducard said.