YouTube expands "Courses" feature to more of its creators, rolling out gradually
YouTube is giving its creators a powerful new tool to share their knowledge and expertise with the world through a feature aptly named "Courses." This new offering isn't entirely brand new, though; YouTube initially teased it in 2022 and tested it with a select group of creators to ensure it was ready for primetime. Now, it's rolling out to more creators, opening up a whole new world of possibilities for both educational content and monetization.
What are YouTube Courses?
In a nutshell, Courses allows creators to package their videos into structured, multi-lesson learning programs. It's like having your very own virtual classroom right on your YouTube channel. The feature is packed with helpful tools, like quizzes to test your students' understanding and dedicated discussion sections to foster interaction and community building. Additionally, these courses can be offered for free or at a one-time fee, giving creators another way to turn their passion into profit.YouTube is putting "Courses" front and center
YouTube isn't just launching Courses; they're actively promoting them to ensure maximum visibility. Courses will be displayed across the platform with a special badge, whether you're browsing search results, checking out a channel page, or seeing what's next in your recommendations. Each channel with courses will even have a dedicated "Courses" tab, and some might even be featured on a central Courses page on YouTube itself.YouTube has also thought about how to keep learners engaged and motivated. A new information panel on the course playlist page will show how long the course is and how much of it you've already completed. And for those who make it all the way to the end? They'll be rewarded with a new badge that shows up in their "You" tab.
Getting started with Courses is pretty straightforward, and the process resembles the one for uploading new videos. Creators simply need to head to YouTube Studio on desktop, click on "Create," then "New Course," and fill in all the details. Right now, you can only create a course on a computer, but you can still upload individual videos from your phone and add them to the course later when you're back on your computer.
YouTube is taking things slow with this rollout, so if you don't see the "New Course" option in YouTube Studio just yet, you may just have to wait a bit longer for it to appear. That said, this is definitely an exciting new feature that is sure to be a win-win for both creators and viewers.
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