Google has just announced that it is teaming up with Khan Academy for a new competition to find the next generation of “educational YouTube stars.” This news comes as interest in new forms of digitally-powered education rises, with services likeedXP2PUSkillshareCodecademy and Coursera growing rapidly.
Google and Khan Academy are looking for what they call the Next EDU Gurus: “10 super talented and engaging content creators” which Google and Khan Academy will support through training, promotion and a $1,000 B&H gift card for production equipment. And although the $1k isn’t that hefty a prize, the training and promotion that winners will receive makes it look like it’s definitely worth the effort.
Here’s Google’s pitch:
Do you set historical events to music? Doodle your geometry? Sing your Shakespeare? We’re looking for content creators who create all kinds of curriculum-related videos, from grammar to geography, history to histograms. You can submit any style of video as long as it’s educational and family-friendly–just bear in mind that we’re looking for content creators who can take people on a journey through a topic, so if you could imagine making ten, twenty, or fifty more videos on the topic in the future, all the better!
According to Google’s announcement, the 10 winning YouTube Next EDU Gurus will be chosen by both Khan Academy and a panel from YouTube’s Education team. Additionally, one of these 10 will also be awarded the Khan Academy EDU Guru Prize.
If you’re interested in applying and live in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand, you’ll need to create your video and add it to the YouTube Education category by October 1st. For more details, check out the full announcement here. We’re currently awaiting clarification from Google on the application process.