BBC Launches Online Learning Hub for U.S. Educators

BBC Studios is expanding its online education resources with BBC Learning Hub, a website offering free videos, lessons and activities for U.S. educators and families. The commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation has provided a similar service within the U.K. for decades and plans to continue growing internationally following the U.S. launch, according to a news release this week.

Within the site, users can explore videos grouped by topic, such as space or science and technology. These clips come from BBC programs like Planet Earth and Bluey and are curated to engage students.

For lessons focused on reading, the learning hub offers passages on science and history. According to editorial notes on the learning hub's articles, the BBC Learning Hub editorial team used AI tools to create multiple versions of the articles tailored to three different reading levels — elementary, middle and high school.

The learning hub also offers classroom resources grouped by grade level. These range from collected articles on wild animals to share with lower elementary students, to a full high school-level lesson plan on reducing human impact on oceans that aligns with language arts standards. The materials cover traditional school subjects as well as more emerging topics like sustainability, financial literacy and global citizenship.

Kara Iaconis, global head of BBC Learning, said BBC journalism helps support the learning hub as well. Reporting from BBC My World, a news channel aiming to inform and engage teens in world events, is incorporated into the learning hub. Other videos and worksheets help teach about journalism and support media literacy. Altogether, the site offers more than 1,000 educational tools in the form of videos, lesson plans and student activities.

“We aim to spark curiosity, nurture critical thinking and inspire the next generation,” Iaconis said in a public statement.