The study, conducted by K12, a website owned by for-profit online education company Stride Inc., suggested that online social platforms have become a major academic support tool for students, with some families reporting improvements in grades, confidence and curiosity. But educators said the same platforms are also promoting misinformation, forcing them to spend time correcting inaccurate content students encounter online.
Moreover, the data showed that educational video content is increasingly integrated into students' at-home learning experiences, with 73 percent of respondents reporting their child uses YouTube to learn or review school topics. Significantly, the survey described how parents themselves recommend videos to help their student with difficult subjects: More than one-third of adults said they would struggle to support their child academically without video explainers.
“On average, students spend about five hours per week watching educational videos online, which adds up to 260 hours each year,” the survey said. “For some families, this way of learning has become essential. More than one in three parents (37 percent) admit they rely on YouTube and TikTok to explain tricky school concepts to their kids.”
Parents participating in the survey reported several perceived academic benefits associated with educational video content, including higher grades, greater confidence and increased curiosity or independence. The report also stated that these video platforms can help support learning habits: Many families and teachers found that creator content allows students to “stay engaged in school subjects and grasp new concepts more easily.”
However, while educators acknowledge the benefits of online explainers, many say the platforms also introduce incorrect or misleading information into classrooms. The survey found 67 percent of teachers have had to correct or "un-teach" misinformation their students got from online videos, and 49 percent said they had to do so more than once. About 86 percent of teachers said they've sometimes reviewed educational content mentioned by their students, and 35 percent said they always make sure to do so.
In particular, responses showed that video-based learning has improved student interest in core subjects like science, math and history.
“More than half of parents (55 percent) said their kids showed greater interest in science when learning through videos," the study said. "Art and music follow at 37 percent, with math (35 percent) and history (32 percent) close behind.”
The report also indicated that educators are experiencing pressure to emulate creator-style teaching to keep their students engaged in class, a trend that reflects changing expectations for how academic information is delivered — often in short, visual and highly engaging formats.
However, according to K12’s Chief Learning Officer Niyoka McCoy, educators should not feel threatened by the evolving learning landscape.
“For many teachers, this is not something to compete with. It is something to harness. Creator-style content can be a powerful way to spark curiosity and connect with students in formats that feel familiar to them,” she wrote in an email to the Center for Digital Education. “The opportunity for educators is to channel that engagement while providing the structure, context, and critical thinking that turn interesting content into meaningful learning.”
Despite concerns about misinformation, many teachers said they are incorporating creator-made content into their instruction. About two-thirds of teachers (65 percent) said they have embedded social video content, such as from YouTube or TikTok, into their lessons. According to the survey, this was most common among middle- and high-school educators.
Some teachers also reported adjusting their instructional delivery, with 37 percent stating they feel an overall sense of pressure to make their teaching style align with that of a content creator to keep students engaged.
As the consumption of "edutainment" — the intersection of education and entertainment — continues to grow and influence students’ learning processes, the survey suggests teachers, parents and schools may need to more deliberately help students navigate the accuracy of online information while also recognizing the role creator-driven content now plays in how many students engage with academic topics.
