INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF YOUTUBE ON ENHANCING STUDENTS' COMPUTER SKILLS

Though primarily recognized as a source of entrainment, YouTube is also used as an educational environment. In fact, this media sharing website has become a valuable resource that students have recourse to whether they are doing research on a project, seeking help with homework or just wanting to learn something new. Given these opportunities, our purpose in this paper is to examine the potential impact of using YouTube in improving students' computer skills. To this end, a survey was carried out among engineering students to see how they perceive the use of this online platform for educational purposes. Results of the study showed that most of the surveyed students rely on YouTube to solve different academic problems, learn new computer skills as well as answer any questions they might have. However, though the video tutorials that YouTube hosts are often blamed for being too long, interrupted by ads and not usually designed by educators, most informants agree that these online educational videos provide them with unlimited opportunities to enhance their computer knowledge and practical computing skills. For these reasons, we recommend that teachers embrace video sharing services given that they have the power to turn a potentially boring or complex subject matter into an overall engaging and exciting learning experience.