MIT+K12 Videos

Check out MIT+K12 Videos new website! Their mission is to use MIT's unique resources to inspire the inner scientist in all learners. We believe everyone can have wonder for our world - so we create video content that entertains and engages just as much as it educates.

In December 2011, Ian Waitz, MIT’s Dean of Engineering, launched the MIT-K12 project initiative in the School of Engineering. They successfully launched several pilot rounds of video production in which students were given free rein to write, film, and edit the videos that currently make up the majority of our content. During these pilot rounds, Dean Waitz, Becky Cassler Fearing, Chad Galts, Kris Brewer and many wonderful folks in the School of Engineering helped to bring some great content to the world and learned a great deal about how to best leverage our resources in the process. In the summer of 2013, the program moved into MIT’s Office of Educational Innovation of Technology within the Office of Digital Learning, and in ODL, we’ve built upon the lessons learned in the original pilot rounds.

Our new webseries, Science Out Loud, is made for students by students. We invite and train current MIT students to write and host webisodes about their favorite science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics for kids and kids-at-heart, webisodes that are free and accessible to anyone in the world. These videos show a side of science different from what you might find in a textbook – everything from the physics of invisibility cloaks to motor control in humanoid robots – and make the resources that are unique to MIT more accessible and visible to a global audience, in addition to providing K-12 educators with ideas of incorporating them into the classroom curriculum. Most importantly, they’re hosted by MIT students who showcase a diverse set of interests, personalities, and backgrounds; who are relatable and fun and who dismiss the misconception that science is only for an elite and isolated population.

In addition to the videos, MIT+K12 Videos is also an outreach program and seeks to generate STEM interest through live events. K12Live! features students giving TED-style talks on their video content, and SciVids101 brings area middle and high schoolers to MIT for a crash course in making science videos. By training MIT students to become engaging champions for science and by producing these videos, we aim to foster a global community of learners and educators who share an enthusiasm and curiosity for our world.

- Elizabeth Choe