How can TikTok be used to learn or teach something?

In the world of social media, TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular platforms, especially among Gen Z users. But beyond just scrolling for entertainment, TikTok can actually be an incredibly valuable tool for learning new skills or teaching others.

The short-form video format makes it easy to absorb information quickly, and the massive audience reach gives creators the opportunity to educate at scale. Whether you’re looking to pick up new hobbies and knowledge yourself or share your expertise with others, TikTok has something to offer.

In this post, we’ll explore how to tap into the platform’s educational potential. Let’s dive in!

How can TikTok be used to learn or teach something?

TikTok’s huge popularity and short video format make it uniquely well-suited for bite-sized learning and teaching. The platform enables spreading educational content on almost any topic to its over 1 billion users.

Features like duets and stitches facilitate engaging, interactive lessons. Both learners and teachers can connect in the TikTok community to gain or share knowledge. With the right strategy, TikTok provides an immensely powerful way to absorb or spread information and skills.

Why use TikTok for learning?

TikTok might seem like just another place to watch silly viral videos, but the platform is uniquely well-suited for learning and teaching. Here are some key advantages TikTok offers:

• Bite-sized content: The short videos, typically ranging from 15 seconds to 3 minutes, deliver information in easily digestible pieces. You can learn a lot through quick tips, hacks, and explainers that get straight to the point.
  
• Visual learning: TikTok is a video-first platform, so educators can teach through demonstrations, step-by-step tutorials, and eye-catching visuals. This makes it great for learning practical skills or visual topics.
  
• Massive reach: TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users. Educational content can spread rapidly, tapping into that huge audience. Creating TikToks presents a major opportunity to educate people globally.
  
• Engagement: The duet and stitch features drive active participation. Learners can film themselves practicing skills or taking on challenges from teachers. This interactivity boosts engagement with content.

Overall, TikTok facilitates bite-sized, engaging learning tailored for today’s mobile world. The short-form videos and participatory culture can make picking up new skills addictively fun!

Subjects You Can Learn on TikTok

The variety of learning opportunities on TikTok is astounding. While entertainment and comedy dominate, you can also use it to study traditional academic topics or gain interesting life skills. Some subjects people commonly learn through TikTok include:

• Languages: Quick lessons teach vocabulary, common phrases, pronunciation, grammar rules, and more for languages like English, Spanish, French, and Korean. Visuals and audio make absorbing new lingo seamless.
  
• Cooking/Baking: From easy recipes to decorating cakes, cooking on TikTok lets you learn new dishes step-by-step. Binging recipe videos can expand your culinary skills big time.
  
• Math/Science: Some creators use TikTok to explain math and science concepts quickly, tackling formulas, theories, diagrams, and equations through voice-overs and visuals.
  
• History/Social Studies: Historical events and figures come to life through sketches and costume reenactments. Sociology and social issues get broken down via infographics and commentary.
  
• Music: You can learn instruments, music production, lyric writing, and more by taking suggestions from seasoned musicians sharing their expertise.

The possibilities are endless, ranging from physics to philosophy. TikTok is a portal into bite-sized lessons on almost any academic topic imaginable.

How to Find Educational Content on TikTok

With so many videos focused on entertainment, you have to know how to find the educational gems. Use these tips:

• Follow hashtags: Seek out niche learning hashtags like #LearnOnTikTok, #TikTokTaughtMe, #TikTokTeacher, #EduTok, etc. Following these tags surfaces new content in your feed.
  
• Look up experts: Search for creators that specialize in your field of interest. Follow them to get their educational videos in your feed.
  
• Use strategic search terms: Try searching keywords like “learn,” “tutorial,” “tips,” “how to,” etc. combined with your desired skill or subject.
  
• Check out the Discover tab: TikTok’s Discover tab often features topics and hashtags related to learning, like #Learn.
  
• Look through sounds: Educational sounds allow you to see all videos using an audio track, often with instructional music or voice-overs.

It takes some digging, but educational content is all over TikTok once you know how to unearth it. Curate your feed with creators, hashtags, sounds, and searches that expose you to knowledge and skills.

Tips for Creating Great Educational TikToks

If you want to teach a skill or subject yourself on TikTok, these tips can help you create stellar instructional content:

• Simplify concepts: Break down complex ideas into basic, easy-to-grasp steps. Use text overlays to summarize key takeaways.
  
• Keep it concise: Getting right to the point is crucial on TikTok. Aim for 30 seconds to 3 minutes maximum for educational videos.
  
• Use visuals wisely: Demonstrate techniques, add graphics, labels, diagrams, etc. to complement your lesson visually.
  
• Make it engaging: Inject personality into your teaching. Use humor, costumes, skits, and other tactics to educate in an entertaining way.
  
• Promote participation: Challenge viewers to do a TikTok duet practicing what you taught or share their results.
  
• Use relevant hashtags: This helps people looking to learn your skill/subject discover your TikToks more easily.

Mastering quick yet compelling educational content takes practice, but the impact on sharing knowledge makes it so rewarding.

Why Teach on TikTok? Benefits for Creators

Beyond just learning, creators have major incentives to teach others on TikTok too. Here are some of the benefits:

• Build authority: Regularly posting instructional content positions you as an expert and authority in your niche.
  
• Gain followers: Quality educational content attracts an engaged, loyal audience. This can help you grow your follower count.
  
• Monetization: Get paid through the TikTok Creator Fund, brand partnerships, affiliate marketing, and more. Informative content is very monetizable.
  
• Get feedback: Teaching gives you valuable direct feedback on your lessons from students trying your tips.
  
• Express creativity: The fun video formats and effects let you get creative in how you teach and present information.
  
• Make an impact: Spreading your knowledge can profoundly educate, inspire, uplift, or entertain people around the world.

Teaching on TikTok takes dedication, but it’s a great way to build your brand as a thought leader while making an educational impact through content people love.

FAQs

How can I find educational content on TikTok?

Search hashtags like #LearnOnTikTok, look up experts teaching your topics of interest, and use keywords like “tutorial” or “how to” to surface helpful learning content.

What are the best subjects to learn on TikTok?

Many use TikTok for languages, cooking, academics like math and science, history, art, music and more. The platform is great for learning practical skills.

Why is TikTok good for learning?

The short videos work well for bite-sized learning. And features like duets and stitches allow for interactive education.

Can kids use TikTok safely to learn?

With parental controls like Family Pairing, kids can access age-appropriate, vetted educational content. Supervision is still essential though.

How can I start teaching what I know on TikTok?

Make engaging short-form video lessons, use visuals/graphics, simplify complex topics and promote participation through duets to start educating on TikTok.

What equipment do I need to make instructional TikToks?

You can use just a smartphone and basic video editing apps at first. Invest in lighting, mics and stabilization tools to enhance quality over time.

Conclusion

At first glance, TikTok seems like just an endless scroll of dance trends and comedy routines. But behind the viral videos lies a world of educational content both made by and for the naturally curious TikTok community.

It does take some savvy searching to find genuinely educational accounts and content among the sea of other videos. But by leveraging tips like strategic hashtags, sounds, searches, and more, you can curate an educational TikTok feed tailored precisely to your interests. 

For creators, teaching on TikTok provides immense opportunities to build authority as a thought leader, engage audiences, and make an impact.

So don’t underestimate the power of TikTok. Those 60 second clips could hold the key to mastering a new skill, acing a test, or spreading invaluable lessons with the world. TikTok has evolved far beyond a place just for viral entertainment and offers an exciting new educational platform for the digital age.

Ready to start learning or teaching something new on TikTok today? Download the app and let the knowledge begin flowing!