Have you watched a TED-Ed video lately?

Noah Tavlin works for TED-Ed and has watched over 500 of the videos. In this blog post he concludes that:
“Every innovation begins with a question.”
“Discovery doesn’t begin with knowledge — it begins with questions and curiosity.”
“Learning from educators and animators has inspired me to think more deeply about things — not just to skim the surface.”
Videos make a great “OPEN” lesson for Guided Inquiry – inspired thinking leads to deep questions.
Screen Shot 2015-03-02 at 10.48.30 am

Autism – What we know about this disorder

It is vital for educators to know about autism and for strategies to assist in helping our students with autism . This TED talk by Wendy Chung ‘shares what we know about autism spectrum disorder — for example, that autism has multiple, perhaps interlocking, causes. Looking beyond the worry and concern that can surround a diagnosis, Chung and her team look at what we’ve learned through studies, treatments and careful listening.’

The Satisfaction of Sharing Wealth – Bill and Melinda Gates

Bill and Melinda Gates: “Why giving away our wealth has been the most satisfying thing we’ve done…”

In this TED Talk Bill and Melinda Gates talk

about their work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as about their marriage, their children, their failures and the satisfaction of giving most of their wealth away.

Every kid needs a Champion – Rita Pierson

A ‘must watch’ inspiring TED talk for teachers.

Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, “They don’t pay me to like the kids.” Her response: “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.’” A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level.

Fibonacci Numbers – not just calculation… application

Arthur Benjamin says in this TED Talk that there is a side of Mathematics that does not get the attention it deserves. He says that we spend so much time on the calculation but not enough time on the application. He encourages us to use Mathematics to train our thinking skills.

Math is logical, functional and just … awesome. Mathemagician Arthur Benjamin explores hidden properties of that weird and wonderful set of numbers, the Fibonacci series. (And reminds you that Mathematics can be inspiring, too!)

Fibinacci

Issues in Australian Society – Year 10 Guided Inquiry at Broughton

Every year Broughton’s Year 10 Commerce class uses Guided Inquiry to research a personally selected Issue in Australian Society. This unit of work will also be part of an ongoing Action Research project for the Teacher Librarian – looking at the impact of Guided Inquiry on student learning.

The initial ‘OPEN’ stage of Guided Inquiry gives the teachers and students an initial experience within the topic area that initiates interest and enthusiasm. The following TED Talk could be used for this – as could many others. This clip could help to emphasise that students need to think about the ‘action’ they could personally take at the end of their research… How could they personally assist to overcome or reduce the impact of the issue they choose to research?

We will also look at some clips of the ABC’s program Q&A where the audience asks politicians and invited experts questions about current issues.

Michael Green wants to solve architecture’s biggest challenge — meeting worldwide housing demand without increasing carbon emissions — by building with carbon-sequestering wood instead of concrete and steel.

Technology, communication, connection and relationships

Connected, but alone?

As we expect more from technology, do we expect less from each other? Sherry Turkle studies how our devices and online personas are redefining human connection and communication — and asks us to think deeply about the new kinds of connection we want to have.

Sherry Turkle studies how technology is shaping our modern relationships: with others, with ourselves, with it.

 

 

Ten inspiring teachers share in TED talks

The TED Blog informs us about, and links to, ten inspiring ‘Talks’ by teachers from many areas of school education.

Arthur Benjamin: Teach statistics before calculus
John Hunter: Teaching the World Peace Game
Emily Pilloton: Teaching design for change
Dan Meyer: Math class needs a makeover
Aaron Sams: How to speed up chemical reactions and get a date
Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education
Liz Coleman: a call to reinvent liberal arts education
Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers
Clifford Stoll: The call to learn

Learning through Play – Play dough Circuits

Playing with Play dough can be turned into a science lesson for the very young. In her TED talk, AnnMarie Thomas describes how to make a circuit using the normal Play dough recipe containing salt then adding into the ‘game’ some playdough made with sugar.

“Play dough can be used to demonstrate electrical properties — by lighting up LEDs, spinning motors, and turning little kids into circuit designers.”

 

 

TED talk by inspirational School Librarian, Dr Joyce Valenza

Dr Joyce Valenza is well known worldwide by Teacher Librarians for her innovative use of technology in schools and her contributions to the development of Web2.0 tools integrated into school research practice. She regularly visits Australia to share at our professional development conferences.