Videos from TED, called TED Talks (18 minute presentations from creative figures that are presented at an annual conference) are regular subjects of discussion in the education blogosphere.
To tell you the truth, though, I never paid much attention to them — yes, I was sure they’d be good for intellectual stimulation, but I didn’t think they would be too applicable to what I’m teaching in school. There’s only so much time in a day…
The training in Houston last week that I took to prepare for teaching the Theory of Knowledge class for our International Baccalaureate program mentioned these TED talks as good sources for that class and, just as I was thinking I should explore it further, Richard Byrne posted about a wiki called Teaching With Ted.
It shares videos along with lesson ideas connected to each one.
I think it’s a good place for me to start. I should say that, though I’m sure I’ll be able to adapt many of the lessons I design for Theory of Knowledge so that they will be accessible to my English Language Learners, I’m less sure I’ll be able to do the same for ones requiring use of TED videos. The language in most of them are just too advanced. However, I suspect I might be able to still use the “essence” of what I come-up with. I’ll write about my experiences giving it a try here.
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/LA-AmericanHistory.htmlhi,
I just came across a pretty neat site that has a lot of short lessons in American History.
I was doing some research about forts out west and came across it. I thought you might like to check it out if you haven’t already.
I hope you are feeling better. I had the same problem you did last week but I got sick from eating in a local restaurant.
Jim
My colleagues have recommended your blog and I can see why. I have been looking for ways to implement TED talks in my classes, so I will certainly have a look at the recommended wiki. Thanks for taking the time to share all these very useful tips on your blog!
Larry,
Yeah, probably way too advanced for ELLs but I highly recommend TED for any teacher! Keeps the mind young. I even sneak them in from time to time when I’m speaking at workshops (for example next week I’ll be presenting at a conference about inductive teaching and will use Sugata Mitra’s “hole in a wall” talk ).
I’m such a junkie, I have a HD player which is fed constant updates!
http://eflclassroom.com/tedtalks.htm
I”ll most certainly check out the Teaching with Ted wiki.
Thanks,
David
http://eflclassroom.com