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.