Ted? Is that you?

It's June. Exams are over, marks have been updated, reports are finished, and I can finally get back to this blog. It's been a while, I know, I've missed you too. However, you can't say that I have not been busy. Over the last several weeks, aside from the usual classroom work, and reporting process, myself and a group of other teachers have embarked on a new journey (that sounds corny I know - but it is true). A group of us have begun the process of 'flipping' our classrooms. We have ratcheted up the learning, at a time in the year where most are dialled down. We have begun researching about the products and processes required to effectively 'flip', and I can honestly say it's pretty cool to see all of the tech tools out there that you can use. The one that really caught my eye recently is one that many are familiar with - TED. Only this TED is a little bit different than his more famous brother. This TED is TED-ED.

First, if you haven't checked out TED yet, then please do so. The countless hours of video lectures are amazing, and I constantly find myself watching these videos rather than TV. Below are a list of what I think may be some of the best that pertain to education.

1. Sir Ken Robinson - Schools Kill Creativity
2. Salman Khan - Let's Use Video to Reinvent Education
3. Sugata Mitra: The Child-Driven Education
4. Sir Ken Robinson (again) - Changing Education Paradigms 
5. Malcolm Gladwell - Spaghetti Sauce (Not necessarily about education, but I really thought it was fantastic. Probably because I love marketing.)

Now that you are familiar with TED, let's meet his little brother TED-ED. Now this little brother has a pretty large mission - capturing great lessons from the world's educators. With TED-ED you can submit an idea for a lesson, have a professional animator illustrate it for video, record your own voice to it, and then have it posted on the website; where thousands of other educators can use it for their own lessons. Most videos are then accompanied with a number of questions, both simple and critical thinking, as well as extension activities. The idea that anyone, anywhere in the world can create a lesson is somewhat new, definitely amazing, and really shows how far we've come, not just with regards to technology, but collaboration. There are so many amazing teachers out there, TED has just given those teachers a new platform to share their great lessons, and we can all benefit from this. The website/project is still in its infancy, but before long I imagine it will be contain a wealth of knowledge and lessons that many educators will use on a regular basis. I for one can't wait to see where it goes from here!