TEDTalks (video): Geoffrey Canada: Our failing schools. Enough is enough!

Why, why, why does our education system look so similar to the way it did 50 years ago? Millions of students were failing then, as they are now — and it’s because we’re clinging to a business model that clearly doesn’t work. Education advocate Geoffrey Canada dares the system to look at the data, think about the customers and make systematic shifts in order to help greater numbers of kids excel.

via TED: Geoffrey Canada: Our failing schools. Enough is enough! – Geoffrey Canada (2013).

TEDTalks (video): Ramsey Musallam: 3 rules to spark learning

It took a life-threatening condition to jolt chemistry teacher Ramsey Musallam out of ten years of “pseudo-teaching” to understand the true role of the educator: to cultivate curiosity. In a fun and personal talk, Musallam gives 3 rules to spark imagination and learning, and get students excited about how the world works.

via TED: Ramsey Musallam: 3 rules to spark learning – Ramsey Musallam (2013).

TEDTalks (video): Pearl Arredondo: My story, from gangland daughter to star teacher

Pearl Arredondo grew up in East Los Angeles, the daughter of a high-ranking gang member who was in-and-out of jail. Many teachers wrote her off as having a problem with authority. Now a teacher herself, she’s creating a different kind of school and telling students her story so that they know its okay if sometimes homework isn’t the first thing on their mind.

via TED: Pearl Arredondo: My story, from gangland daughter to star teacher – Pearl Arredondo (2013).

TEDTalks (video): Timothy Bartik: The economic case for preschool

In this well-argued talk, Timothy Bartik makes the macro-economic case for preschool education — and explains why you should be happy to invest in it, even if you don’t have kids that age (or kids at all). The economic benefits of well-educated kids, it turns out, go well beyond the altruistic.

via TED: Timothy Bartik: The economic case for preschool – Timothy Bartik (2012).

TEDTalks (video): Andreas Schleicher: Use data to build better schools

How can we measure what makes a school system work? Andreas Schleicher walks us through the PISA test, a global measurement that ranks countries against one another — then uses that same data to help schools improve. Watch to find out where your country stacks up, and learn the single factor that makes some systems outperform others.

What makes a great school system? To find out, Andreas Schleicher administers a test to compare student performance around the world.

via TED: Andreas Schleicher: Use data to build better schools – Andreas Schleicher (2012).

TEDTalks (video): Tyler DeWitt: Hey science teachers — make it fun!

High school science teacher Tyler DeWitt was ecstatic about a lesson plan on bacteria (how cool!) — and devastated when his students hated it. The problem was the textbook: it was impossible to understand. He delivers a rousing call for science teachers to ditch the jargon and extreme precision, and instead make science sing through stories and demonstrations. (Filmed at TEDxBeaconStreet.)

via TED: Tyler DeWitt: Hey science teachers — make it fun – Tyler DeWitt (2012).

TEDTalks (video): Mitch Resnick: Let’s teach kids to code

Coding isn’t just for computer whizzes, says Mitch Resnick of MIT Media Lab — it’s for everyone. In a fun, demo-filled talk Resnick outlines the benefits of teaching kids to code, so they can do more than just “read” new technologies — but also create them. (Filmed at TEDxBeaconStreet.)

Mitch Resnick directs the Lifelong Kindergarten group at MIT Media Lab, dedicated to helping kids of all ages tinker and experiment with design

via TED: Mitch Resnick: Let’s teach kids to code – Mitch Resnick (2012).

TEDTalks (video): Beau Lotto + Amy O’Toole: Science is for everyone, kids included

What do science and play have in common? Neuroscientist Beau Lotto thinks all people (kids included) should participate in science and, through the process of discovery, change perceptions. He’s seconded by 12-year-old Amy O’Toole, who, along with 25 of her classmates, published the first peer-reviewed article by schoolchildren, about the Blackawton bees project. It starts: “Once upon a time … “

 

Amy O’Toole is a 12-year-old student who helped run a science experiment inspired by Beau Lotto’s participative science approach. At age 10 she became one of the youngest people ever to publish a peer-reviewed science paper. Full bio »

Beau Lotto is founder of Lottolab, a hybrid art studio and science lab. With glowing, interactive sculpture — and old-fashioned peer-reviewed research–he’s illuminating the mysteries of the brain’s visual system.

via TED: Beau Lotto + Amy O’Toole: Science is for everyone, kids included – Beau Lotto / Amy O’Toole (2012).

TEDTalks (video): Ami Klin: A new way to diagnose autism

TEDTalks (video)

Early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder can improve the lives of everyone affected, but the complex network of causes make it incredibly difficult to predict. At TEDxPeachtree, Ami Klin describes a new early detection method that uses eye-tracking technologies to gauge babies’ social engagement skills and reliably measure their risk of developing autism.

via TED: Ami Klin: A new way to diagnose autism – Ami Klin (2011).

TEDTalks (video): Stephen Ritz: A teacher growing green in the South Bronx

A whirlwind of energy and ideas, Stephen Ritz is a teacher in New York’s tough South Bronx, where he and his kids grow lush gardens for food, greenery — and jobs. Just try to keep up with this New York treasure as he spins through the many, many ways there are to grow hope in a neighborhood many have written off, or in your own.

via TED: Stephen Ritz: A teacher growing green in the South Bronx – Stephen Ritz (2012).