Technology, Entertainment, Design

I love TED Talks. 

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, and the nonprofit organization's goal is to educate global audiences in an accessible way. TED Talks are presenTED by a wide range of experts, including scientists, researchers, business leaders, artists, and designers, and cover topics such as education, business, science, tech, and creativity. TED Talks are available for free on the TED website and are also frequently featured on social media and other multimedia sites. In total, TED Talks are viewed or listened to more than 3 billion times each year

TED Talks are short, recorded presentations that share knowledge and research from experts on a variety of topics. The talks are given at TED conferences, TEDx events, and other partner events, and are often delivered without notes. TED Talks are known for their fast pace, and speakers typically wear a lapel or headset microphone and avoid lecterns.

The first TED Talk I watched was Sal Khan (heard about his Khan Academy on NPR while driving somewhere).  He is an MIT graduate with an MBA from Harvard. In August 2004, Sal began remotely tutoring his cousin, Nadia, who was struggling with math, specifically unit conversions. This "Swiss-cheese" gap in her knowledge was not allowing her to be placed in the more advanced math track. Since Nadia was in New Orleans, and Sal was in Boston working at a hedge fund at the time, Sal started tutoring her through the phone and Yahoo Doodle (anyone remember this app?) after work.  Word spread among his family and he started recording lessons on YouTube as he didn’t time for more individual lessons. From there Khan Academy was born.

During Covid, we signed up both grandsons to learn online with Khan Academy.  It was free, very engaging and both boys learned a lot.  They even offer learning opportunities in addition to school academics.

I went to the TED talk website and would choose topics of interest to me.  Not only was it entertaining, I learned a lot about many different things.  It was so much fun, I introduced my local Village (nonprofit group that helps people remain at home as they age) and the talks are so interesting that we host a group watch with follow up discussion once every week!

Check it out!  I just discovered the youngest TED presenter was seven years old. 

https://www.TED.com/talks/molly_wright_how_every_child_can_thrive_by_five?subtitle=en