AHS TED Talk Blogging: Jonathan Drori

In his brilliant TED Talk, Jonathan Drori presents questions to the audience that most people know the answer to, but then explains why that answer is wrong. Through this ingenious interactive speaking style he explains how what we think we know may not be true.

Although it was not presented as so, I think at its core his talk was about the failures of education. When we grow up, we learn through common sense and experiences, but these can often lead to false conclusions. As soon as people get these ideas, they often fit all other evidence to fit this model. Education’s job should be to eliminate these misconceptions, but in order to do so it must convince students to give up their “models”. I think the best way for students to do this is through hands-on activity. Unless you see something with your own eyes, it is impossible to completely understand it. Textbooks, diagrams, and lectures not only have trouble eliminating misconceptions, but they can cause them. As Drori explains in his talk, people believe planets’ orbits are elongated ellipses, not near perfect circles that they are, because textbook diagrams always show the solar system from the side. If students build an accurate model of the solar system or are shown a three-dimensional one, people would not have this misconception. Through his talk I think Drori redefines what a good teacher is: not someone who tells facts to kids, but rather someone that shows students the evidence and facts so that the student can use his common sense to come to the correct conclusion.

Drori’s talk was very eye-opening to me as it makes me question teaching methods today and what I think I know.

AHS TED Talk Blogging: Conrad Wolfram

In Conrad Wolfram’s TED talk he considers a whole new way to teach math – use computers. He explains that outside of education almost all computing is done with computers, not by hand like it is in schools.

Wolfram has some very valid points in his TED Talk. At its most central theme, the talk is about modernizing education. Education is supposed to prepare students for the outside world and to teach skills and concepts that people actually use. In many grade-schools these days however, subjects and content based upon what is traditionally taught is the only thing that is taught. There are precedents for what should be taught in school, especially in math, such as manual calculation, which are not important skills in the real world. I agree with Wolfram that many schools need to reconsider their purpose – to teach practical and conceptual skills to students that help them succeed, not computational math that is only done on computers in the real-world workplace. Grade-school education is about giving baseline, practical knowledge to students, not computational, paper-and-pencil math that is no longer used.

I disagree, however, on how this new style of teaching math should be implemented. It is impossible to leap to a computer style class all of the sudden because computational math is tested on collage entrance exams such as the SAT and ACT. Computers and practical, conceptual math should be implemented slowly into the class room: maybe starting with a portion of a lesson being “computer math”. No one can accept radically new ideas quickly. It is important to implement these concepts that Conrad Wolfram considers, but doing it slowly is the only way it will be accepted.

AHS TED Talk Blogging: Dave Eggers

In Dave Egger’s TED Talk, he inspires other to get involved in education. He begins by telling the intriguing story of his tutoring center 826 Valencia -- a pirate supply store that is also an English tutoring center for local students. This center has encouraged others to build similar locations. He sums his whole talk up with the encouragement to get involved in education.

After watching his TED talk I was struck by the brilliance of 826 Valencia. Its environment greatly increases intrinsic motivation. Students want to be there and look forward to coming. The idea of it being a pirate supply store is so exciting for many kids that going there and getting one-on-one attention with a tutor would be a fun experience unlike school. Schools should take after the 826 Valencia. If schools made their design and decor more fun and interesting it could make kids excited about learning. In addition a fun design can inspire creativity and adds a welcoming atmosphere as opposed to the typical stark, white-walled classrooms. I know at least for me I learn and enjoy learning more in environments with aesthetically pleasing or engaging designs. Schools should also put a larger emphasis on one-on-one attention and welcome volunteers to help achieve this one-on-one time.

I think the message that Egger conveys is important and worthwhile. People need to be interested and engaged in education at all its levels. Education is the backbone of society and the more educated youth are, the brighter and more intellectual the future. Also by volunteering in education one can excite students about learning -- learning that will help them succeed in the future.

AHS TED Talk Blogging: Dave Meslin

Dave Meslin believes that often the reason people do not contribute to their community is not because of apathy, but rather because of the obstacles that society puts in their way. He concludes that society as whole discourages engagement. He concludes that if engagement in the community is promoted, people will care and not be apathetic.

Meslin makes some excellent points in his talk. Communities should make engagement much more accessible to the average person. Communities should support civilian input as this input can make a community much better as a whole. I personally am not very active in my community but I honestly do not know what opportunities are available. If communities would value the input of civilians more highly, many more people would get involved. Meslin's idea that apathy is often due to the fact that opportunities to help are not well marketed is a good one. Another good point he makes is that media and public space do not encourage making a difference in our communtiy. I think media like TV and magazines should have sections that allow charitable organizations to "advertise". The "unprofitablity" of charities is a huge barrier to getting the word out about their organizations. I personally would be very interested to hear what charitable organizations there are locally as I do not know of many.

The barriers that Meslin considers are very good points, but he does miss a major point--humans are naturally flawed. Everyone is selfish, at least to a degree. This does not mean that no one cares about others and their community, but it does mean that there are many people that are lazy and selfish (even if only a little bit). Hopefully media and communities can get people who ordinarily would not help the community to do so. Sending good messages and "marketing" volunteer opportunities can most definitely increase volunteering.

Meslin's idea of eliminating barriers that society establishes being an antidote to apathy is very good, but he does not realize that there is true selfishness and apathy: no one is perfect.

AHS TED Talk Blogging: Clay Shirky

In his TED Talk, Clay Shirky considers what he sees as what will change the world -- cognitive surplus. He defines cognitive surplus as the free time each of us spends on collaborative projects such as Wikipedia, Ushahidi, and LOLcats. He encourages everyone to spend their time on projects of civic value: projects that benefit humanity.

Shirky does a good job explaining his ideas, but the ideas themselves are not well formed and quite vague. He does not explain the application of his ideas. I agree the cognitive surplus could have large benefits.When many minds come together there can be a huge amount of information available. This can be seen especially on Wikipedia where there is a well written article on almost any topic. I can also see the affect of a large amount of minds thinking together in our class' fishbowls. We learn much more about topics from fishbowls than just thinking on our own. Since the way each person thinks is unique, each person see things in different ways opening up huge possibilities. As Shirky says, "no one person knows what everyone knows." I can see this concept working very well in companies where there could be some sort of collaborative time when employees could work together to develop new product ideas and improving products. Also, this concept could work on wikis that consider ideas to help the poor or war-torn countries. This concept the Shirky brings up is a very good one, but not completely developed.

AHS TED Talk Blogging: Post 3: Dan Pink

In his TED Talk, Dan Pink considers what motivates us. He argues his point in a very logical manner, presenting evidence, interpreting and explaining what it means, and describing the real world application of these conclusions. He explains that through multiple scientific studies that it has been determined that with easy to complete, mechanical, and narrow-minded tasks, a monetary reward increases productivity. On the other hand, with complex, intellectual tasks, the monetary reward decreased productivity. Imposing a monetary reward on such tasks decreased its intrinsic value. No longer is the person doing the task for the joy of it, the challenge, or the end results, they are doing it to earn money which makes the task mundane and tedious.Pink says businesses need to focus on granting its employees independence and focus less on "the carrot and the stick" approach. Pink has passion about this concept (even getting noticeably agitated while he talked) and believes that if businesses will learn for the science of how we are motivated, companies and its employees will be much more productive.

What Pink says indeed has merit and its concepts I can see in myself, but I do not believe he has determined a useful application for his research and conclusions. The concept of autonomy and its affect on work makes a lot of sense. For example, I enjoy reading both fiction and nonfiction books on my own and on my own schedule outside of school very much. I find learning from these books to be fun and engaging, but when forced by the school to read with the punishment of a bad grade and the reward of a good grade, I find myself bored and uninterested. Schools should focus on the joy of learning and less on the grade. This will undoubtedly boost student’s performances. In the workplace however, it is much harder to find ways to incorporate Pink’s ideas. A business cannot stop paying people because than people will stop working. Even though a job may have enjoyable elements, almost everyone would stay at home if they did not get paid for working. Therefore, it is very difficult to focus on the concepts of autonomy, mastery, and purpose in most workplaces due to the necessity of monetary reward. Pink gives the example of Google and other software companies offering days for programmers to work on whatever they want. This concept works great in a creative job where multiple results can equal company earnings, but in a less creative job such as construction jobs, autonomy will get the company nowhere. Overall, Pink has some very valid points, but he has not explained how they can be applied to most businesses.

AHS TED Talk Blogging: Post 2: Patricia Ryan

In her short, yet persuasive TED talk, Patricia Ryan considers how and why English is dominating and the pros and cons of this globalization of language. Ryan presents many impressive statistics like the fact that a language dies every 14 days to support her point of view. She believes that having a global language is important in today's world, but English should not become a barrier to progress and education. The necessity of knowing fluent English prevents many potentially brilliant people who cannot pass language tests from entering universities. She says that ideas can be shared in any language through translation. In addition, she argues that language death is a tragedy. Many words cannot be translated into English or by translating into English they lost part of their meaning. Languages are very precious and unique and should be kept alive.

I agree with Ryan that each language is different, unique, and special in its own way -- some artful, some exact, some emotional. I think many multiple languages should be allowed to thrive and scientific work should be published in multiple languages and then translated into a global language. This allows those who cannot afford to learn English or cannot pass language tests to still share research. In schools, a primary language should remain but secondary language classes are very important as well for students to understand the world and other ways of thinking.