It’s Sunday again. Enjoying a day with my family. You all can wait for a great TED talk.
Nobody’s perfect. I missed last Sunday, too. So, it will be #write29days for me.
By all means, check out some other inspiring, practical, heartbreaking, heartwarming, silly, intimidating and otherwise brilliant posts from bloggers who are undoubtedly more consistent and dedicated than I am.
Enjoy the last few hours of your weekend!
In honor of the former official start of the NCAA basketball season (Midnight Madness and all that), I present Coach Wooden.
Sure, this chat is almost 20 minutes long but I could sit and listen to him all day. Grab a hot cup of something and gather round.
I can’t imagine any student or player who had contact with John Wooden failing to live up to his potential. He’s just that clear and sensible.
Coach Wooden shares simple insights but as all great leaders do, you have no doubt that he lived these principles.
He’s written a few books. Mark owns “Wooden” and recommends it to just about all of his students (and usually gifts it to students who graduate).
Welcome to Day 16 of write31days. Over the hump, so to speak. For this installment of 31 days of Great Ted talks, I have to bring Sir Ken Robinson back for an encore.
Though this presentation isn’t as popular as the first, it is just as poignant and urgent.
Robinson argues that we should revolutionize our model of education rather than reform it (which he views as “simply improving a broken model”).
This isn’t about “privatizing”. I believe public education is already privatized (public money going to huge corporations that control everything in the form of textbooks, testing, testing prep, “technology”, supplies, constant assessment of students, evaluating teachers, food service, “health” initiatives and all manner of “consulting” costs and “studies” before any program, facility or change is implemented).
Recorded around 2010, the exponential infiltration of new technologies affecting nearly every industry and disrupting linearly-oriented institutions make Robinson’sĀ argument even more relevant and urgent. The idea that there’s one linear path to “success” and anyone who takes it will be secure is laughable and irresponsible today-yet that’s how schools prepare students for the world.
Adopting Robinson’s suggestion would allow teachers to teach in the way they are wired and most gifted, instead of conforming to a standardized format. Maybe it’s impossible but worth trying.
The University of the People (UoPeople), a fully accredited online college, provides an affordable Business Administration or Computer Science degree (B.A. or Assoc.) to any high school graduate in the world with access to the internet (doesn’t have to be high-speed).
The interactive, virtual university has no facility costs, no textbooks and the professors volunteer their time. Though, the model is designed to limit the time commitment by faculty members which includes chancellors, presidents and other high-performing professionals.
Students are asked to pay $100 for exams which are graded by supervised peer review but scholarships are available in the case of financial hardship.
This is just one example of how technology can disrupt any industry, in this case, the business of higher education.
When a MATHEMATICIAN argues that statistics should be taught to high school students before calculus, how can’t we listen? Yet, the pinnacle of mathematics is calculus, a subject that’s important to students who will go on to study mathematics, engineering and the sciences but it doesn’t really apply to daily life.
On the other hand, probablility and statistics if everywhere and can be fun!
Arthur Benjamin argues that our world has moved from an analog to a digital age and statistics drives it (GOOGLE ALGORITHM ANYONE?). In fact, one reason Amazon has become so huge and successful was Jeff Bezos’ foresight in collecting consumer data.
It’s unbelievable that this TED talk was recorded in 2009 and there’s no evidence that stats has taken a front seat in high school curricula. In fact, it’s largely regarded as a “lower level” math.
Wouldn’t you love to know the probability that a guy named Arthur would wind up an academic?
This particular TED talk has personal implications for me.
As I mentioned in this post about my aunt’s improved health since she came to live with us, loneliness is as serious a health risk as smoking and obesity.
Helena Backlund Wasling, a leading researcher in the science and benefits of touch explains how soft touch activates parts of the brain that control emotion. It’s a key element in reducing stress, forming relationships and connecting with people.
I wrote about this TED talk when it was first published back in 2013. I was away this weekend and missed posting Sunday.
This is worth watching again. If you want to find out what Logan’s up to now, you can read about him here. (Fair warning, it will make you feel like you haven’t accomplished much!)
Even though Noy Thrupkaew had been investigating human trafficking for more than 8 years, she never made the connection that her beloved “Auntie”, who cared for Thrupkaew until she was three years old, had been the victim of human trafficking. The young, distant relative was brought from Thailand to the United States on a temporary work visa to care for Noy.
The young woman endured repeated abuse from other members of Thrupkaew’s family until she ran away and eventually went back to Thailand.
Contrary to the common assumption that trafficking only involves bad men forcing young girls into prostitution, that scenario only accounts for 22% of human trafficking in the world.
Applying a more accurate definition: “the use of force, fraud or coercion to force another’s labor”, Thrupkaew shows how we all benefit unwittingly from human trafficking.
In this thorough and powerful TED talk, Thrupkaew challenges all of us to follow the labor and supply chains of the products weĀ consume.
Thrupkaew hasn’t written a book (though she should) but if you’re interested in learning more about human trafficking, including ways to combat it, you can go to this government website: 20 Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking…..and if you buy shrimp from Costco, ask about it.
This TED talk by Gever Tulley is a great go-along to Sugata Mitra’s research in self-organizing education. Instead of giving kids access to a computer and having them learn biochemistry on their own, the kids at Tinkering School get tools and learn equally impressive skills and concepts.
Of course, Tulley’s written a book which I bought a few years ago and have to admit, was too scared to have the kids do most of the challenges. “Fifty Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do” would make a great challenge series. One challenge at a time is enough for me!
Peter Diamandis, one of the most vocal thought leaders of our time, is my new celebrity crush!
Not only does he support massive innovation through funding and founding projects like the X Prize Foundation and Singularity University, he has a unique ability to make anyone understand the impact of these exponential technologies in our world.
In this 2012 TED talk, he argues that humans have never been more equipped to anticipate and solve the most challenging global problems like peace, water, energy, health, climate and poverty. He makes a convincing case that now, more than ever, we can be optimistic about the future.
Of course, Diamandis has a few books. This talk is based on the book “Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think“. I’m currently reading “Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World” in which he gives a roadmap to entrepreneurs to predict when exponential technologies will disrupt an industry. Hint: The number one predictor, in his view, is user-friendly interface.