According to the website, “TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages.” TED’s mission is to spread ideas: “We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world. On TED.com, we're building a clearinghouse of free knowledge from the world's most inspired thinkers — and a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other.”
Some of the world’s greatest living writers have given TED Talks – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Elizabeth Gilbert, Douglas Adams, Dave Eggers, and JK Rowling, to name a few – which are all available online for free.
But it gets even better.
TED also has an education division, TED-Ed, through which it hosts thousands of video lessons created by educators on countless topics. Some of these videos are part of the Writer's Workshop, which focuses on writing and how to improve your craft.
These range from debates on the Oxford comma to how to write more concisely, build fictional worlds, create believable dialogue and characters, and write powerful introductions.
There are many more and the collection keeps growing! I’ve bookmarked this page and revisit it when I need reminders and inspiration, and I check it for new videos on the writing craft. Any educators out there? You can use these videos to create customized lessons for your students.
Have TED Talks or TED-Ed lessons inspired you? If so, please share your favorites in the comments section below!
Here’s one of my favorites on storytelling to get you started:
Written by Anne Greenawalt, writer and writing instructor
2 comments:
Great idea to use these in lessons. I find them a great springboard to writing as I always come away inspired and my eyes opened. The video you shared is a great example of both!
TED talks are so powerful. Thank you for expanding on how I think of them.
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