Challenge C: Substantive Post

An open educational resource that I find impactful are TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talks. This website shares thousands of short videos about various topics ranging from science, education, technology and much more. Each TED talk features different knowledgeable speakers presenting information through multimedia in an engaging and meaningful way. Growing up, from middle through to university I have watched TED talks for personal interest and as part of my classes. As a new teacher myself I find these resources very helpful in the classroom. They not only help introduce new topics, they make complex ideas more accessible for different audiences and give students a break from the more traditional teacher oriented instruction. The resources on the website provide educators and learners with freely available content that helps promote interest in topics and lifelong learning.  

The videos are carefully designed around storytelling and the use of real world examples to help with understanding. This connects well with Merrill’s Principles of Instruction which engages learners to solve real world problems, activates prior knowledge and demonstrates, applies and integrates new knowledge. Although these may appear as passive levels of engagement in the ICAP framework, as an educator they can be adapted to include active, constructive and interactive levels of engagement. If students are given the responsibility to take notes on the important aspects of the talk then they are actively engaging in the lesson. By summarizing their notes they are constructively creating new understanding. Lastly, if they are asked to discuss the topics with a peer they are interacting with the material and co-creating meaning. Together the educational use of TED along with extension can result in high engagement and deeper learning of various topics.