After reviewing many of the talks on TED.com I found two videos that opened my eyes and changed my perception quite a bit. These articles were chosen because they both show the role that art and entertainment play in education. They are a great compliment to each other. One lays out the flaws in the current education system and the other gives an optimistic outlook on the future of Internet video and its impact on the evolution of education.
The first is Ken Robinson’s Changing Education Paradigms. In this video Ken uses beautiful dry-erase illustrations to tell a story of how we, as a nation, have become hamstrung by an antiquated public school system.
He built trust with the audience by providing factual information and making some very strong assertions about rising drop-out rates, schools’ dwindling stake in the arts and a fictitious ADHD epidemic.
He makes an interesting point that the current public school system was designed for very different societal needs and how we should be educating children to take their place in the economies of the 21st century. Instead we categorize and separate the “academic” from the “non-academic.” Being judged in this way leads to many brilliant people believing that they are not. Sadly, it’s the kids with creativity and artistic ability that are the victims. Ken call for a move away from standardization and towards divergent thinking.
The next video offers what is the most likely solution to the problems created by an inadequate school system. In Who let this guy on the stage, TED founder Chris Anderson talks about the future of Internet video and the change in the evolution of skills. Anderson introduces the concept of crowd-accelerated participation. The concept is not entirely new. However, Internet video has amplified this effect as there are now more groups and online communities that allow for content to be shared more freely. According to Anderson, viewers collectively watch over 80 million hours of YouTube everyday and estimates that in the next 4 years 90 percent of the web’s data will be video. The proliferation of Internet video has changed not only changed entertainment, it has also changed the way that scientists and other professionals exchange information.
Anderson goes on to describe the new ways in which we learn and respond. Thus, completing the learning cycle in a way that was never previously possible.
Anderson argues that students no longer need to have their potential ruined by lousy teachers; they can now sit in front of the World’s best. And from a talent perspective, we have an opportunity to choose the world’s best from a larger pool. This amazing video shows the power of Internet video from a different perspective. We as a people are on the verge of the biggest learning cycle in the history of the world.
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