Using TED to Establish a Culture of Learning

Simply put TED.com is an amazingly accessible and portable option for personalized learning from the best and brightest the world has to offer. As a school leader, the TED options for learning and growing as a leader are seemingly endless. Not only do you have access to lectures from some of the biggest names in education, politics, and social justice but TED also offers additional resources to engage that take you beyond the well-known TED talk. These resources include reading lists from those big names who deliver the lectures, a TED radio hour on NPR with interviews with the lecturers about their talks, and a lively and surprisingly insightful comments board that accompanies each TED talk video. TED.com is a prime example of how technology can be leveraged to rapidly share ideas around the globe. TED could be used in a school setting as a sort of book study or the basis for discussion between staff members, students, or in a heterogeneous group of staff, administration, students, and the community. Additionally, TED presents many talks about research and experiences that have discovered with conclusions that fall into the "things are not always what they seem" category that encourages critical and divergent thinking both of which are useful to continuously develop as a school leader. Perhaps the most important aspect of TED is that it allows a school leader to model the importance of being a lifelong learner. Whether you're interested in economics of crime, shattering paradigms of what is possible in glass blowing, or how many paper towels can be saved by flicking your hands thirteen times after washing them, TED has something for you and it has something for your students. All of these things can be easily accessed anywhere you can access the internet through TED's website or app.