TED was founded in 1984 as a one-off event. The annual conference began in 1990 in California. TED’s early emphasis was technology and design, consistent with its origins in the Silicon Valley. TED events are also held throughout North America and in Europe and Asia, offering live streaming of the talks. They address a wide range of topics within the research and practice of science and culture, often through storytelling. The speakers are given a maximum of 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can. This one is about the value of letting kids ‘tinker’ http://www.ted.com/talks/gever_tulley_s_tinkering_school_in_action.html
There are some great photos of parents and kids ‘tinkering’. There are some really clever ideas for making stuff with kids…: ” where kids were presented with five puzzles to build solutions to, and after watching more than two hundred kids work through the puzzles, it was our observation that most parents could not resist the urge to help the kids avoid making a mistake. More often than not, the parents would reach in and direct their children to a “better” solution instead of letting the child discover why their current plan was flawed” http://www.flickr.com/photos/gevertulley/sets/72157619162856058/
Other videos of interest and relevant to our work:
- Ten talks about education from a very early age to older children, curated by Ken Robinson, about our education systems and how we need to change them. Salman Khan is there too
- ‘Turning trash into toys for learning’ is well worth watching.