Podcasts vs. Articles; A Reflection on TED Talks

     I listened to two TED Talks regarding education for this assignment, and I have to say that I definitely enjoyed them more than reading articles on the same subjects. There is something about listening to someone speak about what they are passionate about. It is entirely engaging, and even if you don't particularly care about the topic, a good speaker can pull you in and make listening enjoyable. When I read articles, especially the ones I do not REALLY want to read, it sometimes very difficult for me to stay focused. I find myself scrolling down the page to see how much more I have to read and try different approaches, such as reading the article aloud to keep my focus. While this is not the case with some articles that I find great interest in, it is definitely the case with some. TED Talks have speakers who speak with inflection and incorporate narratives into their talks, while most articles are kind of cut-and-dry, to the point, and monotonous.

     The two TED Talks I listened to were Christopher Emdin's "Teach teachers how to create magic", and Anant Agarnal's "Why massive open online courses (still) matter". Emdin's talk focused on teaching teachers to be more engaging in the classroom. He discussed the problems with today's teacher education systems, such as the fact that we spend too much time on theory and not enough time on how to teach and how to articulate our lessons in a way that students find interesting and enjoyable. He explained that in his teacher education programs, when teachers wanted to teach in an urban school they got them out of the classroom and into the "hood". They visited the barber shops and the black churches and listened to rappers, people who had a talent of delivering information in an engaging and relevant way. Often the best teachers do not have a degree in education.
    
     Agarnal focused on the need for Massively Open Online Courses (MOOC) in today's schools. He began by stating that education has changed very little in the past 500 years, and that we can change and transform educational quality and availability for the millennial generation through technology. He spoke about his idea of blended classrooms that focused on flipped learning. He explained that the millennial generation is built differently and they are comfortable with technology, so this model works best for them. MOOC has attracted more than 155,000 students at MIT and has changed the failure rate of some classes from 50% to 9%. By incorporating active learning, instant feedback,  and peer learning through discussion boards, students are learning better than ever.
    
     These two TED Talks, though very different, had a common goal in mind: improving the education of our students. While one spoke more about what could be done in the current classroom and the other about what could be done outside of the current classroom, they both had very relevant points. I think both of these ideas will be very beneficial to the current education system, and I hope they are implemented sooner rather than later.