My name is Linnea Hjelm, and I’m going to be a senior at Biotechnology High School in Freehold, NJ. I discovered TED probably around my freshman or sophomore year at school, but I feel like I’ve had the greatest exposure to TED talks in the past year or so. My teachers were the ones who introduced me, and the rest of my classmates, to TED talks; I think it’s safe to say that in almost every single one of my classes, we’ve watched at least one TED talk. In history, we watched one on a North Korean escapee and in physics, one on a seventeen-year-old nuclear physicist. (Both are embedded at the end of this post.) Those are only two that just so happened to stand out to me, but we’ve watched many, many more, in class and as homework assignments. And to be honest, a lot of the talks are so interesting that I’ve voluntarily gone and browsed around looking for ones to watch. There’s some really cool stuff featured!
I think TED talks are a really good part of my educational experience and have helped a lot as supplements to lesson plans. Many people can sit in a lesson, and remember some of what they learned, but not all the specifics, because what they learned and how they learned just wasn’t interesting. I think that’s what makes TED talks so great, that they are interesting. There’s so many TED talks out there that there are ones that interest virtually anyone. And what I think is awesome is that when you watch one that really stands out, you remember it more than any lesson or lecture. I would advocate teachers integrating TED talks into any lesson plan for students of any age. The possibilities are pretty much endless; you can find a TED talk on any topic and they range in lengths so you can find one you have time to watch no matter the situation!
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