Tech TV

I was just rooting around YouTube the other day, searching for decent high school news shows I’d intended to promote here as a way to highlight how technology has come so far in the 21st century. Much to my chagrin, a lot of what I viewed on YouTube was either two years old (or older), and looked it, or was fairly pedestrian and not clearly connected to the school itself.

Coincidentally, eSchoolNews sent out an email this morning announcing that it has launched a new video news network, Student Video Network, which will provide students interested in video production with information on the most popular and relevant educational technology stories in the news.  Participating schools can then shoot a script based on the stories and choose to integrate graphics and photos into the news report.

“This is a real-world application of the technology skills they’re learning in school,” said Tom Lapping, president and CEO of JDL Horizons–the company hosting eSN‘s Student Video Network. “It will be good for school exposure, but also for students who could use this material as part of their college admissions or eventual job application.”

So far, I only see two high schools with videos on the site, but the quality is top-notch and the subject matter (gaming to school assessment information) timely. The videos don’t seem to be embeddable at the moment, but they will hopefully move in that direction.

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Creativity by Sir Ken Robinson

You will enjoy this 20-minute talk by Sir Ken Robinson at the TED Conference in 2007. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started in 1984 as a conference that brings together people from those three worlds. Since then it has become larger and broader.

The annual TED conference brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. The TED website makes the best talks and performances from the conferences available to the public for free. More than 200 talks from the TED archive are currently available. Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He’s worked with governments in Europe and Asia, international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and national and state education systems, and cultural organizations that include the Royal Shakespeare Company, Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, and UNESCO. He also was Professor of Arts Education at the University of Warwick, one of the five leading research universities in the UK, for 12 years.

In this video, a must-see for every parent and teacher, Robinson makes a profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity. Enjoy it and share it with colleagues, principals, teachers, and parents you know.

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