TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to sharing “Ideas Worth Spreading,” now allows educators to create and share their own online lessons with TED-Ed.
TED-Ed lessons are created in 2 easy steps:
- Using TED-Ed’s built-in search engine, search for a YouTube video to use as the centerpiece of the lesson.
- “Flip” the video by adding questions, notes, and resources. (The term “flip” is a reference to the modern concept of “flipped” teaching, in which teachers provide educational videos for their students to watch outside of class, so that class time can be utilized for developing critical thinking skills.)
Each custom-built lesson has 4 parts:
- Watch the educational video.
- Think by answering multiple choice, short answer, or open-ended questions related to the video.
- Dig Deeper by exploring additional links, readings or activities related to the topic.
- Discuss the material in an open discussion board.
TED-Ed videos can be created on a wide range of topics including: Art, Business & Economics, Design, Education, Engineering, Health, Literature & Language, Math, Philosophy, Religion, Psychology, Science, and Social Studies, and Technology.
Check out these examples of great TED-Ed lessons for inspiration:
- The science of macaroni salad: What’s in a molecule? by Josh Kurz
- If molecules were people… by George Zaidan and Charles Morton
- The art of the metaphor by Jane Hirshfield
- The difference between classical and operant conditioning by Peggy Andover
- What is color? by Colm Kelleher
- Is light a particle or a wave? by Colm Kelleher
- How polarity makes water behave strangely by Christina Kleinberg
As of the writing of this article, over 33,700 lessons have been created.
Will yours be next?
* TED-ED logo is the sole and exclusive property of TED.