TED Ed — TEDucational videos

Posted on March 15, 2012 at 8:00 am

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) was first known for its conferences, attracting extraordinary speakers who told the people lucky enough to be in the room amazing, thrilling, and inspiring stories about the latest discoveries in science and the arts.  When those presentations became available online, they were wildly popular.  I’ve posted some of them here, most recently “John Carter” director Andrew Stanton’s discussion of what makes a story.

TED is now taking the next step by beginning to develop materials for students and educators.

Viewed one way, it’s just the release on YouTube of a dozen short videos created for high school students and life-long learners. But we’re committed to growing this archive to hundreds of videos within a year, and I thought it would be helpful to jot down a few personal notes on why we’re doing this… …because there’s a right and a wrong way to interpret today’s launch.

The wrong way is to imagine that we believe this to be some kind of grand solution.  “TED claims its new TED-Ed videos will transform education”!  Er, no. We don’t.

The right way is to see this as our reaching out to teachers and saying: Can we help?

Step two, coming next month, will be a major new section of ted.com offering tools for teachers to amplify the educational value of videos.

 

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Internet, Gaming, Podcasts, and Apps Shorts
Dress Snow White — New App from “Mirror, Mirror”

Dress Snow White — New App from “Mirror, Mirror”

Posted on March 14, 2012 at 8:00 am

Paper dolls are so five decades ago.  Fans of the upcoming “Mirror, Mirror” Snow White movie can play dress-up with the plucky princess on a new app that features Snow White’s wardrobe from the film including her swan dress from the Queen’s gala (not inspired by Bjork) and (spoiler alert) her royal wedding dress, too.  You will also get a chance to see some of the fairytale backgrounds from the film and hear some of the music.

 

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Internet, Gaming, Podcasts, and Apps

FTC Approves Children’s Protection Program I Supported

Posted on February 28, 2012 at 8:00 am

I am very pleased that the Federal Trade Commission has voted unanimously to approve a program I supported to increase the protection of children and teens online.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires operators of websites and online services directed to children under the age of 13, and those who knowingly collect personal information from children to post comprehensive privacy policies on their sites, notify parents about their information practices, and obtain parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing any personal information from children.  Companies that have proven systems for protecting children can apply to the FTC for “safe harbor” status, so that any site that uses their protections will be in compliance with the law.

I only wrote to endorse one system, the Integrity Children’s Privacy Compliance Program developed by Aristotle, and I am pleased that the Federal Trade Commission agreed with my assessment that it is a big improvement over current systems to verify parental permission that are easily circumvented by computer-savvy kids.

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Internet, Gaming, Podcasts, and Apps Parenting Tweens
Watch Davy and Goliath on SpiritClips!

Watch Davy and Goliath on SpiritClips!

Posted on January 20, 2012 at 3:57 pm

Remember the class television series “Davy and Goliath?”  The stop-motion animation children’s show about the little boy and the dog who spoke to him was owned by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and produced by Art and Ruth Clokey of “Gumby.”   The gentle parables about sharing, tolerance, and obedience included episodes that featured Davy’s friends Nathaniel and Jonathan, among the first black characters on television to be friends of a lead white character.  Episodes of the classic “Davy and Goliath” series are now available online via SpritClips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbu7jQ3HhMg

 

 

 

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Animation Internet, Gaming, Podcasts, and Apps Kids Spiritual films Stories About Kids Talking animals Television

The Xbox Takes Over TV

Posted on January 15, 2012 at 3:56 pm

The line between gaming, internet, and television is dissolving fast.  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer opened the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week with a big announcement: News Corp. content from Twentieth Century Fox Films, Fox Television, Fox News and The Wall Street Journal plus Xfinity and Sesame Street will be available on the Xbox device starting in February.  40 million Xbox subscribers will be able to access these programs via a Windows 8 upgrade that turns a gaming console into an entertainment hub that includes an interactive experience allowing users (it no longer seems right to say “viewers”) to create individual encounters with their favorite characters.

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Internet, Gaming, Podcasts, and Apps Television
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