Ted Talk #8 (Ian Dunbar)

There are several take always from this video. The most important idea, one that runs parallel with Daniel Pink’s ideas, is that motivation and punishment is truly not the best way to train dogs, or people. Motivation over time will fail. Another take away from this video is the reminder that humans try too hard to raise children. If they just sat back and punished less, let them explore, and teach them things that they NEED in life, children would have better futures. People and dogs need to have skills to survive in life, not the skills to solve algebraic equations. Negotiating and sharing are skills that will be useful when all else fails.

He has many effective speaking techniques. He relates his lessons to stories because, as we know, stories help the human mind comprehend. His stories were also related to his childhood sometimes. This made the audience know that his beliefs, which he was raising his own child by, were truly what he believed in and not some made up theory. Another successful technique was the puppy videos. Almost every human can’t resist a cute puppy playing. These adorable videos of puppies lured the audience into the presentation so they listened to him.

His presentation style included many videos. The videos of cute puppies made the audience pay more attention. He also had many examples of when his training techniques could be used in the real world. This let the audience truly comprehend what his techniques were all about.

From this video the concept that students need to learn real life skills is important. Kids need skills that allow them to get along in the world when all else fails. This applies to education because the system of how we teach our future generations for their future. The schools need to adapt their lesions so kids get a dose of the real world at a young age. The world could also take a lesson from this speech. They too need to adjust their disciplinary systems so that there is more self reward than anything.

Ted Talk #7 (Olafur Eliasson)

This video is all about how people matter in the space of the world.  People fill the space but why are they there? Space is there, with time and dimensions, it is a real object. Olafur Eliasson shares that people make a difference. When they vote, or decide to become an active member of the community they fill more than just space.  Olafur Eliasson then tells how waterfalls are a measure of space, the rate at which they seem to be falling changes how far away it is to the human mind. Slow falling water computes as a waterfall far away, while fast falling water equals a close water fall.

The important take away from this video is the fact that people do matter in space. Space is a measurable object, and people fill that space, so they do indeed matter. Olafur Eliasson is urging us to be aware of our actions; whatever we do has a result in this space. Sometimes we don’t feel like we belong in a space, and therefore don’t take our actions serious, but we must always find ways to feel a part of that space. By being a part of that space we will be more aware of our actions. Space also has to be created so that all types of learning and parts of life will happily coexist. We must make the space available to all and to one.  

The speaker’s effective speaking techniques include the moderate speed of talking. Olafur Eliasson is obviously foreign to the English language; by talking slow more people can understand him.

His presentation style included many pictures and slides. This showed his ideas so that if people couldn’t understand him they at least had a picture to reference.

Many ideas from this video matter to me. The idea that I am not contributing to the space is eye opening. If I don’t try to change the space around me, no good consequences will come. I have to be an active member to the space. This is important to education because if more teachers had this mentality schools will be a better place to learn. Teachers would try to change the space rather than just teach. This idea is important to the world because if more people thought this way then people would try to live to change the space. This would create a world where more people try to help out everyone, and thus create a better life for all.

I think people should listen to his message more because his idea, if used by the people, could change the world.

Ted Talk #6 (Dave Eggers)

The main take-away from this video is that kids are out there and need help, and anyone can help them. The tutoring shows that writers can help students with English, and there are other ways out there that students can get help with math of history. The people of society need to be creative and help the future of America. Another take away is when he talks about how he wishes that he could have 1,000 stories about helping kids in public school. This shows how he truly wants people to help in the community.

The speaker has many effective techniques. The first one was he let the audience what know what he was feeling. This loosened up the audience so they were conferrable l with him and listened more intently, understanding every word. By connecting with the audience his message seamed more real, and the audience is more likely to try to live out his message is their own life. He also used a story to intrigue the audience. As we have read in “Story” stories help the human mind connect to and understand what is being said.

His presentation style included many slides and pictures. This made it easier for the audience to picture what he is talking about. Instead of saying “well the room looks kina like this but only with this little thing over there”, he can say “This is what the room looks like”. Thus there is less confusion during his ted talk.

This connects to me because I too can see what need in all public schools is. One on one time is highly valuable to students and I love the way Eggers puts all of his passions into one. His store/editing studio/tutoring center is the best idea I have ever heard. The world could use more people like Eggers. If everyone had a passion to teach, or do something good, in the community, the world would be 1,000,000 times better to live in. Education will dramatically change when people, like Egger, realize what potential they have to change the learning community.

Ted Talk #5 (Johnny Lee)

From this video I will take away an important lesson; with new technology ideas spread faster. This allows the littlest creative ideas to be spread across the world. Ideas that might have never caught on may become the “next great thing”. The internet has become a powerful tool that may be utilized to anyone’s advantage. Using the internet as a tool may make or break an inventor.

Johnny Lee’s ideas are also a great take away from this video. His ideas of taking an object that are common, and turning them into great new devices. I already have been thinking of ways to use his ideas in my household.

The speaker’s effective speaking techniques were that he used many examples of his ideas by recreating what he is talking about. Every uses for the wii remote he had the full equipment set up as if it were in his own home. This showed that his ideas really worked and that people can use them too.

His presentation style included many interactions with the audience. He used his hands to talk to the audience and also showed how the wii remote worked. He interceded with the cameraman and audience often to encourage complete attention of the listeners.

Many ideas from this talk matter. First is the idea that the recent technologies, such as YouTube, have made the spread of ideas quicker. People’s ideas will take less time to catch on and the world will change at an even faster pace. The other important idea is that people can contribute to the process of technology and increase the arability for other people.

Ted Talk #4 (Clay Shirky)

This video has many take ways. The first one is a team is better the one person for creating things. The Blog in the begin gig was better when a team got together and created a new website. It only took a little time and a whole new thing was born. This is the main idea of the whole Ted Talk and should really be thought about and tried to be applied to everyday work.

The speaker’s effective speaking techniques are he changes his voice speed to emphasize certain points. When he is telling the audience about the Trillion that the world has of free time he says the “over one trillion hours a year” extremely slow so that the listener can process what he is saying and understand the magnitude of the fact. He also has a very monotone voice. This, in a way, hypnotizes the listener and they zone out everything but his voice. The most important technique he uses is story telling. Like all the other ted talks, he has a story to start off the presentation. This, as Dan Pink’s book A Whole New Mind says, gets the listeners attention and helps them remember the facts better.

His presentation style includes a lot of pictures and slides. By doing this the audience is more engaged and can better understand what he is talking about. It also get the audience to look at the screen more, preventing their minds from wondering.

This video is very encouraging. It shows that the world’s ideas together can become great and this should inspire people. It also shows the audience that even the worst creative ideas are possible. This applies to me because I have a lot of creative ideas, and they are not always the best. If I were to try some of these ideas I might have an idea that makes me a millionaire. This lesson should apply to education because kids should be encouraged to come up with creative ideas. To often kids are not allowed to be creative in school and forced to follow the rules. If teachers encouraged them to be creative more the world might have many creations that would be useful of entertaining. The world should also use the lesson; even the worst creative idea is an amazing idea. If every creative idea was tried out, the world would have better technology, cars, buildings, and medicine. Not all the ideas may have worked, but the ones that did may have ended up changing history.

 

Ted Talk #3 (Dan Pink)

Rewards and punishments often cause harm. When there is a clear solution rewards work well. However, when there is critical thinking involved then rewards are not as effective. When creativity is involved people’s own motivation is the best motivation.

I can see how this works. When I try to solve problems, I solve them for fun. This means I’m not thinking about all the possible solutions, I’m just playing around and under no pressure to get it right. When I’m pressured to get it right, in the fastest time, my hands start shaking, and my brain works twice as fast, but not as clearly, and it will take me longer to get it done.

ROWE has no schedules for workers, letting them decide what works best for them. If they are tired one day they can sleep in, as long as their works gets done they can do whatever they want.  Their productivity increased because people motivate themselves more than “carrots” do.

Think of it like this, when I was in 5^th grade we had a challenged to count how many books we read in 12 weeks. The goal was 12. The first 12 weeks I read 24 books. Twice the amount we were aiming for. The next 12 weeks the teacher announced that we were now required to write a small report for every book we read and would be graded for every report. In these next weeks I read 9 books. I went from reading in every spare moment to dreading reading, all because I had “motivation”.

There are many other examples in the real world; however, Dan Pink also presents scientific evidence. Studies show that one who never had motivation will perform better in a task that involved critical thinking, then someone who is “unmotivated”.

This talk has encouraged me to spend more time playing and think creatively, even though I have no motivation to do so. In his speech, Pink suggested that some of the best ideas came from simply messing around.

Ted Talk #2 (J.J Abrams)

J.J Abrams tells about how he found his love of mystery. He goes back to his childhood when his grandfather would show him the interworking of machines. Taking apart machines was one of my personal favorite childhood activities. Even now I buy broken machines and let the kids I babysit experience the wonderful pass time of “fixing” the broken parts. It is a great way for them to find out about how stuff works and also lets their creativity flow by constructing a different machine from the old one. Last time, a kid and I took an old VCR apart and we found the motor. Then, using a battery, a switch we also found in the machine, and electrical tape, we made the motor run. Not only that, but we used the switch so the motor can be turned on at the press of a button. I can see how activities like these fueled Abrams love of mystery because the endless possibilities in life that always keep you guessing. Understanding how things work can sometimes solve those mysteries, but other times it may just lead to more mysteries. When someone understands the endless possibilities the world has to offer, mysteries become compelling to try to solve. The answer is out there and you can find it, and who knows, it might just lead to another mystery.

Abrams then goes on to say how life is a “mystery box”.  He informs the audience that first acts in a show are called a teaser. It needs to draw people in and what better way to kill the cat than with curiosity. People are naturally interested in knowing the answer to a mystery, and shows with a good mystery can draw people in who would otherwise hate the show. He also gives examples of how mysteries appear over and over again in movies. Think of any movie you have ever watched, the opening scene is never completely understandable; there is always a mystery in it. How the character got there, what they mean when they say those lines, and most importantly what’s going to happen next. If a movie opened up with, “in this movie Barbra will find the love of her life, not know he is the one, let him go only to want him back again. They then will get married, have beautiful children and live happily ever after.”  Everyone would get up, turn the TV off and go find a movie with a mystery to watch.

Abrams then goes on to tell that sometimes the purposely withheld information is the most interesting. Not knowing exactly what happened and knowing that someone else does is so intriguing to the human mind.

The last part of the speech tells us that anyone anywhere can do anything that they strive to do. You don’t have to have the best equipment or superior schooling, you just have to be creative and use your skills