Using shared resources for online learning: the TED example
Using shared resources for online learning: the TED example
TED free online lectures www.ted.com
Introduction
There are an increasing number of websites on the internet offering free content of different kinds and many of these sites are devoted to education, learning or the free exchange of ideas. One such website is TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. The activities below will introduce and explore the TED website and help you to consider how to access and use TED resources in your own online learning materials.
Objectives
To introduce a web resource providing online and free access to talks by leading figures in the academic, cultural and political world
To explore ways in which resources from this site (and others like it) can be used in an online teaching resource
Activity 1: Exploring TED
In this activity, you will look at the recording of a talk by the well-known linguist and author, Stephen Pinker ('Stephen Pinker chalks it up to the blank slate') which is available for free access on the TED website. Using this talk as a focus, you will explore the site, its features and the opportunities for learning that it presents.
Instruction
Click on the link below. Watch the talk and explore the page. Tick all of the statements below which are true. Then read the feedback.
has subtitles in other languages - in this case there are 18 languages available.
has a transcript in Arabic - this is, in fact, only one of 18 transcripts available in other languages.
can be searched - this can be done using the transcripts. Do this by opening the transcript and clicking on any item of text. This will then take you to the relevant part of the video.
can be viewed with the sound off - click on the audio icon underneath the video screen. This will allow you to increase the volume or turn off the sound by clicking on the X
has a discussion forum - anyone can post a comment or response once they have registered on the site (this is free to do)
can be embedded into another website - this site provides something called an 'embed' code which is a piece of html code that can be added to a webpage in order to play the clip from within another website. You can see an example of how this works in the additional resources section after the next activity.
The statements that are not true are:
is 30 minutes long - the length of the video is presented next to the sound icon. The left-hand number will tell you how many minutes into the video you are at any point and the right-hand number is the length of the entire video, in this case 22 minutes and 39 seconds.
can only be viewed online - all TED videos can be downloaded and incorporated into another website as long as they are credited and not used for profit.
can be edited - TED videos are shared under a creative commons license. Creative Commons licences allow users to openly share content while retaining certain rights. Click on the copyright icons or guidelines at the bottom of the grey box (on the right-hand side of the TED screen) to see the copyright and re-use restrictions on this video: you will see that this video can be reused but cannot be altered in any way. Read more about Creative Commons licences
Activity 2: Using a TED talk in an online learning resource
In this activity you will consider how a TED talk might be used effectively in creating online learning materials.
Instruction
Read the learning outcomes given below. Choose the task which you think is most suited to achieving each outcome from the drop down list. Then read the feedback.
1. Ability to listen for gist meaning/main ideas
View video in full and note/select key points
In a gist listening activity, learners could view the video in full without the transcript and note down or select from a list the key points covered. This kind of activity focuses on listening skills. The other choices heavily involve reading and writing and so begin to practice other skills alongside listening.
Ability to distinguish discrete items (words/short phrases) in listening
View video in full and note/select words or phrases
These are all useful activities but again, it is helpful to ensure that the task matches the skill being practised. Here the emphasis is on listening to discriminate words or phrases. Clearly it is useful for learners to understand what they are listening to but the task involving sentence creation is more related to writing while the meaning derivation task is one that combines vocabulary and possibly reading.
Understanding of how to critique and express opinions in an academic (formal) context
This is a task that demands critical thinking skills so will probably need some additional scaffolding to support this. However, by using the selected discussion postings which exemplify a variety of opinions the learner can evaluate the quality and usefulness of the opinions expressed which will help to inform their critical skills. It is probably best to do this type of activity before inviting learners to post their own comments to the forum.
Ability to write in formal contexts
Here it is probably most helpful to use the transcript to help the learner identify how the written form of speech (even of a formal lecture) will not produce a formal (academic) piece of writing. It might be helpful to compare this with the biographical details of the lecturer or other more formal features on the website. Using an extract that has been carefully selected will be most helpful here.
Ability to follow and understand complex texts
The video and transcript present a complex text on a controversial topic which often uses difficult or academic language. For this reason this activity will work whether or not the learner uses the transcript or the subtitles as these will support them in extracting the meaning and will be useful ways of helping to check meaning and review content. Comprehension questions on specific aspects (ideas, opinions, theories) will help the learner to pinpoint the important sections of the text and to check their understanding.
Developing research skills
In many ways how you use this video for developing research skills will depend on which skills you are trying to develop and probably the level of the students. The first activity is asking them to consider what an academic might be doing in terms of research prior to publishing a talk or article expounding their ideas/thesis. The second task will assume that the students have some basic research skills such as the ability to identify and source information from a range of relevant texts/disciplines. It will also check they are able to compile a bibliography. The final task allows them to engage with the topic before exploring one of the ideas it contains in more detail. This will also require sourcing texts but also will require them to skim, select and evaluate them. It will also support skills in summarising and synthesising information. For all of this some additional support or resources might be needed, e.g. links to referencing guides, library skills, exemplars of academic research.
Additional Resources
This is how the TED talk featured in these activities would look if embedded:
These activities introduce an online resource which can be used in a variety of ways in your teaching. You will now have some ideas relating to how to create learning activities using shared online.
The tool used to create these activities is called the LOC tool. It is simple to use and creates web pages into which it is possible to embed open resources. To find out about the LOC tool for creating online learning materials, visit the Learning Object Creator website.
