WE are living in the knowledge age and having access to information on demand is vital to the way we live and do business. Through the Internet we can now easily access knowledge we would otherwise probably never have had access too.
An example of this knowledge being shared is TED. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from these three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Each year TED brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers who are challenged to give the talk of their lives. These talks are on average about 18 minutes long and are just amazing to watch. They gather to spread their ideas and share their thoughts.
Only a 1 000 people are allowed to attend the event each year and a ticket is a sought after item. This year TED has put one ticket up for auction on Ebay. Amazingly in a matter of two days the bid for this single ticket has gone up to more than $30 000,00, that is just over R210 000,00. The bidding is still continuing and there is still a few days left for this auction.
But you do not have to be rich to have access to this conference. All you have to do is go to www.ted.com and there you can download and watch all the talks. You can even subscribe to the Video or Audio feed in iTunes and each week you will get two new talks.
This is a vital resource for educators because these videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted.
If you want to view some of the best talks available given by some of the world’s thought leaders and pioneers then you should go to the website today.
It has been announced that a South African version of TED will take place in Cape Town later this year, but I will keep you posted as information becomes available.