We need a TED conference for American Education
There is an amazing conference held every year called the TED conference. It brings together what can best be described as technological celebrities who talk about some of the amazing advances they’ve achieved. The slogan of the conference aptly describes it, “ideas worth spreading” and it is grown to develop quite a following of those who can’t afford the high price tag on attending the conference itself but are able to view the presentations online for free. Some examples of previous speakers include Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Jane Goodall, and numerous Nobel Prize winners. Additionally, there are people who are less well-known but have achieved nonetheless amazing things including a rather precocious 10-year-old who was a virtuoso violin player and the first demonstration of the multitouch display that became key to Apple’s iPad.
I propose that there is an equal need for a new kind of conference similar to TED that brings together people who were involved in K-12 education and have done amazing things and are willing to explain how they did. These all go far beyond his teachers. It would include administrators, parents, students, politicians, community organizers, media creators, and anybody who had done something that it had a dramatic effect on education. Additionally, the cost of the conference would be covered by investors so that teachers and those working on limited budgets could attend the conference for free. Additionally, there will be a large and very dynamic online component which go far beyond just providing video presentations to include feedback from the online audience. Add to this, the development of a virtual community for a conference could go on throughout the year.
The goal of this would be to help provide a vehicle for those who are really making a difference to get out what they’re doing and share with those who could really benefit. This dovetails with my belief that we must focus on the successes more than the failures in American education system.
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