Sunday 26th August 2012 JALT Sendai Presents:

http://www.ted.com/

WATCH AND DISCUSS

Since 2006 TED – Technology Entertainment Design - has been sharing fascinating
presentations on a whole host of interesting, sometimes quirky and amusing
topics. Each talk is 18 minutes or less. There are talks by famous politicians,
technology gurus, contemporary artists, academics and of course teachers. The
beauty of TED talks is that they are short, they have subtitles in a variety of
languages, they can be used as a professional development tool, as well as a
personal development tool, and are great for students because of the fascinating
topics. Also, TED talks are easy to search for by topic, subject area or presenter on
the very user friendly site. Today, five of our local members will share one of their
favourite talks with you. Sit back, relax and enjoy!

With

Harumi Kimura - “The optimism bias” by Tali Sharot

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/tali_sharot_the_optimism_bias.html

Austin M.N. Lantz – “Show kids how to teach themselves” by

Sugata Mitra
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves.html

Cory Koby – “The call to learn” by Clifford Stoll

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/clifford_stoll_on_everything.html

Charles Adamson – “5 ways to listen better” by Julien Treasure

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/julian_treasure_5_ways_to_listen_better.html

Joanne Sato – “Changing educational paradigms” by Ken Robinson

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms.html
Harumi Kimura - “The optimism bias” by Tali Sharot

Are you optimistic or realistic? Eighty percent of us have the optimistic bias: We are wired
to look on the bright side. Tali Sharot tells us that this bias can be both beneficial and
dangerous. Well, after listening to the talk, we will think about how we use this bias in our
teaching in a wise way.
Task:
We hope our students are like the optimistic, but cautious penguin, who soars to the sky
like an eagle: “I believe I can fly, but I’ll adjust a parachute to my back just in case I
cannot fly.” Give your students (1) some good news (some kind of a tip) about language
learning with (2) a thoughtful caution.
Example 1:
Read easy graded readers, and you’ll improve your reading skills. However, you need to
read one or two books a week to do so because a large amount will do the trick.
Example 2:
Make word cards to build your vocabulary skills. Research shows that it is the best way to
learn new words. However, you need to take advantage of spaced retrieval. Good
vocabulary knowledge cannot be built in a day! Most importantly, making cards does not
guarantee learning.

Austin M.N. Lantz – “Show kids how to teach themselves” by

Sugata Mitra

1) How do you make students want to learn English/ come to English class?

2) Is technology useful in a classroom? What applications beyond PowerPoint, showing

videos and playing music have you found for technology in class and how is it beneficial
to the students (proof)?

3) Would you agree that it is important to let students know why they are expected to
study English throughout their education (beyond the explanation "The ministry said you
have to so do it!")? If you do explain the implications of English on your students’ future
how do you inform the students while making them not want to quit?

4) Is guided education more effective when students know the reasons why they are
studying or not?

5) What tools do you give your students to use in class? What are the effects of those
tools on students learning process, motivation and curiosity and a need for knowledge?
Cory Koby – “The call to learn” by Clifford Stoll

1) What are the benefits and drawbacks to having highly educated individuals step
into children’s' classrooms?

2) Stoll is a great contrarian and makes 2 rather forceful statements: 1) Get computers
OUT of the classrooms; and 2) Think locally, act locally. To what extent do you agree
or disagree with these?

3) What role should technology play in the classroom? Can the computer ever replace
teachers? If not, to what extent should they compliment our teaching? Are some subjects
more amenable to digital education than others? How about language teaching?

Joanne Sato – “Changing educational paradigms” by Ken Robinson

1) “Great learning happened in groups”. I strongly agree with Ken Robinson on
collaboration. I believe that collaboration in the classroom is something to be encouraged.
What do you think about collaboration in the EFL classroom? Is collaboration useful in
your context?

2) Ken Robinson states: “Our children are living in the most stimulating period in the
history of the earth”. What experiences do you have of your pupils or students being
distracted by technology? How could we harness some of this distracting, yet fascinating
technology in class?
3) What is the future of education? What is your place in this future?
Charles Adamson – “5 ways to listen better” by Julien Treasure

Listening – making meaning from sound

Filters: culture, language, values, beliefs, attitudes, expectations, intentions
Imbeds time and location
Losing listening
Premium on accurate listening has disappeared
Noisy
Headphones
Impatient – sound bites
Desensitized

Treasure's Five Ways to Improve Listening

1. Silence

2. Mixer – how many channels

3. Savoring

4. Listen positions
active | passive
reductive | expansive
critical | emphatic

5. RASA
Receive
Appreciate
Summarize
Ask

Discussion: How can we apply these ideas to our EFL classes?

1. Thinking of your classes, which of his points do you think is the most important?
2. Which of the points is the least pertinent?
3. Which of the Five Ways do you think would be the most useful in your classes?
4. Which would be the least useable?
5. Using your answer to question 3, design an actual activity.
6. Using your answer to question 4, design an actual activity.
7. In the 1960s and 1970s, the was a lot of research demonstrating that a listening first
approach was superior. Although the research has not been negated, teachers seem to
have lost interest in listening first in favor of a four skills approach. What do you think
about this?

TED Talks Recommended by Curtis Kelly

Mark Pagel: How language transformed humanity
Daniel Wolpert: The real reason for brains
Paul Zak: Trust, morality - and oxytocin
Tim Harford: Trial, error and the God complex
JD Schramm: Break the silence for suicide survivors

TED Talks Recommended by Charles Adamson

Pure Pinker - I learned a lot from this and can now answer some typical student
questions
http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_language_and_thought.html
Smiling is a very important tool for a teacher
http://www.ted.com/talks/ron_gutman_the_hidden_power_of_smiling.html
Placebos can be very effective in the classroom
http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_mead_the_magic_of_the_placebo.html
We should use all three of these in the classroom
http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_on_3_ways_the_brain_creates_meaning.html
Metaphorically speaking metaphors are a key to language
http://www.ted.com/talks/james_geary_metaphorically_speaking.html

The 20 most-watched TED Talks:

Sir Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity (2006): 13,409,417 views
Jill Bolte Taylor‘s stroke of insight (2008): 10,409,851
Pranav Mistry on the thrilling potential of SixthSense (2009): 9,223,263
David Gallo‘s underwater astonishments (2007): 7,879,541
Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry demo SixthSense (2009): 7,467,580
Tony Robbins asks Why we do what we do (2006): 6,879,488
Simon Sinek on how great leaders inspire action (2010): 6,050,294
Steve Jobs on how to live before you die (2005): 5,444,022
Hans Rosling shows the best stats you’ve ever seen (2006): 4,966,643
Brene Brown talks about the power of vulnerability (2010): 4,763,038
Daniel Pink on the surprising science of motivation (2009): 4,706,241
Arthur Benjamin does mathemagic (2005): 4,658,425
Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing your genius (2009): 4,538,037
Dan Gilbert asks: Why are we happy? (2004): 4,269,082
Stephen Hawking asks big questions about the universe (2008): 4,153,105
Jeff Han demos his breakthrough multi-touchscreen (2006): 3,891,251
Johnny Lee shows Wii Remote hacks for educators (2008): 3,869,417
Keith Barry does brain magic (2004): 3,847,893
Mary Roach 10 things you didn’t know about orgasm (2009): 3,810,63
Vijay Kumar demos robots that fly like birds (2012): 3,535,34