TED, the nonprofit organization devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading," today launches the second phase of its TED-Ed initiative: a website housed on TED.com that enables teachers to create unique lesson plans around TED-Ed video content.
The TED-Ed site was built with a $1.25 million commitment from Kohl’s Department Stores, and optimizes TED content for use in educational settings. Each video featured on the site is mapped, via tagging, to traditional subjects taught in schools and comes accompanied with supplementary materials that aid a teacher or student in using or understanding the video lesson. Supplementary materials include multiple-choice questions, open-answer questions, and links to more information on the topic.
But the most innovative feature of the site is that educators can customize these elements using a new functionality called “flipping.” When a video is flipped, the supplementary materials can be edited and the resulting lesson is rendered on a new and private web page. The creator of the lesson can then distribute it and track an individual student’s progress as they complete the assignment.
Visitors to the site are not restricted to flipping the featured TED-Ed videos. They can also create a lesson from scratch using any video from YouTube that permits third party embedding -- the vast majority.
