TED-Ed is excited to launch the TED-Ed community — a new section of ed.ted.com that allows teachers and students to share their ideas and ask questions that relate to TED-Ed and to Education at large.

What you will you find in the TED-Ed community…

- Educators behind TED-Ed Original Lessons share their Lessons and provide suggestions for ways to use them in the classroom
- Animators behind the TED-Ed Original Lessons share their ideas on how to present information with creativity and clarity
- Collaborative Lesson pitches from teachers around the world
- Teachers and students from around the world exchange stories about how they are using TED-Ed in their classrooms
- Brainstorms, ignited by teachers, on new TED-Ed features
- TED Translators contemplating how best to share TED-Ed around the world
- The TED-Ed team answering questions about the platform, prompting ideas about new Lessons, and engaging educators about important questions
- A TED-Ed curated list of suggested videos to flip and the Lessons that could surround them
- Super smart people talking about really interesting stuff

What are you waiting for? Join in on the conversation here.

The TED-Ed Community is due in part to the generous support of Kohl’s.  We are forever grateful.  We are excited about the incredible things that have already happend, and we look forward to the great things that will happen because of their involvement.  Thank you, Kohl’s!

Recently, the physicists at CERN and the animators at TED-Ed teamed up to combine what they do best (complex particle physics) with what we do best (animations that illuminate tough concepts). The results were broadcast on Friday at TEDxCERN, between incredible talks ranging from women in science to consciousness to grid computing, attendees watched animations on everything from the origins of the universe to the mystery of anti-matter.

We caught up with some of the physicists behind these lessons to ask them what it was like to work with animators and see their lesson on the big screen.

1. What was your favorite part of working with an animator?

Tom Whyntie (The beginning of the universe, for beginners): I loved seeing what they did with the words, and with the story. It’s not often you get to work with a team who intrinsically “get” what you’re doing, and everyone at Hornet Inc. managed to take what I’d written and bring it to life in ways I hadn’t even imagined. They took the technical notes on board brilliantly, too – even down to the quarks having curly gluon-like moustaches – so there are plenty of ”Easter Eggs” in there for the experts. An utter joy to be a part of.

Steve Goldfarb (The basics of the boson): Jeanette was fantastic.  I was caught by surprise at first by the world she created, but quickly appreciated the effort to humanize (worm-ize?) the characters.  Even our boson was personable.  Jeanette was also very quick and effective at iterating with us for the minor changes and corrections we offered.  It was a fantastic experience and I am ready to do it again tomorrow!

Dave Barney (The basics of the boson): Totally agree with Steve. The iteration with the animator was the part I was fearing most, believing it would be a great deal of work to transform our script into something tangible. It was not; it was easy. Jeanette was fantastic and we were really happy with the result.

Tim Smith (Exploration on the Big Data frontier): The ease and speed with which the animators could take vague ideas, extract the essence and translate that into something appealing.

Rolf Landua (What happened to antimatter?): The favourite part of working with “my” really outstanding animator was to see that he could understand and translate my – rather abstract – concepts into clear, concise, and visually attractive images. Franz represented our target audience perfectly, by being inquisitive, interested, and ready to dive into new concepts. Explaining the story to him made me confident that the final animation would be successful .

James Gillies (Dark matter: The matter we can’t see): I loved seeing how the ideas came to life through the different develpment stages of the animation.

2. What was it like seeing your animation for the first time? Especially those of you who were, yourselves, characters in the animations?

Tom Whyntie: It’s not often you get to see yourself as a galaxy, with your spiral arms waving around. But I think CBS News were (perhaps surprisingly) the most accurate: “British voiced blob” is pretty much hits the nail on the head.

Steve Goldfarb: I’ve always felt like a worm, especially after a few shots of tequila.  However, I am not sure I’ll ever get used to having Dave’s voice. (TED-Ed note: Steve and Dave actually switched roles for the recording of the lesson, with Steve reading Dave’s part, and vice versa)  Still, it was an eye-opening experience.  Having a professional animator bring her sense of artistry and imagination to the project makes all the difference in the world.  It turned a rather dry dialogue into an adventure.

Tim Smith: It was fun, and I had hair again. I hadn’t imagined seeing the narrator, but I immediately took to the idea when I saw the amusing way the animators had depicted me.

3. Do you think that there are benefits to teaching physics through animations?

James Gillies: An important part of my work is to engage and enthuse people about physics, and hopefully encourage them to dig deeper. The TED-Ed format of animations linked to additional material and further resources is brilliant for this.

Steve Goldfarb: Absolutely!  I think there is a process to communicating science:  As with all topics, it starts with enticing the audience with an interesting setting and story.  One then needs to carefully reel in the line (funny analogy for someone who plays a worm), educating them on the topic while maintaining the excitement and developing their interest to learn more.  These animations, closely coupled with background material that is easy to access, makes for a great combination.

David Barney: As Tim said, many of the concepts we deal with are abstract in the extreme. And we have, for a few years, been trying to conceive and produce animations. But with scant resources on our side it has been very difficult for much to come to fruition. This series of animations hopefully opens the doorway to others.

Rolf Landua: Absolutely and positively: yes. Many concepts in physics are very abstract and not (or not directly) accessible to our senses. Animations allow to show what is beyond our perception. This is particularly true when we are trying to show  the ‘extremes’ of physics: the very small or very large dimensions of the Universe, the very fast or the extremely slow time scales. We are presently investing a large effort in producing a lot more animations about the physics and technology at CERN, and we are confident that it will help us in our education and outreach efforts.

4. What was the hardest part of translating your ideas into a script and then a visual final product?

Tom Whyntie: Fitting everything in to three minutes! It’s quite literally the biggest topic there is, so we just had to leave out some great science (and history of science, for that matter… but that’s another story). But I was lucky enough to take part in a competition that trained me up to do just that – FameLab, run by the UK’s Cheltenham Science Festival. The training we received in summarising fascinating science in a story-driven way has stuck with me since. In 2009, I spoke for three minutes about how the LHC finding nothing would be the best possible result - fortunately, I’ve got a chance at this year’s festival to provide bit of a Higgs-flavoured update!

Tim Smith: The principal difficulty in making the script was to make it concise whilst still accurate and conveying sufficient information. And for the visual product it was balancing the artistic licence, to attract and entertain, against the true representation, for instance of scale or to avoid stereotypes.

Rolf Landua: The hardest part was writing the script in a way that it reflected the scientific content correctly but would still be “translatable” and comprehensible to non-specialists.

Thank you everyone for all of your feedback and support. TED-Ed wouldn’t be where it is without you (and we can’t wait to see what happens in our second year).

With billions of videos on YouTube at a teacher’s disposal, there are billions of ways a teacher could utilize TED-Ed in the classroom. Here is the story of one teacher, Anna Searcy. Anna has been teaching for nearly 15 years and has been at her current school, Northside College Preparatory High School in Chicago, since 2002.

A classroom project: After studying the American Progressive movement, I wanted my students to explore the notion of current Progressive movements. I asked them, ‘Who are today’s progressives? What are the issues, problems, or controversies today that Americans look to the federal government, or elsewhere, to address? How do Americans want to improve our society?’ My goal was to have students discover that historical movements are not static but, rather, a continuum. The ideal is to find legitimacy in historical study by finding direct links from the past to the present. Additionally, I wanted to give students ownership over their findings, so I left the question open-ended.

I was encouraging students to explore the full spectrum of their own passions and beliefs, and I was also allowing students to work as individuals or in partnerships. To address the needs of 89 different students, I needed an environment that allowed for personalization, creativity, and ease of use. Additionally, I wanted my students to defend their arguments and educate their peers, but, in the AP calendar, I had limited time to allow for full presentations.

Collaborating on TED-Ed: By creating a project that could exist in the cloud, my students explored their peers’ Lessons outside of a traditional face-to-face presentation and at their own pace. Ted-Ed was a natural choice for me to frame this project: Having completed TED-Ed activities in the past, my students were used to the process already. Since they were now the teachers, why not let them be the brains behind their own Ted-Ed activities?

Student as Teacher: My students were already registered with Ted-Ed and were familiar with the format. I created and presented an instruction set that explained the objectives, assessment, and procedure to my students. I also created a screencast of how to create a Ted-Ed activity and posted it to YouTube for my students who might need a little technical help. Students were assessed on a few factors. Most importantly, I was looking for their argument to draw the link from the Progressive movement to their contemporary issue. This was presented in their Introduction, And Finally, and Dig Deeper sections. I also assessed them on accuracy of historical information and inclusion of related primary sources in their Dig Deeper section.

Student as Student: I created a Google Form for my classes to submit links and descriptions of their activities. Once I assessed the projects, I made a copy of the spreadsheet and project links and shared that spreadsheet with my students. At the end of our Progressive Era unit, I assigned the student Ted-Ed Lessons to their peers in class. Students could choose any of the Lessons that appealed to them, and they were able to complete two to three activities in class. As a final assessment, they submitted e a reflection on whether they agreed with their peers’ argument about the link between the Progressive Era and the contemporary issue, and they also explained what new information they learned and personal responses to the issue.

One Student’s Reflection:

Question:  How did your peer’s Modern Progressives Lesson relate to our study of the 19th and early 20th Century Progressive movement? What did you learn? What’s your personal response to this lesson?

Response: Claire’s Modern Progressives Lesson on urban forests related to the arguments of the conservationists and the preservationists at the turn of the century.  It is interesting to see the links to the past; Roosevelt wanted to conserve land so it could be used the most wisely.  He wanted to run several projects on the same piece of land (for example: logging and grazing) so that people could get as much out of the land as possible.  Today, urban forests are a way of adding greens space into an already existing city structure; the space now serves its regular function in addition to being a “forest” and gets the most out of the land.  I learned that there are actually several economic benefits to the urban forest movement.  For example, it saves money on shade and water drainage structures.  It also raises property value.  I thought this was very relevant to what Roosevelt was advocating for: planned use of the land to do as many things as possible.  Personally, I am very supportive of the urban forest movement.  I love forests, and nature in general.  I think it is wonderful that people are taking steps to bring nature into everyday life.

Earlier this year, Kohl’s Cares and TED-Ed partnered to produce a series of online videos featuring 18 exceptional lessons worth sharing. Together with Kohl’s, TED-Ed got together great educators from all over the country, and we’re excited to share the first batch of those exceptional lessons with you.

Michelle Buchanan has been everywhere from Antarctica to the Galapagos with her students, but in this lesson she takes you to the football stadium. American football that is. What can we learn about physics from the good old gridiron game?

Lisa Chau wants to help you get that job. You know, the one you’ve always wanted. Whether it’s far away on an organic farm, or right here at the local law firm, her tips for networking can help you get one step closer to your dream position.

You might not think math is beautiful, but Bill Shillito does. And he’s here to tell you that you should too. Bill wasn’t even a math major (he studied International Affairs and Japanese at Georgia Tech) but teaching math really opened his eyes to the wonder of numbers. Here, he shares that wonder with you, and explains how matrices can help you decode secret messages.

Christina Kleinberg thinks you should appreciate water more. It’s an incredible molecule that makes up the majority of your body and the majority of the Earth, and yet few realize how cool and interesting it is. Here, she explains how the properties of water dictate so much of our everyday life.

From teaching English in Korea, to delivering pizza and managing a toy store, Jason Shipinski brings all sorts of experiences into his classroom. His lesson, about isolation, is one he teacher in school too, handing out candy to students and asking them to trade it with their neighbors. Here, he explains how sometimes isolation isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

These are just a handful of the Kohls winners, so keep an eye out for their lessons in the months to come. And submit your own lesson idea, to join their ranks on the TED-Ed site.

Dear TED-Ed community,

We are incredibly excited to announce that ed.ted.com has been nominated for two Webby Awards! The Webby Awards honor excellence on the Internet, and we’re in the running in the Education Website and Best Practices Website categories.

These awards are decided by votes!

Want to help us win?

1. Vote here for Education Website (http://on.ted.com/EdWebby).

2. Vote here for Best Practices Website (http://on.ted.com/BPWebby).

Please feel free to share this with anyone who you think might be interested.

Thank you!

The TED-Ed Team

You might have heard of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) as the giant, powerful particle smasher that received quite a bit of attention over whether it would accidentally create a black hole and swallow the earth (don’t worry, it won’t!). But the LHC isn’t the only mind-boggling powerhouse that lives in a little town outside of Geneva at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics. Amongst atom smashers and particle detectors work a team of top-notch scientists, and here at TED-Ed we’re excited to bring their ideas to you, in the form of Lessons about the universe. How did it begin? What is it made of? How do we learn about the universe, and what do we know? Today, TED-Ed launched the first of five lessons made in partnership with TEDxCERN. The other four animated Lessons will premiere at TEDxCERN on May 3 and be available on ed.ted.com starting on May 3rd. Tune in and watch!

The mystery of pants finally solved.

This week, TED-Ed is excited to roll out a featured mini-series all about the wacky way that words evolve.  All those questions you have about the English language, where words come from, and why we say the things we do. Why do we drive in a parkway and park in a driveway? Why do we say that something is noisy? Why is a single pair of pants called pants and not pant? If you think about it, English is full of strange words that each hold fascinating and often epic histories.

In the spirit of these histories, we’re diving deeper into the world of words with our new featured series, aptly named ‘Mysteries of Vernacular.’

For a taste of these Mysteries of Vernacular, here’s the story of the word Clue.

TED-Ed caught up with animator and creator of Mysteries of Vernacular, Jessica Oreck, and asked her about the root of her obsession with word origins, animation, and which letter is the most troublesome of the bunch.

1. How did you get interested in these sorts of linguistic origin stories? 

I’ve always been interested in the origins of seemingly inane traditions – the way we do things that seem entirely natural and obvious, but we don’t remember why. In a way, language is like that. It’s full of strange letters that carry the heavy weight of meaning. Sound symbolism, onomatopoeia, folk etymology – I find these things fascinating. And because they’re such an inseparable part of our world, they’re all that much harder to see.  I love taking something that seems completely ordinary and showing how it is actually extraordinary.

2. Do you have a favorite so far? Which one and why?

I think my favorite so far might actually be Noise (to be released on Friday!). I like the variety of the animation in the episode, but also because I am sensitive to sounds and very susceptible to motion sickness, the word feels especially close to my heart.

Building the Mysteries of Vernacular book. Photograph by Jessica Oreck

3. How did you settle on the paper and book as the style for these animations?

It’s impossible for me to say. When I come up with an idea for a project, I see the whole thing, from start to finish – the way it will look, the way it will sound – like it already existed in my head. I always feel like I am just channeling the idea – almost as if it has nothing to do with me. Sometimes it makes me feel a bit like a fraud, because I don’t really have a memory of the genesis of the idea.

4. How did you learn to animate in the first place?

I took a few animation classes in college, but I think just diving in and trying stuff out is how I really got started. I am constantly surprised by the truth of the idiom, “Practice makes perfect.” I don’t have any delusions of perfection with my work, but I do think I improve with every project.

All the pieces for the animation organized before Jessica starts animating. Photograph by Jessica Oreck

5. What’s the hardest letter to write a script for?

L. That’s the only script we haven’t finished. Rachael and I have both written different versions for different words, but we’re still searching for the script (and word) that feels right.

6. If you had one piece of advice for an aspiring animator or creative student, what would it be?

Dive in.

Jessica animating in her office. Photograph by Bill Ross

Over the next months, TED-Ed will be the home for Jessica’s detective work and animations. On Friday, we’ll debut the first new episode on how exactly loud sounds came to be called noise. Come back for more mysteries, and more clues to their histories, as we bring you a whole alphabet’s worth of vernacular spectaculars.

TED-Ed is a free educational platform that allows visitors to engage in, create, and distribute “Lessons worth sharing.” Every Lesson in the TED-Ed library is a result of a collaboration between some combination of educators, learners, animators, and the TED-Ed team. Every feature we’ve built is based on recommendations from members of the TED-Ed community. In this post we’ll elaborate on a five practical ways that we hope you or your organization will continue to help build the TED-Ed platform. 

1. Create a Lesson around your favorite educational YouTube video, and share it with the world.

For inspiration, we’ve listed just a few of our favorite YouTube channels below. You can view and flip their videos within TED-Ed, and, if you like what you see, we recommend visiting their YouTube channel page and subscribing.

Veritasium - Smarter Every Day - Numberphile - Minute Physics - Vihart - C.G.P. Grey - Sci Show - Smart Girls – Bite Sci-zed - Crash Course – Vsauce – PBS Ideas Channel – Asap Science – The Spangler Effect – ThinkrTV –  …tons more channels on YouTube/Edu.

Of course, you could also create a Lesson around any TED Talk, any TEDx Talk, or even around your own videos that you’ve uploaded to YouTube. If you take the time to create a particularly awesome Lesson, please also take the time to nominate it as a Best Flip. We will systematically feature the best community-made Lessons within the TED-Ed Library.

2. Nominate an Educator to be the writer and performer of a TED-Ed Original.

TED-Ed Originals feature audio lessons recorded by educators brought to life by talented visualization artists. We’re constantly seeking nominations for educators (and animators!) in the get involved section of our site. It is also completely appropriate (and common) for people to nominate themselves.

3. Submit a script and/or audio file to be featured in a TED-Ed Original.

We’ve opened up a new tab in the “get involved” section of the site called “Submit a Lesson.” Submitting a Lesson is an alternative to nominating an educator and allows you to go ahead and submit a script and/or audio directly. Selected pitches will be developed into full-blown animations and featured within the TED-Ed library.

4. Tell us how you’re using TED-Ed in your class, at your organization, or in your life.

We enjoy hearing from you, and we love understanding how TED-Ed is being used throughout the world. Your stories help us know what we’re doing right, what we can improve, and what we should do next. They also help us share best practices to the greater TED-Ed community. So, if you’re using the tool, let us know via this form, Facebook, or Twitter.

5. Volunteer to be a BETA tester for TED-Ed.

We’re always looking for willing volunteers to help test out new features and to evaluate the current user experience on the site. If you’re interested in helping us out, please send an email to education@ted.com with the subject line “Beta tester,” and a brief description of who you are and how you’d like to help.