TED launches learning initiative at YouTube

NEW YORK – The non-profit group behind thought-provoking TED conferences on Monday launched an education channel on YouTube in a bid to make learning irresistible.

The alliance with the world’s top online video venue marked the start of a TED-Ed initiative to combine exceptional teaching with eye-catching animations to make captivating lessons available to anyone on the Internet.

“We want to show that learning can be thrilling,” said TED ‘curator’ Chris Anderson.

“By turning great lessons into vivid scholastic tools, these TED-Ed videos are designed to catalyze curiosity,” he continued.

Videos made available at youtube.com/tededucation were designed to be captivating and short, lasting no longer than 10 minutes so teachers could easily show them to students in real-world classrooms.

Lessons are geared for students and teachers but should appeal to “lifelong learners,” according to TED.

The TED-Ed channel launched with about a dozen videos and the promise that more will be added weekly. Educators from anywhere in the world can upload lesson proposals at education.ted.com.

“The topics we can cover are endless, and the more teachers and animators who contribute their lessons and talents, the more impactful this resource becomes,” said TED-Ed ‘catalyst’ Logan Smalley.

“TED-Ed has the potential to take a lesson that might normally reach just 20 students and extend it to the world,” she continued.

The channel’s offerings joined more than a half-million education-oriented videos on dedicated pages of Google-owned YouTube at youtube.com/edu.

“Views of educational content on YouTube doubled in the last year,” said YouTube Education head Angela Lin.

“Schools, parents, and lifelong learners are turning to YouTube to help bring topics to life, and the new TED-Ed channel is a wonderful addition.”

TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is a series of conferences dedicated to “ideas worth spreading.” Speakers are given only 18 minutes to give deliver “the talk of their lives.”

Videos of “TED Talks” have attracted a global following online at ted.com.

TED presenters are known for combining dizzying brain power with mind-tickling spins on concepts as weighty as climate change and the devastation of sea life or as playful as dance and music.