See it, film it change it

I came across the Witness.org site which aims to give a voice to those not usually included in global dialogues by giving access to video and online technologies which allow them to tell their own story.

Here is a great video about how to get started with a video and issues to think about. Click here for a PDF download of the ideas covered.



Click here to see a video offering lots of practical tips on how to use a video camera to its best advantage for those of us unfamiliar with the technology.


Finally here is a video of musician and activist Peter Gabriel at TED Talks sharing his very personal motivation for standing up for human rights with the watchdog group WITNESS and tells stories of citizen journalists in action.

TED talks and teaching discursive writing

Whilst surfing over at the TED Talks site I came across this video - Steve Pinker - The Myth of Violence. It's basic premise being that society has become less, rather than more violent with the passage of time. An interesting, if counter - intuitive idea. This got me thinking about how he presented his argument and what lessons could be learnt by my advanced ESL/EFL students who have to produce discursive essays as part of their examinations, albeit in a more simplified form.



An mp3 audio file of this talk can be downloaded from here.

Lesson plan

1 Ask students if they think the world is getting more or less violent. Then get them to think of three reasons or examples that support their argument.

2 Students then present them to each other, and then you elicit answers from the class as a whole. Odds on they'll say that the modern is more violent than ever.

3 Now tell the students that they are going to hear a talk by Steven Pinker that argues the opposite and that they are going to analyse both what he says and how he presents it.

4 Luckily, the video is divided into different sections. First play the introduction (28 secs till 2 mins 10 secs.) and ask students to describe how he introduces the subject.

5 Students listen then form groups to compare answers.

6 Elicit responses and ask students to think about why he choose this particular approach.

7 Next explain to them that in the next section(s) - 2 mins 10 secs to 9 mins 30 secs he gives shows us how much violence has declined. What evidence does he give? How would we characterise such evidence? Statistical ? Literary? Expert opinion? Play the video.

8 Students discuss their answers with each other in groups. Elicit answers.

9 Next Pinker asks a rhetorical question. What is it? What evidence does he give to support his answer? What kind of evidence does he give? Play the video - 9 mins 30 secs to 17 mins 30 secs.

10 Students discuss their answers. Elicit answers.

11 Now explain that Pinker is going to come to a conclusion. Ask students what that might be.
Students discuss this in groups. Elicit answers.

12 Play last section 17 mins 30 secs to 18 mins 15 secs. What is his conclusion?

13 Students discuss answers in groups. Elicit answers.

14 Ask students if they agree with Pinker. Why? Why not?

15 Homework - Write out and essay plan for Pinker's argument and decide think of possible weaknesses in it.

16 In the next lesson students compare plans and critiques and then work together to create their own essay plan arguing the opposite point of view which they write up for homework.

Making a difference - one picture at a time.

I read once that if you watch three TED Talks videos in row it will change the way you see the world. A big claim but I'll let you decide after watching this lecture by the photographer, James Nachtwey.



I would also recommend the work of Don McCullin, who very much expresses the same sensibility in his work.

The $100 laptop

I'm sure that you've heard about Nicholas Negrponte's idea for a cheap laptop designed to change the way the planet uses the internet. It's a concept that I was initially skeptical of, however, after listening to Negroponte speak at Ted Talks and seeing how the internet can be used in my own teaching situation I'm starting to come round to the idea.



If you want to download the podcast click here

Looking at the brighter side of famine, sickness and disaster

I came across Bono acceptance speech at the Ted (Technology, Entertainment, Design) awards. Whether you like his music or not the man has a gift for eloquence which I had never realised. He talks about what we, in the rich countries of the world can do to help Africa. I won't go into too much detail about the points he makes as you can click on the link and see the video for yourself.

"The problems facing the developing world afford us in the developed world a chance to redescribe ourselves to the world. We will not only transform other peoples' lives, but we will also transform the way those other lives see us, and that might be smart in these nervous, dangerous times."

Bono 2005

See here for the full transcript


For more information check out the www.one.org site.