TEDxCSULB Proposal

The theme for this TEDxCSULB is “Threads Undone”. We hope to not only inspire the students and community of CSULB, but also to loosen the tension between conflicting societal beliefs in order make room for new ideas and conversations.

TEDxCSULB is scheduled for Sunday, April 9, 2017.

I’ve decided to put in a talk proposal. The text of my submission is below:

photo of the TEDxCSULB stage with the name "TEDxCSULB" in large, dimensional letters

TEDxCSULB

  • Name: Glenn Zucman
  • Status: CSULB Faculty or Staff
  • email: glenn.zucman@csulb.edu
  • Website: beacharts.ca
  • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/zucman
  • Have you ever spoken at a TED or TEDx event before? No

What can you tell us about yourself? Give us your biography in one paragraph.
I teach Art at CSU Long Beach & am the provost of 2 virtual/alternative universities, one for avatars & one for international students. I believe in as much student self-determination as possible. The university holds tremendous knowledge, but when it comes top-down, like tablets coming down from a mountain, it promotes extrinsic motivators like points and grades. I’m convinced that the deepest, richest learning must be active learning experiences designed by the student.

What is your favorite TED or TEDx talk, and why? Please provide a link, if any.
Sugata Mitra: Build a school in the cloud. In this amazing talk Mitra recounts his “Hole In the Wall” experiments with self-guided learning. His insights have helped me develop much of my pedagogic thinking. He explains that our old educational “machines” are not “broken”, it’s just that we don’t need them anymore. I believe his insights can help everyone reinvent education here in the 21st century.

[ted id=1678]

Your Talk

Please respond to the following questions by creating a 2-4 minute video, post it online, and provide us with the link (e.g. via YouTube):

  1. What is your idea and why is it worth spreading?
  2. Why is TEDxCSULB the right platform for this idea to be presented?
  3. How do you believe members of the audience might react to your talk? How will your idea motivate them?

If possible, we would love to see other samples of your speaking. Please provide links to videos or talks you are featured in online.