Balance #tedx
The TEDx talk I gave a few weeks ago is now available for viewing online.
It was an absolute pleasure to participate in the inaugural TEDxCSDTeachers, held at Butler Middle School on November 8! The final talk in an engaging lineup of professionals from my district and state, I was more nervous to deliver this TED talk than I think I've ever been for any other presentation. In spite of the nerves I and other presenters may have felt, Rachel Murphy and the other members of her team did an outstanding job with the entire event! A playlist containing the every talk from the day can be accessed here.
Knowing that the day would be full of exciting descriptions of technology use and borderline worship, I felt a brief discussion on balance was most warranted.
We live in a world filled with intense and constant opportunities for learning, engagement, and connectivity. Hence, the need for balance has never been greater.In the end I think the talk went well, although there are numerous weaknesses in delivery and format that I would change in hind-sight. A few clarifications and "doh, if-only-I-could-do-this-again" examples include:
- The words and slower pace I followed in this TED talk were very measured and intentionally slow. Because this message contrasted so greatly from previous talks and because I was last on the schedule, the in-person participants needed additional time to process. In the future, I wouldn't change my timing, but it may appear slow to the casual YouTube observer.
- To come to the conclusions I've made in my eleventh slide, I compared statistics published on the List of countries by number of mobile phones in use Wikipedia page (e.g., November 2013, November 2008).
- A few minutes into my talk, I reference an interview that Michael Wesch gave to Gillian Shaw of the Vancouver Sun. Unfortunately, I failed to mention that I paraphrased Dr. Wesch's words during the talk itself, although I've described this fact in my final Attribution slide.
- My inability to control emotions at the end of my talk impaired my ability to finish with power. If I were to do this again, I would hope to circle back to the idea that if we (as adults, teachers, and responsible citizens) don't find, teach, and model balance - then who will.
- Finally, I appreciate the willingness of others to share. My attribution slide follows, click to enlarge:
