Suzanne Lee

Grow your own clothes? Wait, growing material is possible! Now, that is something I am fascinated by. These clothes are not extremely attractive. You would not see them in a target or any other common retail store. They are basic shapes and do not have much color. The appearance of Lee’s clothes might not be top notch right now, but the idea she is presenting is. The self grown clothes open a new realm of creating.

Suzanne Lee explains how growing clothes can reach beyond just the fashion world and move into furniture, cars, and houses. Making lamp shades or upholstery chairs from tea can make this world more efficient and less pollutant.  Suzanne is very direct in how she uses her product and what she needs to fix or change.  She does not directly open up her idea until the end, at this point she shows different ways she can use her product. For example, she shows that one could make a car, lamp, and house. This led me to think about other things to make out of home grown material. I started at how each person or family could grow their own house and all their belongings. Being a more self efficient world would allow us to have time to create, invent, and play. If the nation’s corporations where not working on shipping cotton or other materials into the states, they could be creating and working forward. Overall this idea of being self efficient will help create time for other things than trade. On contrast, I wondered if being self efficient could hurt the world. If each country did not rely on each other there would be no need for foreign relations and relationships between countries. This would present a barrier of ideas and create a more of a”one for himself and not anyone else” aspect, creating a more competitive environment.

I liked how Lee was wearing one of her home grown garments. This action showed that she had pride in her topic and that it was usable. Matching her clothes to her topic also kept her in context and was not distraction from the presentation. We talked about wearing appropriate clothes for your presentation in class; Lee did this perfectly. She showed confidence and belief in her idea. Wearing her garment showed the audience that it can be used well and that she is not afraid to use it.

This idea still amazes me. They way Lee presents her idea helps the idea form in the listener’s head. She tells you the flaws because she knows how much potential her idea holds and how her idea will change the world.

Mike Matas

Mike Matas introduced a next-generation digital book. This type of book is like no other. The reader can manipulate the book as wanted. If a certain page has a picture or video the reader can make it full screen or keep it smaller and still be able to see the other text. This allows the reader to further analyze the text. There are interactive pieces in this new book too. Matas used the wind turbine as an example. When Matas blew in the direction of the Ipad the turbine started to move and it showed how the energy was stored and transfer. This certain interactive piece of the book tells a story. As mentioned in Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind, this story will be triggered when trying to recall information. The software used in this book opens up new possibilities in education and leisure.

In Mike Matas’ TEDtalk he only explains how the next-generation digital book works. He does not go into any detail about how to incorporate it in your everyday life. This leaves a lot of area for creativity. He does not explain where this will/can be used or how it is used best. People had to think how they would apply it to their life rather than just being told how to. This creates a more personalized experience. His open-endedness about the use of the digital book differs from the styles of the other TEDtalks. Usual the speaker will present the use of their idea. For example Dave Eggers had a TEDwish. Matas’ approach allowed his talk to reach into the world of the listeners. Striving for the speech to be somewhat personal in the audience’s lives has run parallel through all the TEDtalks I have listened to.  Although, Matas did not seem super excited or overly passionate about his idea, the newness of the book over shinned that in some ways. If he did express more passion in his voice I think his software would have come across better.

Since the book is interactive, students will become more engaged in what they are reading. Also a non-fiction book can provide even more information on the subject without adding lengthy articles, which tend to get boring and interrupt the flow of the book. Being the person who cannot read more longer then fifteen minutes before having to take a break or look at something else, I think that the next-generational book will keep me interested.  All of the pictures and video clips will allow my eye to be “entertained” by something other than just words. The extra items in the book enhance the visual beauty as well as its content. The short clips of video or a picture will also enhance the readers understanding of the topic.

The interactive book could also take a step into the fictional world. There could be a small clip showing what the character is doing. The technology put into this book could take the reader beyond their seat. The reader could be “inside” the book. The video could be from the main character’s view point. The reader/watcher would never see the main character because the reader would be the character’s eyes.  Reading a book will change drastically if this new technology becomes main stream.

I cannot stop imagining how this technology can go further than just reading books. This could expand to text books and lesson plans. With an interactive more portal text book, learning would be at children’s fingertips. They would be able to manipulate and use their text book as they feel needed. This software could also become a key part of teacher’s lesson plans. Each student could buy their teacher’s book the first day of school. Each page would represent a new day. On that page there would be the pictures and videos you had to watch that day. Along with that if you needed read out of a text book or other text it would be in that chapter or page. Instead of paying taxes for going to school, they would be for buying your personal Ipad. This Ipad would have the text books and teacher books you needed. The software could lead to a new type of education beyond reach right now. This would allow the student to personalize the way they learn and comprehend. There would be no limits or setbacks. It would a person and their wish to learn.

Mike Matas’ TEDtalk opens a world of possibilities. His software can be put to use in many different fields. His idea was defiantly worth sharing.

Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers' passion just shined through his whole TEDtalk. You could tell that he was nervous and not use to public speaking, but his message overpowered this. His natural humor built into his speech helped the speech flow. Even though he was nervous, Eggers let himself go. He did not hold anything back. Eggers spoke with a raw tone in his voice, making his speech very passionate. From the beginning the audience could tell that Eggers cared that his message would make a difference. He wanted so badly to help the children he talked about. This really reached out to me and would keep me listening. When I came home to type this up, the first thing I remembered was how happy he was to share his world and what he does. This really makes his speech pop and leaves a lasting impression with the listeners. The element of passion is very important in his message. Without passion his message would be questioned. He applies his passion well in his speech.

I was amazed about how he created this idea and how Eggers fixed an office, tutoring facility, and store all together. It’s such a brilliant and creative idea. All of the other stores/tutoring facilities are also designed so creatively; I just wonder how the mesh so well. The randomness of the storefront and the altruism of the tutoring automatically put a smile on everyone in the class’s face.  

The way that the two unrelated subjects come together and help kids learn and be excited about can change the world in so many ways. First, it can add to the turnaround in education. Most of my blogs talk about how the speakers’ messages can change the face education. Eggers' will not necessarily add to the technology piece, but it will bring a sense of fun to education. Since Eggers'tutors help kids for free it allows the child to know that they matter. Eggers shows that he wants to help kids excel in school in a fun way. Adding the piece of fun into education will make the world we live in today a more exciting, beautiful, and constantly changing world. Eggers'passion is contagious; it makes me want to do something fun and creative to help the world.

One of the subjects that stuck in my mind was when Eggers start to talk about how not putting “Tutoring” across the front of the store helped business. The kids coming in there felt dignity in asking for help because there was no obvious sign across the door saying “I do not know what to do. Help me!” Eggers essential took away the stereotypes of a tutored child; he made it fun and exciting.

Dave Eggers also talked about reasons why students work hard. He said that students will work harder when the whole world can read their work. This automatically made me think of blogging. In English class Smith always stresses the idea of our blog post and some essays will be posted for the world to see. My class is creating a technological footprint, which will be there far after we die. Smith has mixed technology with what Eggers talked about. Since the whole world can see your blog posts we try to make them the best that we can.

His TEDwish was an interesting spin to the end of Eggers' talk. It fit in perfectly with TED’s mission. TED wants to spread ideas worth sharing so when Eggers explained what he wants the audience to do with his message shows how this idea can spread and help the world. The TEDwish helps the audience apply the message to their personal life and “take home” his wish with them. To connect his message back to TED and his listeners was good technique of closing his speech and allowing it to become more personal.