TED Educational App

     The educational app that  I would like to spotlight is called TED. Many people know TED by their many famous TED talks around the nation but not many know that they have an app. I will specifically be looking at the android version and its applications in education. This app is automatically relevant today because of its constant updates withe the latest patch on October 17, 2018. To begin with the overall feel of this app is user friendly and has a clean no-nonsense user interface. This is imperative to instructive learning because it provides the teacher and student with no technical problems that could get in the way of the learning process.
     The TED app boasts many educational tools at the disposal of educators. The main functionality that TED wants to have on this app is the TED talk easy access feature. While the TED talks found on the ted.com website are useful the app version has many better features. The main advantage to watching on the app is that it allows for easy access and search ability and also allows the users to download specific TED talks for later. The talks also include a brief biography on the speaker for additional background information. While the talks are the main focus of the app, there are many other educational opportunities available. There is a playlist header which groups together similar TED talks for if a student wants to delve further into a subject or wants talks related by common themes. This also makes the talks in these playlists more available and fun to listen to for students because of their fun sounding names. Another heading in the app is for podcasts. Podcasts can offer many educational opportunities even without a direct teacher in the room. The more casual conversational aspects of the podcast medium appeal to many students who have a hard time taking and hours worth of reading

 or notes and replaces that with an hour of something as easy as just listening. The last feature of the TED app and perhaps the greatest is a response to the problem of finding a relevant topic and length for the ted talk you want. With the TED surprise me feature you can choose what topic you would like your ted talk to be about and how much time you have to listen to it and it will provide you with a playlist of relevant TED talks that fit your specific parameters. This is especially useful for people who are in a hurry or have a limited amount of time and searching for the right length TED talk they want is too time consuming,
     With all of these features in the TED android app it makes it a no brainer for educational purposes. It takes all the rich educational topics of the classic TED talks and makes them more available to kids and students in the smartphone age. These appeals make the app more relevant to more people and ultimately spreads more knowledge in this format. TED app is a great educational resource weather it is used in conjunction with a course or a self study into a specific topic.