Have you seen how they dress?

Have you watched them use phones, tv, computers, games and eat all at the same time?

Generally the youth of today get a bad rap.

Well let me tell you not to lose hope.

I had a chance to talk to 4 students working on a TEDx event, 3 speakers one organizer, and WOW they were amazing!

If these kids are a sample of the global population it is time to give them more time to share and inspire us becasue they are very switched on.

And if you are unsure about TED I give a great intro.

Not that TED videos aren’t interesting and enlightening but they could be even more powerful if they were specifically directed to students in a way that meshed with curriculum.

That day has arrived!

One of the things that excites me are the TEDEducation videos on YouTube.

It will be interesting to see where this goes and how educators here in Dubai use this new content.

This year there was a wonderful remix summary of TED played out at the end of the conference and it did not disappoint.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to do something like this at the end of each of the courses I teach at Zayed University?

Interesting idea.

How much do you actually think about your city and the interaction you have with the city?

I can honestly say I give the idea of CITY little thought.

But I do love living in the city and can’t imagine living any other way!

FastCompany posted a great piece asking you to think about the city and it is a must watch.

What I also love about this presentation is I can imagine my students making a documentary like this!

What is a teacher?

Public education?

Smart?

Not?

Economics vs intellectual?

I am moving to a new school in September to help create the UAE’s leading mass communication program.

I say leading because if we are going to just do what is typical today there would be no point in moving to CUD from ZU.

We are going to put a program in motion that is in constant re-invention.

We are thinking of journalism in terms of the craft and the delivery.

We are thinking advertising in terms of what, who and where.

We are thinking about PR in terms of the story and delivery.

No more we need huge expensive pools of equipment to make media, WE DON’T NEED A HUGE SET OR A HUGE LAB.

What we need is people who are engaged as mentors and learners.

Watch this video this to me is where CUD’s mass communication program is going.

I am always impressed by a good story.

Jawbone is a personal electronics company that does a great job of not only telling a story, enabling you to tell a story but also taking the tools around us and repurposing them.

LIVE UP is a writs band and an app that work together, according to Jawbone, to help you live better.

I have not used the product but the videos and website sure do tell a great story! The bans is a simple tool that is brought to life through an app that tells a visual story of the 3 vital components of your life.

Sleep

Eating

Movement

I am sorry I missed this at TEDGlobal 2011.

Check it out and tell me you don’t want to give it a try!

Communication can and does take many forms.

The ability to harness a variety of forms of communication through the creative process is something we are not doing so well in our education systems.

Don’t get me wrong there is lots of creativity and lots of communication but we are not doing a lot to connect the 2.

Here is a great example of that connection taking place.

My question is how do I get my creative advertising students to see the forest in spite of the trees?

I use TED.com materials in all my classes, have collaborated on various sized TEDx events.

I have even settled on producing TEDx Salon events at my University.

And now there is a fantastic addition to the TEDTalk videos, 10 new themed TED podcasts.

TED introduces 10 new podcasts on iTunes

If we could recommend one superb TEDTalk about music a week, what would it be? What about business? Technology?

Here at TED.com we are always looking for new and better ways to bring together the voices of TED speakers and TED viewers. This week we are launching themed iTunes podcasts, to bring more topics of interest directly to you. Along with receiving your daily TEDTalk, subscribing to one of our specially curated podcast channels means you will receive a weekly talk recommended by the TED team in the category (or categories!) of your choice: Art, Business, Education, Health, Kids + Family, Music, News + Politics, Science + Medicine, Society + Culture and Technology. When you subscribe this week, you’ll start with 10 TEDTalks we think you’ll like.

Any other themes you’d like to see? Want more than one talk a week? Feeling love in our general direction? Leave us a comment below or write to contact@ted.com.

To start receiving talks from your favorite TED topics, subscribe now >>

I am constantly amazed by the value I get from TEDTalks.

I am even more amazed at how infectious they are as we are seeing at our TEDxZU Salon.

Well today was a special day, TEDxZU was launched.

Since 2009 I have been a curator or co-curator of 3 different TEDx events, spoken at a TEDx event and helped mentor 2 events.

After my last TEDx, TEDxAbuDhabiU which was excellent, I went back to the drawing board.

Actually I asked myself why do a TEDx?

What am I hoping to achieve through a TEDx?

That is when I realized that I needed to get back to basics and back to my community.

There are many fantastic large TEDx community events taking place in the UAE, TEDxDubai.com is a super example of that.

And every TEDx event is trying to tap into the community in some way.

What I was missing in my TEDx experiences was connecting with the community I live in for 5 or more hours a day, Zayed University.

Why go to a TEDx on the weekend or in a different city and for an extended length of time?

Why not fit a TEDx into my day and keep them short but have them more often?

And so I radically changed my thinking about what a perfect TEDx event is and set out in a new direction.

TEDxZU is born in the Salon format.

What is a Salon?

Let me describe TEDxZU.

TEDxZU is a small event aimed at faculty, staff and students at Zayed University.

TEDxZU is in a very public place at a time when there are many people just hanging around.

TEDxZU, for now anyway, is every 3 weeks.

TEDxZU has a year long theme of “the future starts here”.

TEDxZU has micro themes every 3 weeks with a guest who will frame the theme and 2 or 3 TEDTalks to go with it.

TEDxZU is using Facebook as its main communication tool.

TEDxZU also asks those who come out to the event to engage in some fashion, this week people are asked to post to Facebook what inspires them.

No fee, no presents, no invitations just a gathering of the community around TED content to make a difference in our lives.

Community engagement at its best!

Never say never to a larger TEDxZU but for now the Salon format is how we aim to engage the community at Zayed University.

TED in Long Beach was great but it was TEDActive in Palm Springs that blew my mind.

One of my passions has been to talk to as many TEDsters on the radio, I host a talk show on DubaiEye 103.8FM, to share their ideas and passion for ideas.

Well here are those conversations with their links.

I like to call these conversations my own private TED event.

http://nightline.podomatic.com/entry/2011-06-13T22_13_47-07_00

http://nightline.podomatic.com/entry/2011-06-13T22_06_41-07_00

http://nightline.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-31T00_24_00-07_00

http://nightline.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-31T00_21_37-07_00

http://nightline.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-23T21_26_40-07_00

http://nightline.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-22T22_09_44-07_00

http://nightline.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-17T02_09_36-07_00

http://nightline.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-08T22_05_51-07_00

http://nightline.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-02T03_09_50-07_00

http://nightline.podomatic.com/entry/2011-04-26T00_12_27-07_00

http://nightline.podomatic.com/entry/2011-04-26T00_05_29-07_00

http://nightline.podomatic.com/entry/2011-02-08T23_39_08-08_00

http://nightline.podomatic.com/entry/2011-01-31T01_36_52-08_00