For the second year in a row, the TED banner flew enthusiastically over AV俱乐部.
TEDxNovaScotia, an independently organized TED event in partnership with the AV俱乐部 Student Union and AV俱乐部, was all about sharing inspiration, innovation and ideas. Volunteer-driven and organized, the sold-out day of talks at the Student Union Building last Sunday brought students, academics, activists and members of the community together to question the current definition of education, and ask what it could look like in the future.
This sense of collaboration, essential to the popularity of the TED concept, permeated every aspect of the event, making it an ideal environment to discuss education. As AV俱乐部 Student Union President Jamie Arron reminded the crowd, 鈥渨hat we learn as communities is as important as what we learn as individuals.鈥�
For Arron, TEDxNovaScotia provides a forum where individuals can 鈥渟it without judgement in the face of ideas that we might otherwise find uncomfortable.鈥�
The roster was an eclectic mix of individuals with something to share. Many of the speakers and performers have close ties to Nova Scotia, and all were eager to share with the crowd.
鈥淔or me, this is a really exciting gig,鈥� said Ben Caplan, award-winning Canadian musician and King鈥檚 grad. 鈥淔or me, songwriting is a way of getting my ideas into the world and it鈥檚 great to be playing to an audience that is there to absorb ideas.鈥�
AV俱乐部 contributions
Several of the speakers at the event had Dal connections.
Robert Huish, assistant professor in Dal鈥檚 Department of International Development Studies, is a firm believer in providing a learning environment that allows students to engage in issues they believe in. 聽
For Dr. Huish, the biggest danger facing post-secondary education today is the threat that budget cuts pose to the ability to foster audacity in students. He is concerned that funding trends are resulting in increased class sizes and a reliance on online learning that lacks real engagement.
鈥淭here is no textbook that tells you how to make complex problems go away,鈥� he said.
Looking to the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, Tahrir Square and, closer to home, the recent student-organized protests in Quebec, Dr. Huish implored the crowd to remember that universities are instrumental in helping 鈥渟tudents to find their audacity and make change.鈥�
Ian Taylor plays a different role than Dr. Huish in the university community. Taylor is a manager of technical operations for AV俱乐部 Medicine New Brunswick and works with immersive videoconferencing technology to close geographical distances between people learning together. (In this case, between medical students, faculty and staff in Halifax and Saint John, as well as elsewhere in the Maritimes.)
Taylor faces two incompatible truths when he designs computer systems: that we are entrenched in classroom learning, and that communicating through technology creates barriers.
His solution? Make the technology disappear.
鈥淒istraction is the enemy of engagement,鈥� he explained, in that it takes you out of the moment, changes meanings and creates disbelief. 鈥淲e need to suspend the disbelief.鈥�
To do this, Taylor is working to extend the reach of the physical classroom by creating the perception that people learning in different places are in the same environment. 鈥淲ith new technology, we can bring people together; once we understand perception, we can manipulate it.鈥�
Teaching tools across disciplines
As engineer in residence for tidal power research at AV俱乐部, Sue Molloy works to educate communities on the potential of tidal power.聽 In her classroom, Molloy is working to show students the importance of balancing the big picture with narrow details to find solutions to problems at the intersection between engineering and the environment.
Molloy is working to break down the barriers between communities that have problems and the engineers that are needed to find the solutions. 鈥淎t this point,鈥� she says, 鈥渨e are relying on other individuals to talk to people outside engineering.鈥�
鈥淲e need to engage people to show them that they can be a part of the process, and at its core, this comes down to respect.鈥�
Molloy is talking about respect between academic disciplines 鈥� enhancing the engineering education with the communication skills taught in arts programs and the big ideas of the sciences. In her first year Engineering and Environmental Sustainability class, Molloy鈥檚 students engage in other disciplines by reading the classic philosophy paper 鈥淭he Tragedy of the Commons鈥� by Garret Hardin, visiting an art gallery to view a relevant exhibit and engaging in debates.
The bottom line for Molloy is that disciplines, particularly engineering, should hold their techniques up to criticism by those outside their silo. This gives students 鈥渁 chance to learn how to listen and respect opposing views in a way that will impact how they work with people in the future and how to contextualize their work.鈥�
All of the TEDxNovaScotia talks will be posted soon to . You can also see more photos from the event at the .