TED-Ed Student Talks
The TED-Ed Student Talks program provides free, customizable activities for educators to support their students in identifying, developing and sharing their ideas with each other and the world. Apply to join our community which has educators in over 130 countries!
Continue reading below to learn more about our program and application process.
Why we help develop and amplify student voice
Students are filled with curious, innovative, brilliant and thoughtful ideas; we know there is a significant impact when students are not only asked about their passions and perspectives, but when they work to develop and share those ideas to a larger audience. Through this program, students develop both 21st century skills and are better prepared to advocate for the problems of today and the future.
How the program works
The TED-Ed Student Talks program provides free, customizable activities for educators working with students ages 6-18 in a classroom, school, extra-curricular setting or youth/educational organization. When an educator’s application is approved, you receive access to a customized virtual learning platform where you will access our guided activities and resources, which are standards-based and built on TED-Ed’s core learning principles; in addition, you will be able to connect with the TED-Ed staff and fellow educators from around the world.
How the application process works
How to apply
Choose your start date:
When you apply, you can select April 1, August 1 or December 1 as your start date to the program. Think about when you would like to start using this program with your students. Click “Apply here” to get more guidance in selecting your start date.
Submit an application
It takes 5-10 minutes to fill out our application by elaborating on your organization’s details, your role as an educator, your students, and your plans to utilize the program within your school/organization.
Check your email
After applying, you will receive an email with the status of your application and/or questions regarding your application from tededstudents@ted.com. Once approved, you will have 12 months of access.
Choose your start date:
When you apply, you can select April 1, August 1 or December 1 as your start date to the program. Think about when you would like to start using this program with your students. Click “Apply here” to get more guidance in selecting your start date.
Submit an application
It takes 5-10 minutes to fill out our application by elaborating on your organization’s details, your role as an educator, your students, and your plans to utilize the program within your school/organization.
Check your email
After applying, you will receive an email with the status of your application and/or questions regarding your application from tededstudents@ted.com. Once approved, you will have 12 months of access.
Students develop 21st century skills through our activities
Students share their big ideas with the world
Hear from a variety of student voices who shared their unique, big ideas upon completing the TED-Ed Student Talk program. Alongside our program, you will have opportunities to celebrate your own students within your community and maybe even on the TED stage!
Frequently asked questions
Adult facilitators gain access to a free Facilitator Guidebook with activity directions, the Student Idea Journal with activities for students, TED-Ed Student Talks logos, event guidelines and tips, video tutorials, and exclusive digital space to connect with other facilitators and the TED-Ed team.
Since the TED-Ed Student Talks resources are free and champion student ideas, facilitators do not use the resources to profit or promote a company, product or organization or use the resources to indicate that they are employed or affiliated with TED aside from as a volunteer facilitator.
The Facilitator Guidebook contains 13 Explorations, each containing 3-5 activity blocks. These resources were created to be flexible and adaptable, but can take anywhere from 10-20 hours, with an average of 15 hours.
The time commitment varies depending on the pace of instruction, students’ ages and academic levels, and the facilitators capacity and goals and we include a planner section to help facilitators assess the pacing for their group of students.
For example, facilitators may only have some of the students complete all of the Explorations based on their time commitment and progress; it could vary between a 30 minute lunch break once a week, during a one hour class twice a week, and many more format options.
There are multiple options to celebrate their student ideas. These include hosting a TED-Ed Student Talks Showcase event at their school or organization or getting a license to host a TEDxYouth event.
Facilitators also can submit great students’ talks to the TED-Ed team for review. We also encourage facilitators to think of different ways to share their student ideas, like creating a YouTube channel for their organization or publishing talks on the organization’s website/internal platform. There are more guidelines around these options, along with production tips, in the Facilitator Guidebook.
If you work in an administrative role of a school or organization and want to have multiple groups of educators and students involved, you can indicate that during registration and reach out to tededstudents@ted.com to be directed to a TED-Ed team member who can help you think about scaling the use of these materials among many facilitators and students over time.
At this time, the Facilitator Guidebook and Student Idea Journal are also published in Spanish. If you are interested in receiving these resources in Spanish, please visit this page.
Read this information packet to learn more about the structure of the Guidebook and Idea Journal resources, and to see a preview of Exploration 1 (the first group of activities). Then check out the rest of our FAQs on TED’s support page.
Yes! We ask any interested adult to register the school or community youth organization they are authorized to represent/volunteer for, and facilitators should make sure they have approval from the organization and from parents before registering. Also, interested adults should be working with students ages 6-18.