Education

Online learning could change academia — for good | Tyler Dewitt

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. Higher education remains rooted in rigid, traditional structures and tracks — and it’s at risk of getting left behind in favor of expanded access, greater flexibility and tailored learning. Educator Tyler DeWitt explains how innovations in digital content and…

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Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

Higher education remains rooted in rigid, traditional structures and tracks — and it’s at risk of getting left behind in favor of expanded access, greater flexibility and tailored learning. Educator Tyler DeWitt explains how innovations in digital content and virtual reality are ushering in the future of learning, emphasizing why academia must adapt to this new reality and embrace an approach to education that works with students’ needs — not against them.

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59 Comments

  1. xmifi

    April 9, 2021 at 11:57 pm

    Teaching is an art of converting knowledge in to understandable language. Which not all teachers possess.

    • Mar zar

      April 10, 2021 at 5:41 am

      @TED who are you?

  2. The Man w/No Name

    April 10, 2021 at 12:24 am

    2021(G) “Respect and dignity.” Furthermore:

  3. Jj Jjj

    April 10, 2021 at 1:11 am

    The children must be separated

  4. Brmmm

    April 10, 2021 at 1:18 am

    Good

  5. Mar zar

    April 10, 2021 at 3:41 am

    Do you think mechanical, chemical or electric engineering in vr will be possible as well??

    • Omar Pulido

      April 10, 2021 at 5:35 am

      Yes

    • Mar zar

      April 10, 2021 at 5:37 am

      @TED what this?

    • TED

      April 10, 2021 at 7:25 am

      @Mar zar Have you had about crypto currency trading

  6. Attique Ur Rehman

    April 10, 2021 at 4:02 am

    Online learning is a future.

  7. Brendan Guymer

    April 10, 2021 at 4:17 am

    Recycling videos again. Pretty unprofessional.

    • TED

      April 10, 2021 at 5:20 am

      Start making Investments in cryptocurrencies and exchange

    • TED

      April 10, 2021 at 5:25 am

      + .1 / 5/1/2/3/6/4/0/5/3/1

  8. Virag Tiwari

    April 10, 2021 at 5:12 am

    I think by going into class and learning something is a process which make them to be Disciplined about their studies…. In online world we can see there are lots of disturbance when they know no one here to have a eye on…

    • Gabriel Cazorla Persson

      April 10, 2021 at 1:22 pm

      Yeah, it’s so much better when they go to class, grab the phone and zone out when they get bored, get lost, or simply leave the class. Also, leaving everything there is to learn of a subject for the last week, losing sleep to study it and then quickly forgetting it after passing the exam teaches a lot of discipline.

  9. Abdul-Ghaniy Sacdy

    April 10, 2021 at 6:36 am

    “You would have to be an idiot if you don’t think that Tyler is phenomenal”

  10. Lii G

    April 10, 2021 at 6:50 am

    The irony of watching this while desperately missing going to uni for classes instead of having to take online lectures due to covid. There is a lot more to in person classes that online classes can’t provide.

  11. Lost Avatar

    April 10, 2021 at 9:01 am

    VR lab will be fantastic to practice, but can never replace the real thing, as it will be limited to the results programmed in.

  12. khan abdulrehman

    April 10, 2021 at 10:13 am

    To be honest.
    ONLINE CLASSES SUCKS

  13. Hussain Awni

    April 10, 2021 at 10:19 am

    I disagree with him. There is no way to get the university out of education

    • Mus’ab Umair

      April 10, 2021 at 6:49 pm

      Yup it’s possible to be educated and smart but it’s impossible to be certified because people are afraid of change

  14. SholaB52

    April 10, 2021 at 10:49 am

    Vision. Change. Progress.
    Tyler’s success evolves

    • Wilson Phillips

      April 10, 2021 at 11:08 am

      People will be kicking themselves in few weeks if they miss the opportunity to buy and invest in Bitcoin

  15. Tunji Ayoade

    April 10, 2021 at 11:18 am

    I’m blown away. …I started online classes in March 2020 and my student would be taking 0500 in two months time ….online classes are really pulling their weight next to traditional classes

  16. Chaitannya K

    April 10, 2021 at 12:47 pm

    i used to watch this guy’s chemistry videos! awesome dude

  17. Nathalia Fernandes

    April 10, 2021 at 1:09 pm

    I loved this

  18. EighteenXVIII

    April 10, 2021 at 2:00 pm

    The problem is big government. They call the shots so nothing ever changes for the better unless it’s for administrators. We need a revolution. To overthrow the ruling class and take back our freedom!

  19. Mazie D.

    April 10, 2021 at 3:02 pm

    Tyler saved me in Chemistry!

  20. Joep Boer

    April 10, 2021 at 3:12 pm

    Sounds great but a fully commercial education will not bother learning you life skills as working in teams on applying gained knowledge but just focus on getting a good grade on some test

  21. 2e2rd

    April 10, 2021 at 6:07 pm

    It would be great to test rocket engines in VR without burning up all that fuel

  22. Mus’ab Umair

    April 10, 2021 at 6:50 pm

    it’s possible to be educated and smart but it’s impossible to be certified because people are afraid of change

  23. Moshe Callen

    April 10, 2021 at 7:19 pm

    I’m currently doing a doctorate in physics. The wealth of material on research topics even at such an advanced level available on youtube is amazing.

  24. NamasenITN

    April 10, 2021 at 8:28 pm

    You are also neglecting that there is more than getting credits and final grades. You seem to forget about the deep personal relationships that might build with a traditional “physical” professor-student interaction. In an online course there would be unfortunately nothing like that. No random chat with other professors or researchers, happening in the corridor.

  25. Amparo Cribas

    April 11, 2021 at 12:40 am

    Finally someone who really gets to see that education must be a full mind blowing experience with different modalities that fit in with each person’s learning approaches. Tradition is not going to be eliminated, but actually transformed into its brightest being. We need more people learning. It does not matter how, if efficiency is guaranteed.

  26. Islam Allahveisi

    April 11, 2021 at 3:20 am

    It has changed it entirely

  27. Công khanh Nguyễn

    April 11, 2021 at 6:57 am

    Wow

  28. 方瑾月

    April 11, 2021 at 3:15 pm

    where did you graduate?
    me: ah… Youtube University . and my favourite homeroom teacher is zeFrank lol

  29. simplymaci

    April 11, 2021 at 4:33 pm

    It didn’t even occur to me that this was THE Tyler was the one who did those videos! I’m not a Biology major anymore, but his videos helped me the most when I was struggling with Chemistry

  30. Gary Dose

    April 11, 2021 at 5:04 pm

    Using videos is a tool that is overlooked these days. In the 90s we used them a lot, but some teachers became too reliant on them. It’s a balance of using in class instruction and other resources. For videos, teachers need to watch as well so that they can answer questions that students have about the content of the film.

  31. Andre Hartono

    April 11, 2021 at 6:06 pm

    those kitchen tutorial videos were the ones that really made me get hooked on chemistry in my high school years, especially the VSEPR videos, thanks to my teacher who recommended it to my class and used it as her teaching material. Even in this video, you still teach me a lot of things and not limited to chemistry, but life perspective too. Really glad you seem to be doing well today Tyler!

  32. Doctor Goop

    April 11, 2021 at 6:23 pm

    Competition is the anathema of places like Harv, MIT, UPENN etc

  33. Ti Klim

    April 12, 2021 at 2:08 am

    Information Age = A time when knowledge is worthless.

  34. Laxmi

    April 12, 2021 at 4:29 am

    Physicswallah 💚

  35. Nick Bayer

    April 12, 2021 at 9:22 am

    Bravo Tyler👏👏

  36. ganarton monsterus

    April 12, 2021 at 3:59 pm

    the government would not allow that bc then school would become useless

  37. MJ Lloreda-Maier

    April 12, 2021 at 4:43 pm

    Thanks to your awesome videos, I made it through my undergrad chemistry courses!

  38. Gundam Magic

    April 12, 2021 at 5:29 pm

    University used to be the only place to acquire knowledge a long time ago, but that is no longer the case. Universities should focus more on research and community building, and delegate teaching to the thousands of online resources.

  39. Peka Chew

    April 12, 2021 at 5:38 pm

    I love this video but he beats about the bush a lot

    edit: and speaks very slowly

  40. Peka Chew

    April 12, 2021 at 5:52 pm

    Start an online university. You can just saying

  41. MonkeyspankO

    April 12, 2021 at 6:48 pm

    Few people recognize the future, until its suddenly here. That’s why its called the future.

  42. Jay

    April 12, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    Absolutely agree with you!!!

  43. David Vasquez

    April 13, 2021 at 3:33 am

    How should one go about taking these classes??

  44. Alvin Good

    April 13, 2021 at 10:12 am

    God bless you dr okosun on YouTube channel for curing me and my wife from HSV 1&2, we never believed there was a cure but you prove us wrong through your herbs, thank you Dr okosun we are indeed very grateful.🙏

  45. fer.medley

    April 13, 2021 at 2:28 pm

    Whatsapp 2

  46. Byron Flores

    April 13, 2021 at 4:37 pm

    Clear and true! Greetings from a professor in Spain.

  47. Study Hard

    April 14, 2021 at 6:00 pm

    Oh…finally…gurujee is alive…thanks

  48. Lorenzo GB

    April 15, 2021 at 4:57 pm

    POG

  49. bernardo marcos creciendo capitales

    April 15, 2021 at 6:21 pm

    I was cured from herpes through the help of herbs from Agbafor Chike you can reach him to get cured from your illness.

  50. David Payne

    April 15, 2021 at 6:49 pm

    very nicely done unpacking of so many of the key elements…seems like Mr. DeWitt is becoming not only a great biochem teacher through vids but also a great SME in IDT/LDT (aka EdTech/ECT) itself… good to see!

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