An excellent resource for students (or anyone) looking to learn about a particular topic is TED. TED - an acronym for Technology, Entertainment, Design - features a series of talks on those topics and more, featuring successful and well known individuals. One of the best aspects of these talks is that you don't have to attend in person, you can view them all online or take them with you. TED formats the talks in MP4 for your desktop and iTunes for viewing on your iPod/Touch/Phone.

A post on TED at Inside Higher Ed caught my attentional today. The author, Joshua Kim, laments the challenges TED presents to academic institutions.

The quality of the freely available content gives lie to the notion that the best lectures occur within the gates of academe. The format of the talks can teach us a thing or two about the optimal length, timing, pace and content of the lecture. And the conversations around the online lectures remind us that the degree to which learning is social.

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I strongly suspect that our students will grow accustomed to and prefer media that can be consumed on mobile devices (I know I have!). The instinct is often to lock down our curricular media content in order to comply with copyright restrictions. Working within the parameters of the law is important, but we should recognize that we also need to stay relevant to our students. Part of this effort involves providing our curricular media in formats that allow their consumption on the device of choice.

These are some important points. First of all, the best advice and content isn't locked within the gates of academia. ThinkTalk, for instance, also tries to serve as a supplement to the learning that you are getting in class. It's important not to limit yourself to one source of input in respect to your education. Keep your mind open and constantly be searching for new ideas, knowledge and advice wherever you can find it. Especially here, at ThinkTalk!

Enough self-aggrandizing, let's get to some Links ...

College Finance 101 Has Advice For Jobs Abroad: The guest-poster, Austin, is a recent grad who is teaching abroad in Japan. The article has advice on the types of jobs to look for abroad. Options include teaching English, volunteering for the Peace Corp, working on an Organic farm and more. Just because you recently graduated does not mean that you need to dive full-bore into full-time work. These options are respectable and worth exploring.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed Doesn't Think Students Cheat More in Online Classes: The common perception among educators seems to be that students cheat more in online classes. But, a new study may contradict that. I'm actually taking an online grad class write now, and I certainly wouldn't assume that the atmosphere lends itself more to cheating. What are your thought, have you taken online courses?

The Monster Blog Gives the Lowdown on Job Search Networking: Job Search Networking groups are prevalent: "At present, I attend 3 job search networking groups on a fairly regular basis. One meets weekly, another bimonthly and yet another monthly. I also have at least 2 others I try to attend monthly, time permitting." The article goes on to discuss how to get the most out of these events

The Chronicle of Higher Ed Reports Harvard is Starting an Online Magazine for College Women: Her Campus covers style, love and health topics for women, written by college students. "“There really isn’t any media that targets college women directly,” said Stephanie Kaplan, co-founder and a Harvard senior, adding that magazines college students usually read, such as Seventeen or Glamour, don’t address life on campus." What a great idea!