Endless Network

Across the United States, 15 million students lack access to the technology and devices they need to participate in online distance learning.

As educators continue to develop online and hybrid learning models in response to the pandemic and our reliance on virtual and remote technology continues to grow, solving the digital divide crisis has become more urgent than ever. This gap in access and resources is causing many students, especially those in low-income households, to fall behind.

So, what can we do?

To tackle these issues, Endless Network has launched #KeepAllKidsLearning, an initiative that connects families without internet access to offline learning resources, and encourages content creators and organizations to make their educational content available as a free download.

TED-Ed has joined educational content creators like the Khan Academy, Blockly, Wikipedia, and others in contributing to the Endless Key, a USB Drive created by the Endless OS Foundation that acts as an offline, portable content library. The USB is preloaded with over 100 engaging apps, games, and educational content— a library at the fingertips of those without Internet. You can learn more about the Endless Key here.

Endless Key

How you can get involved

Learn how content creators, educational distribution companies, and EdTech platforms can contribute free and downloadable content in order to #KeepAllKidsLearning.

If your students or family struggle with internet connectivity, explore Common Sense Media’s Wide Open School initiative, which helps families and educators find trusted, high-quality resources to enrich and support distance learning for free. Or check out Learning Equality, which focuses on creating tools to make it possible to explore the world of digital learning without internet connectivity and works to expand the reach of content creators by adapting their materials for use offline via open-source software.

Relying on online tools and the internet is the new normal in education, and we must work to close the digital divide to ensure digital equity among all learners. What will you do to #KeepAllKidsLearning this year?

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This year, school has become a unique hybrid of in-person and remote learning. How can we ensure teachers and parents have the tools to create a positive learning experience for students? TED-Ed has a host of free online resources available to help navigate this learning period.

Check them out here:

1. TED-Ed Lessons

At its heart, ed.ted.com is a library of 1,000+ educational videos called TED-Ed Lessons. It’s also a unique platform to create your own multiple choice and discussion questions for any YouTube video or existing TED-Ed lesson.

Each existing TED-Lesson comes with a quiz, a dig deeper section to further learning and curiosity, and open-ended discussion questions.

You can customize a TED-Ed Animation, TED Talk lesson, Best of the Web, or use the Lesson Creator tool to craft your own lesson using any video on YouTube.

Learn how to use the Lesson Creator here!

2. Student Talks program

The Student Talks program supports students as they discover, explore, and present their big ideas in the form of short, TED-style talks. Students work together to discuss and celebrate creative ideas, and since the pandemic began, many TED-Ed Clubs have been meeting virtually, and some have even hosted virtual events to present their finished talks.

Use TED-Ed’s flexible curriculum as a guide and help inspire tomorrow’s speakers and leaders. Learn how to get started here!

Watch some of the incredible and inspiring Talks on our Student Talks YouTube channel.

3. Newsletters!

Sign up for one or sign up for both!

The weekly newsletter delivers TED-Ed content to your inbox every weekend. It’s your one-stop shop for everything from the previous week including TED-Ed Animations, TED Talks Lessons, TED-Ed Best of Web and blog posts. Don’t have time to check ed.ted.com every day? This newsletter is a perfect solution.

Sign up for the weekly newsletter here

The daily newsletter sends our new lessons straight to your inbox 3 days a week as soon as they publish, and we’ll sprinkle in some hits from the archive in between!

Sign up for the daily newsletter here

4. Subject specific playlists

Looking to bolster your curriculum? TED-Ed Animations help bring history, science, nature, math (and more!) to life, and every short video is complete with its own customizable lesson to fit your students’ needs.

Check out a selection of these playlists below:

Earth School

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented coalition of over fifty environmental and education experts collaborated to launch a 30 day interactive adventure for students around the world to celebrate, explore, and connect with nature. Get started here!

And if you’re looking for a way to engage students in community cleanup efforts and reducing plastic waste, check out All_Together Cleanup, an initiative that helps us understand how plastic waste affects our natural world, and how you can take action to eliminate it. Join the challenge here!

Think Like A Coder

This is a 10-episode series that challenges viewers with programming puzzles as the main characters— a girl and her robot companion— attempt to save a world that has been plunged into turmoil. New and experienced coders welcome!

Can you solve this riddle?

This series is a head-scratching mix of classic riddles, logic puzzles, and mathematics-based challenges. Each riddle contains the rules, hints, and a place to pause to figure it out for yourself before the solution is revealed. Get your class going with these brain teasers!

Why should you read

Kurt Vonnegut. Sylvia Plath. Octavia Butler. Dickens. Haruki Murakami. And so on and so forth. This series exposes viewers to literature old and new; diving into both authors and their works.

There’s a Poem for That

Bereavement. Homesickness. A first kiss. Experiences like these transcend our rational understanding of the world. In such moments, we need poetry. This award-winning series features animated interpretations of poems both old and new that give language to some of life’s biggest feelings.

History Vs.

What if we could put history’s most controversial figures on trial? On what side of history do people like Cleopatra, Napoleon, and Che Guevara fall? It’s up to you to decide.

A day in the life…

What was life like for a teenager in ancient Rome? Or a young samurai in training? How did a doctor in ancient Egypt heal her patients? Explore the ancient world through the eyes of its inhabitants and witness a day in their life.

Myths from around the world

Discover mythology from cultures around the world. From the more familiar stories of Hercules and Thor, to the tragedy of Orpheus and transformation of the White Snake— there’s a story for everyone.

Try out TED Masterclass!

TED-Ed also has an app to help you create your own TED-style Talk! This highly rated app is TED’s official guide to public speaking. You can download and preview the app for free, and if you choose to purchase the course, you’ll be helping support TED-Ed’s nonprofit mission to bring free high quality educational materials to the world.