Talks: speaking engagements from Tutorpedia's Leadership
Tutorpedia’s Directors, both experienced educators and graduates of Stanford, Harvard, and Brown, are available to give free engaging, thought-provoking speaking engagements to schools, parent groups, community centers, and other organizations on an array of topics. We can prepare talks on topics that you are interested in, but we also have some topics already prepared.
Download our menu of Talks (PDF)
Intrinsic Value Of Learning: Don’t Sweat The Outcomes
It’s been said over and over that life is a journey, not a destination. Why, then, do we emphasize the “destination” in school? If we focus on the “journey,” the joy of learning something meaningful and relevant to one’s life, then the “destination” (grades, test scores, college acceptance, etc.) will naturally fall into place.
Remixing Education: Consuming and Creating Knowledge in a Hybrid Economy
Stanford Professor Lawrence Lessig argues that as we consume one form of culture - be it literature, music, video, or other - we create something else entirely. This has enormous implications on how we learn and what we do in school. Remixing lesson plans, curriculum, and course notes is the best way to share and spread knowledge in today’s digital society.
A History of the SAT: What is it good for?
What is the SAT? What is it good for? What does it tell us? Why do we have a test like this in the first place? In better understanding both the context and content of the SAT, students (and parents) can cultivate a more relaxed and informed approach to taking the test.
The Business of Learning: How Education and Business Can Learn From One Another
Educators and businesspeople rarely interact, which is a shame. As educators who run a small business, Tutorpedia’s Directors realize that principles of business can inform education, and vice versa.
Free Education: How We Commodify (and Codify) Information in the Digital Age
It’s been said that anything that can be put into digital format will eventually be free. This has enormous implications for education, the least of which is that you can now give yourself a world-class education with only an internet connection. We reveal some of these online educational resources and discuss the place of school in the Digital Age.
Learning is a physiological process, involving neurons, electrical signals, and chemicals. We discuss some of the underlying mechanisms of how our brain learns, and how we can use that knowledge to better design learning experiences both in and out of the classroom.
Why School: A History of Our Education System
We are always learning, even when we aren’t in school. Why, then, do we have school? We discuss things that school is good for, why it is set up the way it is, and some ways that schools could change in order to better serve its students and society.
Becoming a Better Student: Cultivating School Skills and Habits of Mind
Being good in school, it turns out, only has a little to do with how “smart” someone is. More than knowledge, success in school depends on being a good student. Here we discuss what it means to be a good student, and how to cultivate these skills.
Standards and Standardization
We live in the age of No Child Left Behind, standardized testing, and standards-based reform. While there are some positives to the standards movement, there are also many drawbacks. We discuss the pros and cons of standardization, what policies support it, and what it means for students.
Good-Value Colleges: How To Get the Best Education For Your Buck
You’ve heard of Harvard, Stanford, and Cal. But have your heard of Berea College, where students receive free tuition for four years? Or Cal State Monterrey Bay, where classes on environmental policy take place on the open water? We reveal a few of the good-value hidden gems that students and families might be interested when applying to college.
The Tutorpedia College / Career Panel
Tutorpedia’s tutors, all graduates of top-notch colleges, do much more than tutor. We are happy to come in and share our stories of college and work with students and families. This would be great in conjunction with College Night, Back-to-School, or Career Day.
If there are any speaking topics that you would like to bring to your school, staff, community, or organization, please get in touch with Seth Linden, Founding Director (seth@tutorpedia.com) or David Taus, Director of Operations and Education (david@tutorpedia.com). We are happy to customize our talks to your wishes and needs, and all for free!
