One topic that I would maybe like to talk about for my TED Talk is gymnastics. I have been in gymnastics for 14 years so it would be a very enjoyable topic for me and very sentimental as it is my last year of it this year. This may be a bit too broad, so I'd have to make it a little more specific. The purpose for this topic would be to define how much hard work truly goes into this sport.
Another topic that I thought about was cell phones and social media affecting the relationships made within family. In today's world, almost everyone has a cell phone and this would be a very good topic to relate to my life, as I talk to my family through text quite often. For this topic, I would either argue for or against whether cell phones or social media have made families closer or not.
Another topic that I could talk about is dogs. I have a dog who has been in our family for 10 years, so this would be another easy topic for me to talk about. For this topic, I could define how a dog is more of a family member than an actual pet.
The topic of whether social media and texting have improved the lives of teenagers also interests me. Like I said, cell phones and technology are very important in this day in age, especially to us teenagers. I could argue for or against whether they have improved our lives. As a visual, I might be able to find a graph or data that shows time spent on social media sites or texting versus test scores or grades in school.
One more topic that might be interesting is school uniforms. I could argue whether school uniforms increase success in school or not. Some of my research could include looking at standardized test scores of schools where students wear school uniforms versus schools where students do not wear school uniforms.
I think if anyone in this class were to go around interviewing and setting up studies, you'd be the best at it. It would be so cool to see what data you could collect on students and their communications with family/friends via digital vs. face to face - then comparing that to studies on communication. Your central question could really be "what gets lost when we rely on our phones for communicating with loved ones?"
ReplyDeleteI also really love your focus with the school uniforms - I'd be really interested in seeing what data you find and how that might inform a persuasive argument.
Pets - Did you know that dogs are unique of all the domesticated animals in that they don't see us as different? They see us as members of the pack. That's why "outside dogs" are such terrible ideas - their lives become unending torture as they're not around to be around what they see as their family.
Gymnastics - would be REALLY cool if you built that around a narrative - your own experiences in it and how it's helped you prepare for the future. Whether you continue it in college or not, you've gained invaluable skills for life through that program. Identify them and tell us how it's helped you. Think like this - 12 year old kid coming in, and he/she doesn't know if it's a good idea...what do you tell them?