Science & Technology

Part 3 of the TED Radio Hour episode Unstoppable Learning.

About Alison Gopnik's TEDTalk

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode Unstoppable Learning.

About Annie Murphy Paul's TED Talk

Science writer Annie Murphy Paul talks about how fetuses in the womb begin taking cues from the outside world, from the lilt of our native language to our favorite foods.

About Annie Murphy Paul

"It's not about making learning happen. It's about letting it happen." — Sugata Mitra

Learning is an integral part of human nature. But why do we — as adults — assume learning must be taught, tested and reinforced? Why do we put so much effort into making kids think and act like us? In this hour, TED speakers explore the ways babies and children learn, from the womb to the playground to the Web.

Part 5 of the TED Radio Hour episode Unstoppable Learning.

About Sugata Mitra's TEDTalk

After years of offering children self-supervised access to the Web, Sugata Mitra says kids can teach themselves. Mitra continues the conversation from earlier this episode by arguing that self-organized classes are the future of education, and he puts forward a bold vision: to build a school in the cloud.

Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode Unstoppable Learning.

About Sugata Mitra's TED Talk

The U.S. Navy is inaugurating its first squadron that mixes advanced unmanned drones with conventional aircraft.

The maritime strike squadron, nicknamed the "Magicians," will be officially launched at the Naval Air Station North Island on Coronado, near San Diego.

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan, in Washington. Technology's already changed our lives in ways we couldn't have imagined just a few years ago, and now seems ready to reinvent our future. As we continue our series of conversations looking ahead, we've invited Farhad Manjoo to join us - he's Slate's technology columnist and a frequent guest on this program - on the latest gadgets, on the business of consumer electronics and on how we've adapted our lives, our jobs and our manners to all these changes.