TED Talks

TED Talks is an educational video series which sees academics and other experts presenting inspirational and educational lectures on a range of diverse topics.

The speakers come from around the world to speak at the TED (or Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference in Long Beach, California. They speak on the various topics they are passionate about, whether that is human sexuality, synthetic life forms, or spirituality.

While the TED Conference is a highly exclusive event, with many spectators paying $6000 to secure a seat, the internet channel brings its seminars into the homes of ordinary people for free. It seems they have responded, as the channel has been viewed more than 250 million times.

Controls underneath the player allow browsers to pause and play the clips, and adjust their volume. Additional buttons allow fans to rate the videos or share them with friends. A button at the top right of the player expands it to full-screen mode.

Beneath the basic controls are buttons which allow browsers to view subtitles, where applicable, share the videos with friends on social networking sites, or download the video or audio in a range of formats.

Text to the right of the player gives further details on the speech and the speaker. Thumbnail images below these summaries help browsers easily navigate to other speeches by the speaker, or those with similar topics.

TED.com encourages its members to comment on the videos they see and participate in discussions with other members.