What is Big Think?  

We are Big Idea Hunters…

We live in a time of information abundance, which far too many of us see as information overload. With the sum total of human knowledge, past and present, at our fingertips, we’re faced with a crisis of attention: which ideas should we engage with, and why? Big Think is an evolving roadmap to the best thinking on the planet — the ideas that can help you think flexibly and act decisively in a multivariate world.

A word about Big Ideas and Themes — The architecture of Big Think

Big ideas are lenses for envisioning the future. Every article and video on bigthink.com and on our learning platforms is based on an emerging “big idea” that is significant, widely relevant, and actionable. We’re sifting the noise for the questions and insights that have the power to change all of our lives, for decades to come. For example, reverse-engineering is a big idea in that the concept is increasingly useful across multiple disciplines, from education to nanotechnology.

Themes are the seven broad umbrellas under which we organize the hundreds of big ideas that populate Big Think. They include New World Order, Earth and Beyond, 21st Century Living, Going Mental, Extreme Biology, Power and Influence, and Inventing the Future.

Big Think Features:

12,000+ Expert Videos

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Browse videos featuring experts across a wide range of disciplines, from personal health to business leadership to neuroscience.

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World Renowned Bloggers

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Big Think’s contributors offer expert analysis of the big ideas behind the news.

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Big Think Edge

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Big Think’s Edge learning platform for career mentorship and professional development provides engaging and actionable courses delivered by the people who are shaping our future.

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Education Recoded Posts

Redesigning Learning, Teaching, & Schooling

Education Recoded

Keeping Committee Work Focused and Fresh

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about 1 year ago

If your school is planning to implement a one-to-one computer or tablet initiative, chances are a committee has been formed to plan, refine and ultimately kick off the initiative. Sometimes teacher-led committees get stuck. Here are two techniques members of a committee can use: one to help focus ...

Education Recoded

Is the cutting edge, cutting enough?

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about 1 year ago

International schools are often on the cutting edge of technology use in their schools. In fact, when I think of innovative schools, I often think of international schools. When I read Will Richardson's Bold Schools post, I thought international schools would definitely epitomize these bold school ...

Education Recoded

No Laptop for You! (Until You Set Goals)

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about 1 year ago

A teacher friend of mine wrote me recently. She said that her school was working on bringing in iPads for grades six and seven next year and asked if I find that schools prefer laptops to iPads when moving to a 1:1 device environment. That’s a question our center gets quite a bit. In the end ...

Education Recoded

Ignoring the Neighbors

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over 1 year ago

In line with my post a fortnight ago, I recently took a second look at another inspiring book. This time I reread Hugh MacLeod's Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity . Here are some lessons I took away that apply to leaders of K-12 schools... "Great ideas alter the power balance in ...

Education Recoded

Can Schools Take a Google Approach?

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over 1 year ago

I recently revisited What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis and was struck by how it spoke to me about the needs of today's schools. Here are a few points that really resonated with me. New Relationships are Forming "Give the people control and we will use it. Don't and you will lose it" (p. 11 ...

Education Recoded

The Times They Are A-Changn’

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over 1 year ago

CASTLE has been around for a few years now. In fact, it started at the University of Minnesota, moved south to Iowa State University, was shared between Iowa State University and the University of Kentucky, and now is housed only at the University of Kentucky. In short, we have been around. Justin ...