Luke Swanek at TEDxSummit
Luke Swanik, organizing TEDex Nipping U, argues that the key to effectively engaging high school youth is the implementation of an "idea wall" concept. He demonstrates this by detailing how the wall allowed students across 14 Ontario high schools to identify passions, which were then channeled into concrete action by connecting like-minded students across different departments. The most compelling evidence is the ability to turn disparate student interests, like photography or data analysis, into actionable recommendation groups presented to school principals.
## Speakers & Context
- **Luke Swanik** — Organizer for TEDex Nipping U.
- TEDex Nipping U was a university event held in Northern Ontario, Canada, approximately a month and a half prior to the talk.
- Event involvement included 14 high schools across the province of Ontario.
- Goal was to move beyond passive viewing of a live webcast to active student integration and discovery of student curiosity.
## Theses & Positions
- To thoroughly disseminate ideas and engage high school youth, one must actively solicit and document their stated interests.
- The "idea wall" methodology facilitates this by providing a physical space for students to write down what they are passionate about or want to learn more about.
- The true value of the wall is realizing potential through connection: transforming clustered, stated interests into concrete, actionable recommendations for schools.
- The most direct way to engage high school youth is to simply ask them what they want to learn about.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Idea Wall:** Conceptually, it is a wall filled with ideas; physically, it is a large piece of white paper (average size: 6 foot by 8 foot).
- **Ideal Wall Concept:** Requires students to write down their passion/interest, their full name, and their email address beside the idea.
- **Core mechanism:** Students must review other ideas posted and add their information next to any idea that speaks to them.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Idea Wall Utilization:** Students are guided at breaks to write down what they want to discover, explore, or create.
- **Actioning Interests (Two Levels):**
1. **Natural Clustering:** Identifying groups of students with similar interests (e.g., three students interested in photography).
2. **School Board Recommendation:** Bringing together like-minded students from different technical streams based on shared focus (e.g., 10 from Technology interested in Excel graphs, 10 from Entertainment interested in data analysis, and 10 from Design interested in aesthetics).
- **Implementation:** The organizer approaches principals with these clusters of students and recommends specialized workshops or speakers (e.g., Hans Rosling).
## Timeline & Sequence
- TEDex Nipping U event: Occurred approximately one and a half months before the talk.
- Concept Familiarization: Swanik was first made familiar with the concept at a previous TEDx event.
## Named Entities
- **TEDex Nipping U** — University event organized by the speaker.
- **Northern Ontario** — Location of the event.
- **Ontario** — The province hosting the high schools.
## Numbers & Data
- Number of high schools involved: **14**.
- Average size of an idea wall: **6 foot by 8 foot**.
- Proportion of high schools that bought into the concept: **About 50%**.
- Groups formed in a single high school example: **Three** students interested in photography.
- Cohort sizes mentioned in the school board example: **10 students** (from Technology), **10 students** (from Entertainment), **10 students** (from Design).
## Examples & Cases
- **The "Coolest High School" Example:** Students posted interests like wanting to use powers to bring down forces of evil (referencing Harry Potter/Luke Skywalker) and a passion for photography (referencing Dorothy).
- **The School Board Example:** Successfully assembling 30 like-minded students (10 from Technology/Excel graphs, 10 from Entertainment/data analysis, 10 from Design/aesthetics) to be presented to principals for specialized learning.
- **Alternative Interest Example:** Students interested in ecosystem biology and underwater exploration.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Idea Wall:** Physical medium, described as a "big piece of white paper."
- **Technology Used:** Technology was used in the example presentation, but the core mechanism relies on the physical act of writing on the wall.
- **Webcast:** Used as the medium through which students viewed the event.
## References Cited
- None.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- The physical act of wall writing was preferred over just allowing students to passively view the webcast.
- The success rate was limited: only about **50%** of high schools involved adopted the concept.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The physical execution was laborious, requiring students to physically visit the wall during breaks.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The idea wall concept is proposed as a powerful, bold, and fundamental method for engaging high school youth.
- The primary recommendation is to actively ask students what they want to learn about.
## Implications & Consequences
- The ability to structure education around student-generated curiosity leads to tangible outcomes (e.g., bringing together 30 like-minded students).
- The concept suggests that student passion, if documented and connected, can overcome disciplinary silos.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"what do you're curious about why why they were interested in viewing the webcast in the first place"*
- *"the idea wall is essentially exactly what you think it is it's a wall that's filled with ideas"*
- *"put your full name and your email address right beside that idea and then and this is the extra important part look at the ideal wall for other ideas that really speak to you"*
- *"how do you turn this into action how do you use these idea walls and and really do something with them"*
- *"i think the answer is quite simple you ask them what they want to learn about"*