TEDx LSU speakers discuss ideas to 'evolve' Baton Rouge, LSU community

By Chelsea Brasted

TEDx LSU lecturers gathered at Swine Palace on March 9 to talk about ideas that "evolve" the Baton Rouge and LSU community. TED Talks, the incredibly popular lecture series, traditionally examine profound or unique ideas. The "x" in TEDx denotes an offshoot of that series.

Joey Watson, TEDx LSU's curator began the event by explaining the purpose.

"Our theme today is evolve, so we are going to be asking some deceptively simple questions," Watson said. "How are we evolving?"

Here, we look at the wide-ranging topics some of the TEDx LSU speakers covered, then we give you a chance to respond....

•Jose Antonio Bowen, dean of the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University, talks about how he removed computers from the classroom. The value in residential education, Bowen said, is in faculty interaction. "Our value is not that we have lots of knowledge that you can come and get," he said. Emphasis should be placed on technology as a tool — not a strategy — because learning requires change. "We need to make college more like a good video game," Bowen said. "A good game is pleasantly frustrating."...