KnowHR had a great post a while ago on the “ten best presentations ever,” mostly pertaining to IT and other technology. I noted it on this blog, and I also wrote in with some recommendations for other presentations that ought to be in a ten best presentations list.
Well, KnowHR has done another list of readers’ choices, including one of mine, perhaps the most controversial one.
It’s a useful list. Educators may want to make a special note of the presentation on creativity in education by Sir Ken Robinson.
Someone will always grouse about rankings of things that are difficult to compare, but I find that making such rankings is helpful to students in studying a subject, and such lists emphasize what is important to know when they refer to historical events. The rankings focus on two important facets: The effects of the event, which sometimes cascade over a great deal of time or great distances, and the relative importance of other events.
The Texas Education Agency ranks events in U.S. history, picking a eleven that are important enough students should know the dates by year. Here are the years; can you determine the events to be remembered?
- 1607
- 1776
- 1787
- 1803
- 1861-1865
- 1877
- 1898
- 1914-1918
- 1929
- 1941-1945
- 1957
- (and I would have sworn there was a date for the end of the Cold War, but I can’t find it just now at the TEA website . . . I list the date as 1991, the crumbling of the Soviet Union, which was officially dead at midnight, December 31, 1991) .
1957 stumped me a bit — which historic event was supposed to be the one Texas wanted? Once I learned the trick, I wondered whether 1969 wouldn’t have been a better choice. (You can check out the link to figure out the event and the year — or pose the question in comments.)
In any case, check out the list at KnowHR. What’s been left off?
Posted by Ed Darrell 
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