How Does John Green's 'The Nerd's Guide To Learning Everything Online' Hold Up?

John Green, a novelist, conference organizer, and self-proclaimed nerd, hosts a TED Talk where he speaks about being a life-long learner. He begins with an anecdote about Agloe, New York, a paper-town turned real location due to the sheer amount of attention it received. Green relates this anecdote to his hope as an author, that his fictional ideas translate to the real world, before diving into his main topic: how to be a life-long learner, demonstrating this idea with personal stories and examples.

The environment of Green's talk is among a group of professionals who likely relate to Green's own goals to become and continue being a life-long learner. The main problem, according to TED, is that "Some of us learn best in the classroom, and some of us ... well, we don't. But we still love to learn -- we just need to find the way that works for us."

This video is designed to reach those that strive to learn but do not do well in an academic setting. It is designed to promote healthy and efficient alternatives to the traditional classroom that can reach people who do not learn well in those environments.

It is certainly possible that this is the audience being reached by this video, as school teachers often use Green's own works in their classes. If a teacher, then, were to see this video, they would be inclined to share it with their class along with some of the alternatives Green mentions in the talk.

This would do exactly what Green hopes it would do. Sharing the video with students, especially those students who do not thrive in an academic setting, and providing links to the alternatives (such as YouTube, Reddit, and Tumblr and the subcategories of each that explain the subject in a different way than the teacher is able to) allows the teacher to help a student learn in a way that benefits everyone involved.

As a student who struggled throughout elementary, middle school, and high school, Green understands that it is not always the information that is a struggle. It is often how the information is presented. Not every teacher can succeed in presenting material in a way each student can fully understand, but somewhere, someone can. Green recognizes this and does his best to present that information to the rest.

Overall, this TED Talk is quite effective. Green presents on a topic that he is informed about that many people may be unaware of due to a lack of familiarity with the internet. Green demonstrates how the concepts work, how they can be implemented, and how they can be used to promote education even after graduation.

Green's personal stories and anecdotes are also very relatable, giving way to a resonance with the audience that can allow attentiveness and application better than someone who seemed detached from the struggles of the average student. His references to his own works, works that will likely be familiar with students, also provide a sense of connection that may not have been there otherwise.