After creating two media groups, Future Publishing and Imagine Media, which publish popular magazines about computers, Chris Anderson launched "The Sapling Foundation." This Foundation's goal is to use new technologies and media as tools of communication  to raise awareness of global issues. It also intends to make people think about how to solve them.
 
In this context he took over TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) in 2001.  TED brings together experts from around the world at a major annual event, and gives them the opportunity to talk about an idea "which is worth talking about" in the form of an 18 minute conference presentation, which is then freely accessible on the Internet. The idea has been a success, as the TED website has just exceeded 500 million visitors.
 
This year, the TED conference was held in Edinburgh with 70 expert speakers from all over the world. These 'masters of the universe' came out of their inner circles of expertise to speak to the whole world. That is where Chris Anderson has made a successful bet, by being able to transform the scientific elite club into a "global force for the transmission of knowledge." Its Director June Cohen explains that this radically changes the lives of some scholars, whose fame did not previously go past the amphitheater, but who have now been propelled into the media like rock stars.  Ken Robinson, a former professor of art education at the University of Warwick, previously completely unknown, has become an icon of the web after his conference had 8 million hits.
 
Some presentations have recently been made available in French. There are a selection of varied themes, always accessible despite their sometimes seemingly difficult subject matter. I especially liked three of them: Julian Treasure's presentation about the five ways to listen better  in order to understand each other and live in a world of peace. Josette Sheeram, director of the United Nations World Food Fund, fascinated me by explaining how to end world hunger. Finally, Daniel Tammet revealed the various aspects of how words can have colors and emotions.
 
This is a great new example of how the spread of knowledge can have operational purposes. Chris Anderson's goal is to "create a database of educational resources for use all around the world." The appetite for knowledge and understanding is there, and the path is clear for all teachers  to become  Rock Stars of knowledge.