TED Talk Future Skills Full Curriculum | 10 Weeks

Build practical future-ready reasoning through money, communication, AI literacy, digital citizenship, and computational thinking.

FREE CURRICULUM SNEAK PEEK: Download the free TED Talk Future Skills Full Curriculum Educator Planning Guide.

Try an actual lesson free: Will AI Make Us the Last Generation to Read and Write? - FREE video lesson.

This Grades 9-12, 10-week curriculum uses 43 public TED/TED-Ed videos as anchors for complete classroom lessons. Students practice making stronger decisions, communicating ideas, evaluating AI claims and limits, using digital systems intentionally, and translating vague problems into explicit computational steps.

What's Included

• 43 individual TED/TED-Ed video lesson sets
• Teacher Guide, digital/print student materials, Google Forms quiz, and MC Quiz Print ecosystem for each core lesson
• 10 weekly assessment sets (W01-W10)
• 5 unit assessment sets (U01-U05)
• 1 cumulative Final Assessment
• 1 Full-Curriculum Capstone Synthesis Lesson
• Educator Planning Guide
• Student Syllabus

Course Structure and Public Video Links

Each title links to the public YouTube video so you can review exactly what is included.

Unit 1 - Money

Weeks 1-2 | 8 video lessons | 3 assessment sets

1. Why We Make Bad Financial Choices - Even When We Know Better | Your Money and Your Mind
2. 3 Sneaky Tactics That Websites Use to Make You Spend | Your Money and Your Mind
3. A Simple 2-Step Plan for Saving More Money | Your Money and Your Mind
4. Can't Stick to a Budget? Try These Tweaks Instead | Your Money and Your Mind
5. Pay Off Your Credit Cards Faster with These 4 Easy Changes | Your Money and Your Mind
6. 10 Steps to Boost Your Financial Health - That You Can Do in a Day | Your Money and Your Mind
7. Why Talking to Your Friends Can Help You Save Money | Your Money and Your Mind
8. The Money Talk That Every Couple Needs to Have | Your Money and Your Mind

Unit 2 - Public Speaking

Weeks 3-4 | 7 video lessons | 3 assessment sets

1. How to Uncover Your Best Ideas
2. What Happens When You Share an Idea?
3. How to Communicate Clearly
4. 4 Ways to Tell a Great Story
5. 5 Ways to Connect with People
6. What's the Best Way to Give a Presentation?
7. How to Speak with Meaning

Unit 3 - AI Literacy

Weeks 5-6 | 10 video lessons | 3 assessment sets

1. How to Get Inside the "Brain" of AI | Alona Fyshe | TED
2. Can AI Match the Human Brain? | Surya Ganguli | TED
3. How AI Can Bridge the Deaf and Hearing Worlds | Adam Munder | TED
4. Can AI Master the Art of Humor? | Bob Mankoff | TED
5. What If AI Could Spot Your Lies? | Riccardo Loconte | TED
6. What If You Could Talk to Your Favorite Character in a Movie? | Christoph Lassner | TED
7. Love, Trust and Marketing in the Age of AI | Amaryllis Liampoti | TED
8. How Digital Culture Is Reshaping Our Faces and Bodies | Elise Hu | TED
9. Are We Cooked? How Social Media Shapes Language | Adam Aleksic | TED
10. Will AI Make Us the Last Generation to Read and Write? | Victor Riparbelli | TED

Unit 4 - Digital Citizenship

Weeks 7-8 | 8 video lessons | 3 assessment sets

1. Are Your Coping Mechanisms Healthy? | Andrew Miki | TED
2. How Boredom Can Lead to Your Most Brilliant Ideas | Manoush Zomorodi | TED
3. Tips for Reclaiming Your Peace of Mind Online | Naomi Shimada | TED
4. How to Protect Your Mental Well-Being Online - From a Gen-Zer | Peachy Liv | TED
5. The Art of Stillness | Pico Iyer | TED
6. This Is What a Digital Coup Looks Like | Carole Cadwalladr | TED
7. Why Having Fun Is the Secret to a Healthier Life | Catherine Price | TED
8. Why Social Health Is Key to Happiness and Longevity | Kasley Killam | TED

Unit 5 - Computational Thinking

Weeks 9-10 | 10 video lessons | 3 assessment sets

1. The Prison Break | Think Like A Coder, Ep 1
2. The Resistance | Think Like A Coder, Ep 2
3. The Furnace Bots | Think Like A Coder, Ep 3
4. The Train Heist | Think Like A Coder, Ep 4
5. The Artists | Think Like A Coder, Ep 5
6. The Chasm | Think Like A Coder, Ep 6
7. The Tower of Epiphany | Think Like A Coder, Ep 7
8. The Gauntlet | Think Like A Coder, Ep 8
9. The Factory | Think Like A Coder, Ep 9
10. The World Machine | Think Like A Coder, Ep 10

Assessment System

Each two-week Unit includes two weekly assessment banks and one cumulative Unit assessment. Assessment banks are intentionally larger than a single class period so teachers can select items that match their students, calendar, and evidence goals. U05 serves as the standalone Computational Thinking checkpoint for Unit 5; in the Full Curriculum, the cumulative Final is the default course closeout after Week 10.

Capstone Synthesis

The separate Capstone introduces no new video. Students use an integrated NextStep school-app pilot scenario to make and defend decisions across all five Units. It can be used before or after the cumulative Final as a performance task.

Flexible Classroom Use

Use the default 10-week sequence, compress the course into an intensive format, spread one or two lessons per week across a semester, or select individual Units for advisory, English, technology, career-readiness, financial-literacy, media-literacy, or interdisciplinary courses.

Print and Digital Options

Core lessons include teacher-facing guidance plus digital and print student materials, self-graded quiz support, and printable multiple-choice quiz versions where appropriate.

New Optional Video Companion (used with YouTube)

The free Classroom Video Guide Companion Chrome extension can automatically pause YouTube at question timestamps and display prompts during viewing. It can make whole-class, small-group, and independent video lessons easier to facilitate. The curriculum works normally without the extension.

Prefer a 2-Week Unit?

• TED Talk Future Skills Unit 1 - Money | 2-Week Curriculum
• TED Talk Future Skills Unit 2 - Public Speaking | 2-Week Curriculum
• TED Talk Future Skills Unit 3 - AI Literacy | 2-Week Curriculum
• TED Talk Future Skills Unit 4 - Digital Citizenship | 2-Week Curriculum
• TED Talk Future Skills Unit 5 - Computational Thinking | 2-Week Curriculum

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the TED videos included?
No. Video files are not included; exact public YouTube links are provided.

Do I have to assign every assessment item?
No. The banks are intentionally larger than a typical one-period test so teachers can select what fits their students and calendar.

Is the Capstone another TED viewing lesson?
No. It is a cumulative synthesis activity with no new video.

Can I shorten the course?
Yes. The Educator Planning Guide includes compressed and semester-integration options.

Independent resource notice: TED/TED-Ed videos are not included. This is an independent educator-created companion curriculum and is not affiliated with or endorsed by TED.