Speaking to an audience of students, US First Lady Michelle Obama reminds each one to take their education seriously -- and never take it for granted. This new, brilliant generation, she tells us, is the one that could close the gap between the world as it is and the world as it should be.

Shabana Basij-Rasikh helps girls and young women in Afghanistan get an education.

Today's math and science curricula often serve to alienate students from these valuable disciplines when they should be doing the opposite. STEM advocate Amara Berry uses her family's work in the sciences to illustrate the pressing need for making education in these subjects more accessible and effective.

Daphne Koller is enticing top universities to put their most intriguing courses online for free -- not just as a service, but as a way to research how people learn. With Coursera (cofounded by Andrew Ng), each keystroke, quiz, peer-to-peer discussion and self-graded assignment builds an unprecedented pool of data on how knowledge is processed.

There's no greater freedom than finding your purpose, says education advocate Ashweetha Shetty. Born to a poor family in rural India, Shetty didn't let the social norms of her community stifle her dreams and silence her voice. In this personal talk, she shares how she found self-worth through education -- and how she's working to empower other r...

Peter Doolittle is striving to understand the processes of human learning.

At the Afghan Institute of Learning, Sakena Yacoobi provides teacher training to Afghan women, supporting education for girls and boys throughout the country.

A great teacher can change the trajectory of your life. Here, talks from teachers you'll wish you had.

In 2004, Sal Khan, a hedge fund analyst, began making math tutorials for his cousins. Twelve years later, Khan Academy has more than 42 million registered users from 190 countries, with tutorials on subjects from basic math through economics, art history, computer science, health, medicine and more.

In his 12th-grade Sexuality and Society class, Al Vernacchio speaks honestly and positively about human sexuality.

On more than 120 deep-sea expeditions, Robert Ballard has made many major natural discoveries, such as the deep-sea vents. Oh, and he found the Titanic.

Ben Cameron runs the arts granting program at the Doris Duke Foundation, focusing on live theater, dance and jazz.