At the final session of TED University, we learned how to draw mindmaps, predicted a future in which buildings are self-assembling, and heard a touching story about a passenger’s life after the Hudson River plane crash. Here were some of the highlights:

Bill Gates talks about state budgets, corrupt processes, and what this means for our schools. Watch his talk here.

TreeHugger founder Graham Hill reflects on the joys of less and letting go of the extraneous: http://lifeedited.treehugger.com/

Google engineer Matt Cutts challenges us to do something new for 30 days, like biking to work or giving up sugar.

AnnMarie Thomas transforms science class by building kid-friendly circuit boards out of – yep, that’s right – play dough. Learn more about this project at http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/.

Photos: TED / James Duncan Davidson