A Revolution in Education – www.khanacademy.com
May 31, 2011
If you have children and have not yet discovered khanacademy, be prepared to be overjoyed. Sal Khan is a former hedge fund analyst who quit his job to develop this free, not-for-profit online teaching facility. Before you go there, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTFEUsudhfs to link to a 20 minute talk about what he’s done and doing.
In no uncertain terms, it’s absolutely stunning. He’s produced (from his converted bedroom closet) more than 2,100 video lessons, mostly in Mathematics, but he’s now branching out into other disciplines as well. These are simple 10-12 minute lessons, each on a single subject. Nothing fancy, but easily understood.
His lessons take you from basic addition all the way through senior level calculus and algebra. He’s also added a facility for self-testing, with about 100 threshold tests. Structured like a game, if you get 10 answers correct in a row, you get to move on to the next level. Tests re-direct students to lessons when they have difficulty and even offer hints. It becomes a game, and kids love games. An enthusiastic student of pre-teen age could use this to progress at their own pace over a summer, advancing through multiple levels of subject matter proficiency.
Khan has partnered with a school board in California to introduce this program, essentially flipping the classroom to the home and the home to the classroom. What he means by this flipping is that the student goes through the lessons and testing at home, and receives individual attention from the teacher as needed in the classroom. No more lecture format where some are lost and some get through. Students log on to their free account and go to work. Teachers are able to monitor each student’s progress online, identifying those who need help and steering higher performers into peer tutoring roles as appropriate. No more streaming. Individual attention at its highest level.
Parents, too, can become part of this program. My own 11 year-old daughter has created her own account, completed a number of threshold tests, and already been awarded four ‘badges’. I’m able (haven’t done it yet, but will) to create an account by which I can become her teacher/facilitator by monitoring her progress online. I’ll be able to see which lessons she’s viewed, which tests she’s completed, which questions she’s gotten right and wrong, and how long she takes on each section and question. It’s technology applied in a simple but stunningly brilliant fashion.
It would not be too grand a statement to say that Sal Khan is in the middle of turning our education system completely on its ear… and not a moment too soon.
Run, don’t walk, to the Khan Academy. Then come back and tell me what you think. Here’s what I think. Stunning and brilliant. Nothing more to say. Enjoy.
Kevin