Kahn Academy: Changing How We Think About Education

Salman Kahn
Founder of Kahn Academy

When I first learned about Kahn Academy from my then fourteen-year-old daughter last spring, I thought I had been out of the loop and was one of the last people to discover this free online resource. But others keep asking me, "What is Kahn Academy?" I think everyone should know about this innovative approach that is changing education.

In this Ted Talk: Let's use videos to reinvent education Salman Kahn gives a history and an explanation of what Kahn Academy set out to achieve. As he explains, it began when he created a few You Tube tutorials on math for his nephews. In a short period of time his audience grew worldwide.

As a result Salman Kahn created Kahn Academy, a non-profit organization, now offering lectures on Math, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Cosmology and Astronomy, Organic Chemistry, Finance and Capital Markets, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Computer Science, Healthcare and Medicine, and Test Prep. All of these lectures are free and can be found at: http://www.khanacademy.org/.

  

Salman Kahn uses a visual approach to learning and mixes in an easy going personality and sense of humor. But his success is based more on an educational model and approach. A teacher or student selects a lecture based on where the individual learner is and what he needs to know. By the mere ability of being able to push a rewind button a student can repeat the lesson as many times as needed to master a concept.

Instead of delivering one lecture for all students, each student in effect has a lecture customized for them. Some teachers assign these lectures for homework and "flip the classroom" as they now are able to focus on individual needs. With private investments from the Gates Foundation and other organizations Kahn has been able to create collaborative projects with teachers and their classrooms to test these methods and gather data.

Last summer I watched my ten-year-old mesmerized with these videos. She learned multiplication facts and the beginnings of long division over the summer. She had minimal progress in both subjects during the school year. Part of it was that while in a special education classroom the expectations and exposure to these concepts were lower than for her peers. With an iPad in hand my daughter could decide for herself if this was something she wanted to learn. 

And learn she did.

I'm also struck that Kahn Academy's website is alive. By that I mean if Salman Kahn finds a subject that he feels warrants attention he creates a lecture. I happened upon his website today and there was a link to a talk on the history behind Les Miserables. I appreciated this information as I saw the movie last weekend and left with questions about where this event fit into the French Revolution. He saw that people were confused and he did something about it.

Recently I have read critical reviews of Kahn's work and while I have not found a review that I agree with I find each fascinating. For the first time in a long time the discussion about education has become dynamic and exciting.

Most importantly the focus is on the individual learner and mastery. If it works, who can argue with that?

I'm along for the ride and can't wait to see where we go.

--Allyson

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