If so, then head over to the Khan Academy’s Web site at www.khanacademy.org
The Khan Academy, winner of Microsoft’s 2009 Technology Award for Education, is a one person non-profit organization whose goal is to provide a “world-class virtual school where anyone can learn anything — for free.”
The Khan Academy is the brain child of Salman Khan, a holder of two degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Khan has more than twelve hundred videos that emulates a teaching style he describes as “sitting next to someone and working out a problem on a sheet of paper.” Khan’s videos last ten minutes long, and cover s everything from basic chemistry to calculus, chemistry, and physics. Each video consists of an audio lesson with on screen illustrations drawn by Khan using Microsoft Paint.
Khan started his videos because he saw “intelligent peers memorizing steps and formulas for the next exam without any sense of the intuition or big picture, only to forget everything within a matter of weeks. These videos are my expression of how the concepts should have been expressed in the first place, all while not compromising rigor or comprehensiveness.”
Saipan International School senior Tyler Yoshimoto says “the Khan Academy is truly amazing. Khan manages to explain something I thought was complex in a simplistic manner. He also manages to avoid being an endless bore. It really feels as if a friend is looking over my shoulder and talking to me.”
Students across the globe also echo similar sentiments. One college student whose letter was highlighted on Khan’s Web site says that “I am now in college and learning more than I ever have in my life. But an inadequate math background has been holding me back. I found the Kahn Academy in June of 2009, right after I completed Math 141 (a college algebra course). I have spent the entire summer on your YouTube page. And I just wanted to thank you for everything you are doing. You are a Godsend. Last week I tested for a math placement exam and I am now in Honors Math 200. No question was answered incorrectly. My placement test holder was so impressed by the breadth of my knowledge of math that he said I should be in Linear algebra.”
Although many note that Khan’s videos are extremely helpful, it should be important to remember that his videos aren’t miracle performers. His videos present information in a style different than what most students are accustomed to. Scoring well on tests comes from hard work, his videos won’t suddenly cause a person who does not do their required work to ace all his tests–it is a helpful supplement.
//
