Salman Khan is an inspiring education technology leader on a mission.
If your interested in “ed techâ€, you've probably already heard of him. I first wrote about Salman Khan work in this post in March of last year, and he has continued to experience growing success since, including a major nod from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Sal Khan is a pioneer in the education technology field and he is changing people's thinking about some aspects of education.Â
The Khan Academy
Khan's rise to the spotlight revolves around his wonderful work establishing and evolving the Khan Academy. The Khan Academy provides over 2000 video lectures on a wide array of academic topics, at pretty much all learning levels, and it's self-paced offerings are being viewed by a million viewers a month!
In the TED Talk below, Khan does an entertaining job of explaining the genesis of his work, the many advantages of this format, and the impact it's had on so many people. This is an inspiring video. I don't find the time to watch many of these, but I have to say that I really enjoyed this one.
“I started getting letters from teachers … saying we've used your videos to flip the classroom. You've given the lectures, so what we do now is … assign the lectures for homework, and what used to be homework I now have the students doing in the classroom”.
Â
As Khan notes, this application of technology is actually humanizing the classroom.
Students can consume the lecture materials on their own time, in a more comfortable environment, with a flexible format that allows for easy replays (a nice improvement over being embarrassed to ask to revisit a topic in class when students struggle to keep up). Then, when students do homework in class with the teacher available and peers assisting each other, there much less likely to end up “stuck†on a problem that they're having trouble with – the help is right there. There are so many reasons why flipping the conventional model on it's head can work so well. (This is increasingly becoming a key element in my own personal thinking about how to best leverage education technology).
The model Khan demonstrates from the Los Altos school district's project trialing the use of Khan Academy lectures in their math curriculum is fascinating (this can be found around 12 minutes in on the video). Kids are learning the materials, in their properly sized, well organized video modules, at their own pace. Teachers can review progress in a straightforward format using an onscreen visual grid, and then focus on helping those who need help, specficially where they need it most. This is elegant in it's simplicity and effectiveness. Teachers can spend less time delivering the lecture materials and more time precision-focused on each student's comprehension of the material.
We are so fortunate to have people like Salman Khan putting themselves out there like this. Khan cast aside a traditional, highly lucratrive career and started changing young people's lives with his non-profit effort to change education, inspiring so many of us along the way.Â
While recognizing and celebrating this innovative work, we also wish the very best of luck to Sal Khan and the Khan Academy(click here if you'd like to consider contributing to the Khan Academy - even with the Gates' backing, they can still use donations to keep this effort on the right track).
 Related Posts (if the above topic is of interest, you might want to check these out):
Great Ed Tech Story: K-5 Summer Tech camp changes lives for low SES students
A Dozen Great Free Online Video Lecture Sites
The Khan Academy (offering 1100+ free tutorial videos)
[…] Khan In this video, Khan explains his popular and impactful work with Khan Academy (check out this recent post for more on the Khan […]
[…] Khan In this video, Khan explains his popular and impactful work with Khan Academy (check out this recent post for more on the Khan […]
[…] Salman Khan is an inspiring education technology leader on a mission. If your interested in “ed tech”, you’ve probably already heard of him. I first wrote about Salman Khan work in this post in March of last year, and he has continued […]
[…] Salman Khan is an inspiring education technology leader on a mission. If your interested in “ed tech”, you've probably already heard of him. I first wrote abo […]
[…] The Flipped Classroom is still in the early stages of adoption, but high profile advocates like Sal Khan are helping this instructional technology concept gain momentum. Khan’s work with the Khan Academy has been a major catalyst in bringing this concept to the attention of the media and to the general population (learn more about the Khan Academy here). […]
[…] and Podcasting Resources – I often refer my students to The Khan Academy and  iTunes […]
[…] you might want to check these out): 8 Great TED Talks About The Future Of Education And Teaching 7 Stories From Educators About Teaching In The Flipped Classroom Education Technology Leadership Spo… Print This […]
While I agree with your sentiment on the potential Khan provides to education, a more careful examination of pedagogy is warranted. Sylvia Martinez has a must-read post on the subject here: http://blog.genyes.org/index.php/2011/04/02/khanacademy/
[…] and the idea has gained a lot of attention recently thanks to high-profile advocates like Salman Khan and The Khan […]
[…] There is an abundance of lectures, how-to videos, and similar materials available on the web. The Khan Academy is one such resource that has garnered a lot of press, but it’s just one of many web-based […]
[…] Posts (if the above topic is of interest, you might want to check these out): Education Technology Leadership Spotlight: Celebrating the Work of Salman Khan 10 Internet Technologies Educators Should Be Informed About – 2011 Update Why You Should Consider […]
[…] Khan In this video, Khan explains his popular and impactful work with Khan Academy (check out this recent post for more on the Khan […]
[…] Khan: In this video, Khan explains his popular and impactful work with Khan Academy (check out this recent post for more on the Khan […]
[…] See full story.. […]
[…] what would have been homework during class sometimes. (And yes, this is the same idea I loved from Salman Khan’s recent TED talk the other […]
[…] what would have been homework during class sometimes. (And yes, this is the same idea I loved from Salman Khan’s recent TED talk the other […]
[…] pace is also a key benefit of the work of the Khan Academy which we examined briefly in Sunday’s post – there’s a theme developing here! The creation and delivery of self-paced learning […]
frisör i göteborg…
[…]j some of the advances in this field are truly amazing bl[…]…