Khan Academy – Redefining learning and forstering changes in education
20.01.2012The Khan Academy is a non-for-profit organization that challenges the traditional mode of learning by providing an on-line learning platform for everyone including teachers, students or anyone who wish to refresh their memories on a specific topic.
The educational organization was created in 2006 by MIT graduate Salman Khan. The website supplies a free online collection of more than 2,400 micro lectures via video tutorials stored on YouTube with topics on mathematics, history, finance, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, economics and computer science.
Each video runs 10 minutes; tutorials are made with drawings that make the content more vivid. Offline versions of the videos have been distributed all over the world, including Asia, Latin America and Africa. The current focus of the mathematics and physics focus on pre-college level, however, Khan expressed in the future he would like to provide classes on virtually all subjects and create the world’s first free virtual on-line school.
The Khan Academy also provides a web-based exercise system that matches students’ performance and test on their abilities. The ultimate goal for Khan’s Academy is to completely transform the traditional learning using software to create tests, grade assignments, highlight the challenges of certain students, and encourage those doing well to help struggling classmates.
Khan Academy has created tremendous impact. It not only brings education back to the ‘hot-topic’ list, it transforms the way people think of education. Most important of all, Khan Academy harnesses the journey of learning rather than focusing on the outcome of learning. Today, Khan’s Academy is viewed more than 70000 times per day.
Despite the appraisal, some people argue that Khan’s website is not sophisticated enough. Khan is clearly helping students master difficult and vital subjects. The role these sites can play in our nation’s schools is unclear. But one thing is for certain, it redefines learning and fosters changes in education.
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Implementing online or hybrid courses in a traditional university
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Imagining future learning: Mapping major changes to education and training in 2025
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