Jim Taggart

3 years ago · 2 min. reading time · 0 ·

Blogging
>
Jim blog
>
Turning Learning Upside Down the Khan Way

Turning Learning Upside Down the Khan Way

73c35363.jpg

Salman Khan was working as an analyst at a hedge-fund in Boston in 2006. Being a bit of a math whiz (with four degrees from MIT and Harvard) he had been tutoring family members and relatives. He had an idea and started putting up tutorial videos on You Tube to make learning more flexible for his students.

His cousins said they liked Khan better on You Tube than in person. Rather than being offended, Khan thought this made a lot of sense. For instance, his cousins could repeat their lessons or re-watch the videos at their leisure.

Now 44 years-old, Khan didn’t make the videos private; people started discovering his web site. He notes that one comment from someone who had done his calculus tutorial was “…the first time I smiled doing a derivative.” Another person talked about the “natural high” they had for the rest of the day after doing a tutorial.

The more feedback he received, such as the letter from the mother whose son suffered from autism and who benefited hugely from Khan’s tutorials, propelled him forward to keep adding content and broadening his audience. He thought about the timelessness of his website’s content. His efforts were further supported by teachers who encouraged him to continue, saying it flipped on its head the concept of the traditional classroom. Khan’s technology was helping to humanize the classroom, which seemed like a non-intuitive approach to formal learning.

What’s amusing about Khan’s early online tutoring was his primitive office setup, consisting of a small desk squeezed into his bedroom closet. His headquarters, to use the word loosely, is now crammed into several rooms inside an old office building in Mountain View, California. There’s nothing physically glamorous about the Khan Academy.

The best things typically start small, growing organically as the creator learns from and adapts to mistakes and feedback. When new opportunities present themselves the creator seizes them and continues to move forward without slowing down.

f8d3fa0b.jpgSalman Khan, who quit his hedge-fund analyst job in 2010 to devote himself full-time to the Khan Academy, never had a “vision” for what has become a global learning portal, free to all citizens regardless of country. However, his curiosity to explore, strong desire to help others learn and a high degree of humility has produced a leader who has received the support of Google and Bill Gates, among others.

The Khan Academy was established as a non-profit organization in 2008. The web portal contains some 100,000 practice exercises, 5,000 instructional videos, and has over 10 million unique students every month, delivering over 300 million lessons. Over one billion exercises have been completed. By the end of 2019, his videos on YouTube had been viewed 1.7 billion times. Subjects have broadened beyond mathematics to include history and political science in what one might call the world’s largest classroom.

During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the Khan Academy has proven to be a trusted source of online learning for children from the age of two to 18.

Take a moment to watch Khan speak at a TED conference in March 2011 on the topic of using video to reinvent education.

Salman Khan was one of the winners of The Economist’s 2013 Innovation Awards. And it’s not surprising why he earned it, considering the massive impact his efforts have had in the span of only a few years in promoting learning around the world.

This story is a lesson in starting small, with an idea, and letting it grow without trying to manipulate it. Ideas often die, for various reasons. However, they often take off unexpectedly and with unexpected results. The key is to provide the necessary leadership to guide its growth, adapting along the way.

I had my doubts, but now I feel like the conductor of an orchestra, and if I have to tell the violins to go on with their stuff while I help the brass catch up, I can do it. I couldn’t go back to the regular way of teaching.
– Suney Park (sixth-grade math teacher, East Palo Alto) on the Khan Academy


Comments

Fay Vietmeier

3 years ago #3

"I had my doubts, but now I feel like the conductor of an orchestra, and if I have to tell the violins to go on with their stuff while I help the brass catch up, I can do it. I couldn’t go back to the regular way of teaching." ~ Suney Park (sixth-grade math teacher, East Palo Alto) on the Khan Academy

Fay Vietmeier

3 years ago #2

"I had my doubts, but now I feel like the conductor of an orchestra, and if I have to tell the violins to go on with their stuff while I help the brass catch up, I can do it. I couldn’t go back to the regular way of teaching." – Suney Park (sixth-grade math teacher, East Palo Alto) on the Khan Academy

Fay Vietmeier

3 years ago #1

Jim Taggart Thank you Jim for sharing this very relevant reminder of a VALUABLE ... available resource. I share this hoping many find its value. I loved the quote: I had my doubts, but now I feel like the conductor of an orchestra, and if I have to tell the violins to go on with their stuff while I help the brass catch up, I can do it. I couldn’t go back to the regular way of teaching. – Suney Park (sixth-grade math teacher, East Palo Alto) on the Khan Academy

Articles from Jim Taggart

View blog
2 years ago · 6 min. reading time

Many years ago, I watched Eco-Challenge 2000 on the Discovery Channel (a show that ran from 1995 to ...

1 year ago · 2 min. reading time

In the previous post Is Your Team REALLY a Team? Why Instant Pudding Doesn’t Cut It we looked at the ...

2 years ago · 2 min. reading time

Date Line: 1994, · Forbes Magazine · THE NEW POST-HEROIC LEADERSHIP ”Ninety-five percent of American ...

Related professionals

You may be interested in these jobs

  • 2442851 Alberta Ltd

    cleaner, light duty

    Found in: Talent CA 2 C2 - 6 days ago


    2442851 Alberta Ltd Fort MacLeod, Canada

    Education: Secondary (high) school graduation certificate · Experience: Experience an asset · Tasks · Sweep, mop, wash and polish floors · Vacuum carpeting, area rugs, draperies and upholstered furniture · Clean, disinfect and polish kitchen and bathroom fixtures and appliances · ...

  • McKinsey & Company

    Editor, McKinsey Global Institute

    Found in: Talent CA C2 - 10 hours ago


    McKinsey & Company Toronto, Canada

    As part of the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), the business and economics research arm of McKinsey & Company, you will be part of a small global editorial team. You will work closely with MGI partners (many of whom are economists) and rotational research teams made up of McKinse ...

  • CanadianNanny

    Child Care Provider

    Found in: beBee S2 CA - 1 day ago


    CanadianNanny Whistler, Canada Full time

    Searching for a nanny to look after our twin 2 year old girls. Located in Whistler BC. Accommodation available. Monday thru Friday work required. · We're an outdoorsy family seeking a nanny who will engage and nurture our children's curiosity and love for outdoors, take them to t ...