Rethinking the way we think about education.
A couple of weeks ago, I met this brilliant young entrepanour name Kyron Baxter. Even though, he is almost half my age, he was twice as smart as me. An impressive individual who is embarking on the task of changing the way that we approach education.
Tonight on 60 minutes, they did a remarkable story on Salman Khan, the man behind Khan Academy. I immediately thought about Kyron. Both of them have shot to the top of my “hero list“. Kyron, I hope you saw this.
“The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit educational organization created by Salman Khan. Shantanu Sinha is the President and COO of the Khan Academy. With the stated mission of providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere, the Academy supplies a free online collection of over 2,000 videos on mathematics, history, finance, physics, chemistry, astronomy, and economics.
The Khan Academy also provides a web-based exercise system that generates problems for students based on skill level and performance. Khan believes his academy points to an opportunity to overhaul the traditional classroom by using software to create tests, grade assignments, highlight the challenges of certain students, and encourage those doing well to help struggling classmates.”
Source: lasdandkhanacademy
“In the September 27th issue of the New Yorker, columnist Nicholas Lemann wrote about the state of American education. He called it, a narrative of crisis. In my personal equation, education is better served up as a narrative of conflict. Anytime I indulge my need to fill the gulf between classroom teaching and my childs learning I am usually trapped within a quagmire of blame and denigration. One high-schooler, who requested anonymity, touched on some of his issues with classroom education: The teacher goes too fast. She covers one section a day and the next day she leads from where she left off. Other kids seem to know what shes saying, so I dont ask questions. I plan on coming home and figuring it out. But, as the teenager experienced, catching up becomes the catchphrase for the entire quarter, semester and then the year. So the question becomes, is the (public) school system weighted down with teachers intent on teaching the material, and not teaching the kids?”
Source: sjbeez.org
Salman Khan has developed a project that is sweeping the world like wildfire. His teaching style and charm have captured our attention here at Vectorvault. We want to learn more. Hit continue to take a closer look from his talk at TED 2011:
Salman Khan, Khan Academy.
Not everyone is as wild about this as I am. What are your thoughts? We would like to know. Is this the future or a “band aid solution to a crumbling education system?
Incredible story. I am behind this idea. Watching it closely.