This Post Will Probably Give You Hope to Excel in Math
Salman Khan (the educator, not actor) has been tapping into the anxieties of millions across the globe by devoting his time to teach math and science on the Internet.
Khan, a Bangladeshi/Indian American, left his job working at a hedge fund when he realized that his simple operations of teaching math to a cousin through posting lessons on youtube were surprisingly noteworthy. Not only did his cousin excel through learning from 10-minute video lessons on the web, Khan was able to combine thousands of math and science lessons on a website called KhanAcademy.org.
The result was surprisingly effective. Unlike students in Asia who are reportedly better in math and science than their counterparts, and who cringed when the word algebra came up, many are now turning to Khan Academy to get lessons outside of the classroom, for free. PBS Newshour recently compiled a documentary on Khan, in which one student of his virtual academy professed that the success of his lessons are simple: "It's not like a classroom. You can play the video, pause it, rewind it, and play it again."
Khan's simple operations have attracted more eyeballs than university sites have. Google recently awarded $2 million to Khan to support the creation of more courses and to enable the Academy to translate their core library into the world's most widely spoken languages.
Even Bill Gates' kids have been using Khan's tutorials to learn some math and science. Now that's some bragging rights.
You could probably save lots of money if you "enroll" into Khan Academy. This makes me wonder, can I modify my resume to say, "Khan Academy, August 2010-present" under education?
Watch PBS Newshour's documentary on Khan, below:
