Khan Academy

While watching 60 Minutes on Sunday evening, September 2, 2012 I was introduced to “Khan Academy”. I know what you are thinking and you are wrong. This is not the same Khan who terrorized Captain Kirk and crew in Star Trek II. While watching this I was introduced to Salman Khan who in 2006 created this online education resource that grabbed the attention of Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft. As with any great innovation this one was stumbled on by an “out-of-the-box” thinker for a very specific purpose.

Salman Kahn has earned three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (a BS in mathematics, a BS in electrical engineering and computer science, and an MS in electrical engineering and computer science). In 2004 Khan wanted to help his cousin Nadia (remotely) in mathematics. Kahn decided to do this using Yahoo!’s Doodle notepad. When friends and relatives watched these innovative short tutorials they were amazed by the easy going educational content of Kahn's published videos on YouTube. The popularity grew so quickly that Khan quit his job and concentrated on building “Kahn Academy”, a non-profit education resource available to anyone wanting to learn. “Kahn Academy” has grown so popular and accepted that besides catching the attention of Bill Gates, school districts in California have begun using this great resource in class.

“Kahn Academy” has grown to include topics beyond mathematics, such as “history”, “astronomy” and “economics”. This type of educational web resource could turn education on its head, especially for children and young adults. It is hoped that “Kahn Academy” can begin tackling higher education as well.

If you have children in school I recommend you check it out. Signing up is free and your education or your child’s educational experience can be greatly and positively impacted by this. I really wish this amazing resource was available when my boys were going through school. If you have children in school take a few moments to check "Kahn Academy" out. It could change their lives.

Learn more at the 60 Minutes website.
Check out Kahn Academy today.
Check out Salman Kahn on TedTalks (below).