As was covered previously by thinkvein contributor, Paddy Walsh, Sal Khan has made an enormous contribution to the education space in the form of educational YouTube videos. Sal has since made significant progress in this space by creating a educational platform for students, teachers, parents and tutors to consume information, monitor their pupils and engage with other pupils around the world. Essentially, Sal wants to create a global education platform.
In moving to a self paced eLearning model, interesting dynamics occur. Teachers have begun turning the traditional learning model on it’s head, assigning students Khan lessons at night and using class room time to work on homework. This simple adjustment has enabled teachers to create a more interactive and engaging class room experience. By working on homework during class room hours, stronger students are now empowered to assist weaker students – further adding to class room dynamics through peer monitorship.
The Khan Academy learning platform is also providing schools with highly granular business intelligence on their students. This data enables the teacher to proactively reach out to students who are struggling or assign a peer to mentor the student through a particular learning module. As Sir Ken Robinson said, ‘collaboration is the stuff of learning’ and I truly believe the learning experience is amplified for all parties involved. You can be confident you have a firm grasp of a topic when you can explain it to a struggling peer.
What I’m most excited by is the enormous opportunity this presents for developing countries. Not only will students be able to avail or high value free learning resources, but will have the opportunity to engage with other students in nearby villages or in far away countries. Furthermore, the traditional custom of sending a child to school for the entire day may not be practical for children who live far from school or who may need to assist their parents working during the day. The Khan Academy model will enable educational institutions to break down the traditional structure of learning and innovate training programs to cater to their needs.