4th January 2012 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The New York Times has reported on the rise of an educational resource called Khan Academy. Founded by Salman Khan, the mathematics videos on this website were originally intended simply to help Salman’s cousins in New Orleans, but it didn’t take long for many parents in the US to turn to the instructional videos when their own children were asking for help.
It’s not quite online tuition, because there isn’t a teacher at the other end of the connection listening to the student’s responses. However, Khan has done more than just develop a series of lectures, he has created a development area where students can track their progress and see which areas they still need to master. Khan’s project is now being translated into ten different languages after receiving backing from the Gates Foundation and Google.
Salman has also posited that the way students learn is backwards. Traditionally students listen to the teacher lecturing, and then tackle questions on the subject, and Khan believes that this is the wrong way around, an idea that has received support from other people in academia. The suggestion is that, instead, students should attempt questions before a class, and will then be more engaged as their teacher goes through the material. However, even this doesn’t go far enough for Khan, who says that while we still have classroom teaching students are required to learn at the same speed, which is simply not effective for any student in a class. He suggests that teachers are much more effective when allowed to teach one-to-one, and allow students to get on with their work until help is needed.