Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a site that everyone who is interested in elearning should should visit at least once. In terms of its importance in the digital world, it shows potential to match Wikipedia. As a place where you can learn, or simply refresh your learning, in dozens of subjects, from algebra to economics to art history, I's easily one of the most useful, educational, and eye-opening places online to learn. And everything is free.

Khan Academy is an example of content conquering all. The video that teach the subject matter aren't flashy, don't use musical interludes, and aren't voiced by actors. The instruction is genuine, straightforward, and presented in a style that makes you feel like someone cares whether you get it.

The History of Khan
Khan Academy started when a former hedge fund analyst, Sal Khan, began tutoring his cousins, who lived in different cities, in mathematics using Yahoo Doodle and a telephone. Tight on time and with other scheduling concerns, the MIT-educated Khan began recording screencasts of his help sessions so he could post them to YouTube, where his cousin could watch them at their own pace. Before long, other YouTube viewers were watching the videos, too, praising the material for finally helping them understand a concept they had been struggling to learn. Sal Khan told this story at a TED conference in early 2011, which has since led to increased recognition of his online Academy.

Now with around 20 employees, non-profit institution Khan Academy has been expanding to offer more videos, additional learning content?such as practice exercises and learning "coaches"?and several other features.

What's Taught and What Isn't
The site needs a little more work in terms of structure, as the home page scrolls tirelessly through a long list of possible things to learn, grouped loosely by subject: seismic waves, inflation, the French Revolution, a 15-part series explaining the Paulson Bailout, and so on.

Khan Academy focuses on academic fields, for the most part, aimed at upper grade school and college-level students. But the beauty of free online learning is that anyone can attempt to learn, and indeed nothing restricts a user of any age or background from working through any of the material.

The site also covers what I would call "real life" subjects with an academic bent. For example, one set of videos explains the 2007 collapse of the U.S. housing market bubble. Another covers the ins and outs of mortgage-backed securities. But even this material is rooted in economics and mathematics. What you won't find are how-to lessons for learning things like setting up a blog (although you can find answers to that question and other similar ones on another site called Grovo).

Features
Anyone can use Khan Academy, and you don't even have to sign up, although there are some benefits to creating a username and password. For starters, the site will remember which videos you've watched. Additionally, it can point you toward practice exercises that test your knowledge of things you've learned.

Enrolled users can also access a "coaching" feature. Coaches are guides for learners, whether a parent, teacher, tutor, or study buddy. A coach can see a learner's progress and suggest other lessons the learner should watch. Coaches and learners must mutually agree to the relationship, so there's no worry that some unknown person will be able to see what you're learning.

Another relatively new feature is goal-setting. Both learners and coaches can set up goals for a learner, such as watch five consecutive videos, although the feature is new and I had a hard time figuring out just how to use it effectively. If you create a goal, the default is to complete any five videos or exercises; to name the specific material you want to cover, you have to create a "custom goal." The feature still needs a little work so that users can set goals for themselves with greater ease.

Non-native English speakers and hard-of-hearing or deaf learners will be happy to know that you can turn on subtitles with one click. And Khan Academy has been working on translating its content into ten of the most popular languages worldwide: Arabic, Bengali, French, German, Hindi-Urdu, Indonesian, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.?

Effective Online Learning
What makes video-based learning unique is that the learner can go at his or her own pace, re-watch videos or pause them to think through an idea, and fit it when it's most convenient. Khan Academy just gets it, keeping the actual videos frills-free and the material approachable. If you are a student, parent, or just a life-long learner, Khan Academy will become a household name. The site has been expanding rapidly, so a few growing pains are evident, particularly in terms of organizing the content to be searchable in different ways (i.e., drill-down method). The Goals feature could stand some improvement, too. But Khan's content is phenomenal, and that is what ultimately matters.

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