The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organization with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone anywhere. The founder of the organization, Salman Khan, was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. After earning 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), he pursued an MBA from Harvard Business School. In 2004, he began tutoring his cousin Nadia in mathematics using Yahoo!’s Doodle notepad. When other relatives and friends continued to ask him for help, he decided it would be more practical to distribute the tutorials on YouTube. This is why Khan decided to create his academy and now he is releasing an app that will make it easier for people to retrieve and process educational materials.
The Khan Academy iPad app allows users to view Khan Academy’s complete library of over 2,700 videos. The library covers an array of educational topics in the humanities, arts, math, history, and science.
This free app will help me address my lapses in learning and brush up on trigonometry and learn more about the French and Indian War. This app can also help students prepare for the SAT.
The iPad app contains downloadable videos and many have subtitles that make them easier to skim through. Once users have an account their progress while logged in is tracked and they can get credit for watching videos and monitor their achievements.
The application will also feature exercises in the near future.
While this app is most likely to be used by students, teachers and other individuals involved with formal education settings, the app is also being used heavily by self-directed learners who want to strengthen their areas of weakness.
The Khan academy is continuing to grow and build its portfolio of corporate employees which now includes former Google employee, Craig Silverstein. Silverstein created some of the company’s original IT components, which were critical in supporting the search engine’s growth. As you can see from some of the talks he’s given, he’s been involved with some of Google’s more educational endeavors.