Sal Khan is a huge contributor to the worldwide phenomenon of free educational resources. It all began in 2004 when he started tutoring his niece through a digital video platform. Sal Khan saw a need to fill the gaps in student’s education, and in 2006 on advice of a friend, posted his first recorded “micro lesson” to YouTube. In 2009 the Khan Academy became a full time venture for Sal as a non-profit online education institution. Since 2009, the Khan Academy has ballooned to a multi-million user platform that spans the world. Sal’s dream of providing access to free world class education to everyone has been realized.
The idea of the micro lesson is the foundation behind the success of the Khan Academy. Each lesson is roughly 10 minutes long and use a variety of visual aids and verbal lecture to produce a simple yet accurate learning style. The Khan Academy was arguably the first mainstream free video learning tool. It’s emergence on YouTube in 2006 was pioneering for the time, gaining views alongside videos of feline antics and practical jokes. Today lessons from the Khan Academy can be found right alongside mainstream education, from formal classrooms to home computer screens, helping students all over the world. The Khan Academy is a milestone representing the progress to open learning. I’m sure we’re all familiar with it as a household name which only further signifies how far reaching it is. The Khan Academy lessons confirm how successful open resources can be, one huge step forward for open access education.
Visit the Khan Academy here: https://www.khanacademy.org
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KauI17igJ4
Hi Emma,
Such a great choice for a person in the filed who has had incredible impact! It intrigues me that Khan Academy seems to have such a heavy emphasis on maths and sciences, but its English resources cap out at Gr. 9. I wonder if this is due in part to the restrictive licensing on texts? Regardless, this is a brilliant example of open resources, and I know that many of my high school students rely on it for supplementary instruction.
Thanks for sharing!
~Alisha
Thank you for this Emma! The timing is perfect – we’re using this great resource at home right now for Grade 11 Trigonometry and I’m very thankful for his vision. (It’s been a long time for me and I needed the refresher too lol)