Innovative Solutions
That is, innovative in respect to one highly capable and skilled individual capable of conveying to a wide audience of would-be-learners lessons in achievement. That achievement being understanding of a topic through the initiator's capable instruction. This is a new kind of classroom, entirely. One geared to assist those who are interested in helping themselves. The self-motivated. Like himself, but lacking the genius he displays.
Self-starters, those who are compelled by their own sense of curiosity and adventure in learning to attend this virtual classroom to avail themselves of the knowledge contained therein.
The "teacher" in that "classroom" is unique for his degree of intelligence, his self-confidence, his own personal quest for knowledge, and for his wishes to aid others in their quests to become more knowledgeable. About any number of topics, in fact. Including mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, finance and history. There was a time when someone so gifted would be called a polymath.
But Salman Khan, who lives in Mountain View, California, a 33-year-old who chose to leave his job as a hedge-fund analyst in favour of producing a myriad of lectures on a myriad of topics is also something else exceedingly rare. He is an altruist. Someone who, while not entirely anonymous, is willing to spend his time and his knowledge and his availability, thanks to his website: www.khanacademy.org, teaching others.
"I'm starting a virtual school for the world, teaching things the way I wanted to be taught", he explained as the only faculty of his nonprofit Khan Academy, modestly operating from the small ranch house where his wife and infant son live with him. Teaching credentials? No graduation from teachers' college, no significant 'papers' to be framed as proof, only the outstanding success of his efforts. Each day, his lectures are viewed 70,000 times.
His students run the gamut from preschoolers to well-paid professionals. From its inception in 2006, the Khan Academy has recorded over sixteen million views. And he has impressed people who have the wherewithal to invest in his venture, to aid in providing Mr. Khan with a salary. A high degree of achievement and intelligence is extended to his wife, who studied medicine at Stanford, while Mr. Khan received a computer science degree from MIT, an MBA from Harvard.
His students learn that they can begin their studies wherever they wish, within the curriculum. They proceed at a pace to match their comfort level. Mr. Khan immerses himself in study material to produce lectures on topics that are of interest to him and meaningful, but which do not fall under his studied expertise. "I just ponder things, until they're clear", he explains, and this is how he also presents his lectures for the edification of his on-line pupils.
"I'm the 'Dear Abby' of math problems. But if you understand something, shouldn't you be able to explain it? Isn't that the whole point?" He enjoys the topics he teaches, and feels an obligation to aid others in achieving success in understanding them. "I've already got a beautiful wife, a great son and a house. What else do you need? I get to learn all this stuff. It's what makes me happy", he says.
"This is the operating system for a whole new school."
Self-starters, those who are compelled by their own sense of curiosity and adventure in learning to attend this virtual classroom to avail themselves of the knowledge contained therein.
The "teacher" in that "classroom" is unique for his degree of intelligence, his self-confidence, his own personal quest for knowledge, and for his wishes to aid others in their quests to become more knowledgeable. About any number of topics, in fact. Including mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, finance and history. There was a time when someone so gifted would be called a polymath.
But Salman Khan, who lives in Mountain View, California, a 33-year-old who chose to leave his job as a hedge-fund analyst in favour of producing a myriad of lectures on a myriad of topics is also something else exceedingly rare. He is an altruist. Someone who, while not entirely anonymous, is willing to spend his time and his knowledge and his availability, thanks to his website: www.khanacademy.org, teaching others.
"I'm starting a virtual school for the world, teaching things the way I wanted to be taught", he explained as the only faculty of his nonprofit Khan Academy, modestly operating from the small ranch house where his wife and infant son live with him. Teaching credentials? No graduation from teachers' college, no significant 'papers' to be framed as proof, only the outstanding success of his efforts. Each day, his lectures are viewed 70,000 times.
His students run the gamut from preschoolers to well-paid professionals. From its inception in 2006, the Khan Academy has recorded over sixteen million views. And he has impressed people who have the wherewithal to invest in his venture, to aid in providing Mr. Khan with a salary. A high degree of achievement and intelligence is extended to his wife, who studied medicine at Stanford, while Mr. Khan received a computer science degree from MIT, an MBA from Harvard.
His students learn that they can begin their studies wherever they wish, within the curriculum. They proceed at a pace to match their comfort level. Mr. Khan immerses himself in study material to produce lectures on topics that are of interest to him and meaningful, but which do not fall under his studied expertise. "I just ponder things, until they're clear", he explains, and this is how he also presents his lectures for the edification of his on-line pupils.
"I'm the 'Dear Abby' of math problems. But if you understand something, shouldn't you be able to explain it? Isn't that the whole point?" He enjoys the topics he teaches, and feels an obligation to aid others in achieving success in understanding them. "I've already got a beautiful wife, a great son and a house. What else do you need? I get to learn all this stuff. It's what makes me happy", he says.
"This is the operating system for a whole new school."
Labels: Human Relations, Particularities, Social-Cultural Deviations, Values
posted by Pieface @ 6:30 PM
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