Salman Kahn and his Kahn Academy receives Five Learning Efficiency Stars for using a Tablet PC to instruct millions on YouTube about how to solve math and science problems. He sets an amazing pace for teachers everywhere. He creates each lesson, instructs, and broadcasts from a closet in his bedroom in Silicon Valley.
About 40,000 people daily learn from among 1,200 free lessons posted on his electronic blackboard. Besides math, he offers lessons in science and its applications.
Kahn earns the Learning Efficiency Rating of Five Stars for demonstrating online how teachers individually can offer on-demand learning beyond traditional classrooms. I especially like his disembodied voice directing attention to the multicolored visual stimuli he draws on the screen.
He uses the tried-and-true educational method of direct instruction. He reminds me of my math teachers, Mr. Briggs at Burlingame High School, and Mr. Lothar at Thomas Downey. Pleasant, direct, and no wasted time, so do what I do, if you want to learn how to solve math problems.
Learners keep coming back voluntarily, so Kahn must be doing something useful.
I plan to review a larger sample of Kahn’s lessons to assess learning efficiency with aLEAP (a Learning Efficiency Analysis Paradigm).
Kudos, Mr. Kahn.
A readers, what do you think of the Kahn Academy?
aLEAP (Also check Post Categories/KeyWords on this page for updates and more sources.)
Kahn Academy (Subscription service available without charge.)
Kahn demonstration and discussion with students on PBS NewsHour, February 22, 2010.
Learning Efficiency Rating of Instruction (Preliminary Notes. I’ll post a version soon that incorporates aLEAP)
Yes, I agree. Thanks for correcting my reference.