Lefkowitz 1 Alex Lefkowitz Briggs English 2010 065 8:30 AM 11 April 2013

A Great Innovator, but More Importantly, a Great Man

A Profile of Salman Kahn
These days, the topic of education seems to have joined the ranks of prevalent issues that appropriate the attention of social and political spheres. A somewhat common question appears to be: whats wrong with the way we teach? (Salman Khan on Charlie Rose). Salman Khan, born in 1986 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Founder and Executive Director of Khan
Figure 1: This is Khan's home office, and is where every video for Khan Academy is made

Academy (Khan), presents a rather straightforward answer. Kahn says, in his interview with Charlie Rose, its not necessarily the way we teach, but a more systemic thing of how our education system is structured to value lectures over human interaction. From the ground up, Khan has built Khan Academy to solve this problem and accelerate the learning of students. Resulting from Khans incredible compassion, desire to help others, and humble nature, Khan has developed Kahn Academy into a successful non-profit organization thats continually growing. Perhaps the greatest factor in the inception of Khan Academy is the fact that its creator is very well educated. That is, Khan has been a man of education all his life, and has received an MBA from Harvard Business School and multiple BS degrees from Massachusetts Institute of

Lefkowitz 2 Technology. So, when Khans teenage cousin began struggling in mathematics in 2004, Khan was more than able, and happy, to tutor her over the internet via YouTube videos. Using Yahoos Doodle Notepad, Khan would narrate himself working math problems and then upload the relatively short (about 10 minute) videos to YouTube for his cousin to watch. Because anyone could find and watch the videos on YouTube, Kahns viewer base began to grow beyond just his cousin, causing Kahn Academy to grow as well. Actually, its funny to note that Kahns cousin said she preferred Kahn in the YouTube videos over Kahn in real life! His cousin was only joking of course, but Kahn says that her slightly sardonic comment actually makes sense. This is because for those individual viewers, the YouTube videos have advantages that no in-person tutor can offer. These advantages include the ability to pause, replay and rewind difficult subjects, and the capability to learn at a personalized pace (Salman). However, Kahn is most proud of the implications that Khan Academy can have in the classroom. Kahn calls this flipping the classroom. When explaining flipping the classroom at TED Talks, Kahn notes, with a simultaneously humble and proud smile, that the basic idea emanates from our standard education system. Simply put, Kahn says the traditional pattern of: lecture, homework, test, repeat, causes an excess of homework and allows for too little human interaction in the classroom. Kahn adds that with flipping the classroom, the expectation is that students watch Kahn Academy videos at home for homework, and practice the problems in the classroom. By removing the one size fits all lecture from the classroom, Kahn asserts that these teachers have used technology to humanize the classroom (Salman). Kahn has never been the most emotionally animated person, but as Khan Academy has grown he has become emotionally invested in, and proud of, his work. In one instance for example, Kahn wept uncontrollably in response to a letter from a family struggling to teach their

Lefkowitz 3 autistic son math. The family wrote to Kahn saying that we have tried everything, viewed everything, bought everything, [but] we stumbled upon your video on decimals and it got through!...He is so excited (Salman). Kahn says that he gets incredibly touching feedback such as this from people all around the world (Salman) and that its extremely hard to not get emotional. In contrast to the emotional feedback he receives from the users of Khan Academy, Kahn says his previous job as a hedge fund analyst was practically void of emotion. In his presentation at TED Talks, Kahn jokingly notes that as a hedge fund analyst it was rare for him to ever do anything of social value (Salman). But with Kahn Academy, hes helping people every day and is making a difference in the lives of anyone who wants to learn. The surge in popularity of Khan Academy began in 2008, and in 2009 Kahn started gaining public recognition from figures such as Bill Gates. As an avid supporter of Khan, Gates awarded him the prestigious Microsoft Tech Award for education, and provided additional funding for Kahn Academy. The next year, Khan was tied for the 34th spot in Fortunes annual 40 under 40 list. Additionally, he was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine with the title The 1$ Trillion Opportunity. Kahns most recent, and perhaps most impressive, acknowledgment
Figure 2: Even with his recent fame in Forbes Magazine, Khan has stayed committed to helping others learn

comes from his inclusion in Time Magazines annual list of The Worlds 100 Most Influential People.

In response to his fame and recognition, Kahn says that he tries to stay away from the spotlight because theres still a lot of work to be done (Salman Khan on Charlie Rose). Khan

Lefkowitz 4 carries this humble attitude with him everywhere he goes, and as a result its easy to see that his primary focus really is helping people rather than just getting rich. Even though his focus isnt getting rich, Kahn has set his standards for success very high. He says that his goal is to provid[e] a free world-class education for anyone, anywhere (About). As a matter of fact, Kahn was extremely pleased as he came one step closer to this goal when two fifth grade classes from Los Altos School district adopted Khan Academy into their math curriculum (Salman). Salman Kahn, former hedge fund analyst turned education pioneer (Gates) certainly has an incredible story. Yet, whats greatest about Khan is not what he has accomplished, but why and how he has accomplished it. To put it plainly, Khan is an incredibly passionate and humble man. These traits, combined with his unrelenting desire to help others, have allowed Khan to build an extremely successful tool from scratch, and develop a ground-breaking education concept. Whats most impressive though is the way Khan has brushed off fame and success and has stayed committed to providing anyone with a world-class education. As Bill Gates has said, Khan is a great innovator (Gates). But more importantly, Khan is a great man.

Lefkowitz 5 Works Cited "About | Khan Academy." Khan Academy. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. Gates, Bill. "Salman Khan." Time. Time, 18 Apr. 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. "Khan Academy FAQ." Khan Academy. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. Salman Khan: Let's Use Video to Reinvent Education. Perf. Salman Khan. TED Talks. N.p., 01 Mar. 2011. Web. 05 Feb. 2013. <Salman Khan: Let's use video to reinvent education>. Salman Khan on Charlie Rose. Perf. Salman Khan and Charlie Rose. YouTube. Khan Academy, 05 May 2011. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.