It all started with a few videos that Khan recorded
for tutoring his cousin. Little did he know that he would soon be
filling in the void that existed amongst those in the need of free
quality education. The tremendous popularity of his home videos,
eventually led to what is today one of the widely accessed tutorial
websites in the worldwww.khanacademy.com. With the support of the Bill
and Melinda
Gates Foundation and Google Foundation, the academy caters to
thousands of students per day providing access to free learning. A study
model that allows for tutor support, progress reports and learning
curve statistics, makes the website a coveted source of alternate
learning for students worldwide.
Q: The advent of online educational
innovations has been very impactful towards creating avenues to quality
education for students. What is its future?
Ans: We believe this is a unique time that will drive a transformative shift in how people learn. For the first time, with a cheap laptop or tablet device and an internet connection, a user can have access to the worlds information. Moores law is driving this cost down at an exponential rate, it is foreseen that the technology cost will be attainable for the majority of the world. In the future, people will view access to a world-class education as a fundamental human right. We are trying to ensure that the barriers to this sector are as minimal as possible, and content itself should be free, given the virtually negligible cost to deliver.
Q: Can online study replace classroom education?
Ans: Our vision is for self-paced, individualised and mastery-based learning for students. Access and content are incredibly important; however, this does not diminish the importance of the teacher. A great teacher or mentor will always be ideal to cultivate a students learning to its maximum potential. With online access and content, the teachers role will shift from being the content deliverer to more of a mentor and coach. The dynamic of what happens with teachers will change, and we have seen classrooms that online instruction with physical experiences.
Q: So do you believe that online education can develop as an alternate medium of study for many students?
Ans: Absolutely. Online education is already an alternate medium of study for many students and the demand has been growing internationally. We have volunteer efforts underway to translate our materials into the worlds most spoken languages to increase the accessibility.
Q: What is the scope of online education in developing nations such as India?
Ans: Looking at the demographics of the developing country populations, it is clear that they are overwhelmingly young. In India, kids under-14 are over 30% of the population. When you look at how the government and private sectors are currently meeting the educational needs of this demographic, there is a huge gap. There are many kids who do not have access to education at all. Technology can bridge this gap by offering an age agnostic solution to motivated learners.
As companies experience rapid economic growth, there is often a significant lag in being able to train a new workforce with skills required for the jobs in demand. In the past, scaling these efforts was incredibly resource intensive and existing institutions have been challenged to match the pace. However, through the internet and computers, scalability is within grasp and budgets without compromising the quality of training provided.
Ans: We believe this is a unique time that will drive a transformative shift in how people learn. For the first time, with a cheap laptop or tablet device and an internet connection, a user can have access to the worlds information. Moores law is driving this cost down at an exponential rate, it is foreseen that the technology cost will be attainable for the majority of the world. In the future, people will view access to a world-class education as a fundamental human right. We are trying to ensure that the barriers to this sector are as minimal as possible, and content itself should be free, given the virtually negligible cost to deliver.
Q: Can online study replace classroom education?
Ans: Our vision is for self-paced, individualised and mastery-based learning for students. Access and content are incredibly important; however, this does not diminish the importance of the teacher. A great teacher or mentor will always be ideal to cultivate a students learning to its maximum potential. With online access and content, the teachers role will shift from being the content deliverer to more of a mentor and coach. The dynamic of what happens with teachers will change, and we have seen classrooms that online instruction with physical experiences.
Q: So do you believe that online education can develop as an alternate medium of study for many students?
Ans: Absolutely. Online education is already an alternate medium of study for many students and the demand has been growing internationally. We have volunteer efforts underway to translate our materials into the worlds most spoken languages to increase the accessibility.
Q: What is the scope of online education in developing nations such as India?
Ans: Looking at the demographics of the developing country populations, it is clear that they are overwhelmingly young. In India, kids under-14 are over 30% of the population. When you look at how the government and private sectors are currently meeting the educational needs of this demographic, there is a huge gap. There are many kids who do not have access to education at all. Technology can bridge this gap by offering an age agnostic solution to motivated learners.
As companies experience rapid economic growth, there is often a significant lag in being able to train a new workforce with skills required for the jobs in demand. In the past, scaling these efforts was incredibly resource intensive and existing institutions have been challenged to match the pace. However, through the internet and computers, scalability is within grasp and budgets without compromising the quality of training provided.
