Happily, with a little digging I discovered that earlier versions of the Khan Academy Web application will run the exercises off-line. While the ability to watch Khan’s videos off-line would be a valuable thing in itself, it seemed a shame to miss out on Khan’s computer-generated exercises. Apart from some difficulties I had getting this to run on my 64-bit Windows 7 machine, there’s a fundamental problem with the version offered there (revision 8051): When you attempt the exercises off-line, an error message reports that access to is needed. Clicking on Downloads takes you to a short description of the academy’s off-line server and a link to the download page, where you’ll find three off-line-capable packages-for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. Go to and scroll to the bottom of the home page. And that made for a problem: Prisoners are not allowed Internet access.įortunately, the open-source Khan Academy provides an off-line-capable version of its site. So it’s a rather complex Web application. It also provides sophisticated tools for teachers, allowing these “coaches,” as Khan labels them, to monitor how students are doing with their self-paced learning. In particular, the website includes not just videos but exercises generated on the fly to test whether you’ve understood a lesson. What’s harder to discover is how the Khan Academy works under the hood. Khan and a small team of programmers are now on a mission to provide “a free world-class education to anyone anywhere.” And they seem well on their way. So it’s easy to find out lots about it-how it began with a few simple videos Salman Khan made to help tutor a cousin in math, how his lessons unexpectedly went viral on YouTube, how Bill Gates took an interest and funded the expansion of his work, and how the academy has become a pillar in some technologically progressive schools.
The academy has received considerable media coverage. The math offerings are probably the most complete-ranging in difficulty from basic addition to linear algebra and calculus-but the site has lessons in astronomy, art history, economics, chemistry, biology, physics, and more. This website contains a wealth of video tutorials that span a wide range of topics and complexity, ideal for inmates seeking high school equivalency diplomas. When a friend recently asked for volunteers to help tutor inmates at a local prison, I asked, “Why not use the Khan Academy?”
0 kommentar(er)
