Thursday, March 14, 2013

MAJOR BREAK-THROUGH: The Kahn Academy

Posted: 14 Mar 13

MUCH MORE POWER OVER 
THE HUMAN KNOWLEDGE BASE (HKB)!!

A gold-strike in web space!!
Educating Self and Others Just Got a Whole Lot Easier and Surer
(and ever so much more pleasantly efficient)
ALL COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE!



Purpose

This report is intended to give maximum public exposure to the awesome educational services provided by the Kahn Academy website -- for the greater public good, without a serious doubt.  (And, here is their Facebook page).

Assumptions

I confidently predict that what I'm reporting here, today, will become as indispensable to modern day-to-day living as Google, itself.  If you haven't looked at it yet, I believe you're going to be pleased at the enormous power the subject resource places in all our hands, instantly.

What I am so excited to share with you here is a perfect example of what I mean when I say that "society is only just beginning to learn all the good it can make of The Internet and the many other recent astounding achievements that place such unprecedented power in so many human hands."  

This, I think, is exactly how the Internet is "supposed" to be used -- toward the betterment of humankind and the oh-so-brief life-experience.

Background

This afternoon, my wife said, "David, here's something you might like to post in the Journal.  It might help parents get their children over homework hurdles."  
  • She went on to tell me that last night's late-night dog-barking caused her to glimpse a brief impression of the "Jeff Probst Show" where he was raving about KahnAcademy.org. -- and how "The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation" and "The Google Foundation" (those magnanimous souls, all!!!) have donated vast fortunes -- to insure that this endeavor continues to improve our world -- as it is doing, person by person.  We both figured, there must be something to it if these shrewd and good people believe in it so much.  
  • Then she went back to sleep -- but remembered to tell me.  
  • FATEFUL!!   I always say that "fate has its own agenda and is far wiser than anything I can cook up, myself."  Lucky, lucky us! 
I immediately grasped the PROFOUND implications, with just-as-profound gratitude towards her.  THIS IS A VERY BIG DEAL!
  • And, as I looked even closer, I felt my own mind (hence, life) begin to change for the better -- and I fell in love with it -- at first sight.  I'll bet it's gonna happen to you, too.
  • And I soon realized, this is going to help a lot more humans than just parents and children -- this is going to help every rational mind that doesn't already know all there is to know and how to do all there is that needs doing (I think that means MOST of us).
It was almost as if that sequence was "meant" to happen... 


Now, I'll let the facts speak for themselves


References
  1. Google Search
  2. Wikipedia Discussion
  3. Main Website of Kahn Academy
  4. Critiques and Reviews (positive and non-) of Kahn Academy
    (so we're better aware of strengths and limitations)

1.  What is the Kahn Academy?


According to Wikipedia 

The Khan Academy is a non-profit educational website created in 2006 by American educator Salman Khan, a graduate of MIT and Harvard Business School. The stated mission is "providing a high quality education for anyone, anywhere."

"Khan's long-term goal is to provide "tens of thousands of videos in pretty much every subject" 
and to create "the world's first free, world-class virtual school where anyone can learn anything."

    2.  In their own words: 
    (from their "About" page)


    A free world-class education for anyone anywhere.


    Khan Academy is an organization on a mission. 


    We're a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education for anyone anywhere.


    All of the site's resources are available to anyone. 

    • It doesn't matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology. [smiles]
    • Khan Academy's materials and resources are available to you completely free of charge.

    3.  What does their website do?

    The website supplies a free online collection of more than 4,000 micro lectures via video tutorials stored on YouTube, teaching: 

    1. mathematics 
    2. history
    3. healthcare
    4. medicine
    5. finance
    6. physics
    7. chemistry
    8. biology
    9. astronomy
    10. economics
    11. cosmology
    12. organic chemistry
    13. American civics
    14. art history
    15. macroeconomics
    16. microeconomics
    17. computer science




    Khan Academy has delivered over 240 million lessons!!!


    4.  Since a picture is worth a thousand words:

    Here's the partial, ready-to-use "feature playlist," <-- click here

    to help solve life's little puzzles -- or prepare to solve the greater ones.  I have a feeling the world just changed for the much, much better.  What an amazing story history is to witness and participate in.






    Friendly Suggestion

    I, for one, have already begun using it to fix some of the holes life has told me I have in my education -- as far as that's possible in the remaining minutes and hours.  More importantly, I will use it to help me discover and plug holes I didn't know I had.  I had been long and earnestly wanting EXACTLY such a tool as this.  This fell into my lap -- a little late, but who's complaining?

    If I were still a parent (my girls are long-grown), I know I'd incorporate this into my "Child-rearing Strategy."  The little ones need every advantage they can get from us.

    May I suggest that you bookmark the site and start (if it needs starting) or enhance a neat new (or old) life-long habit of using tools such as this, to explore ONESELF and the HKB and mine them for all they're worth? 


    What an opportunity I wish my parents had -- they would have turned it upside down, inside and out -- in very good ways.   What would this world be like now?  Sad thought, there. (sigh!)


    ... and so, the great human chain-reaction and life-journey both continue to advance, magnificently!


    David Nelson


    All Original Content © 2013 , The MENTOR Enterprises / ELMS, All Rights Reserved -- BUT, I hereby suspend those rights, to this extent: You may freely copy and pass this along, if you think it will do some good -- as long as it's free of charge, unchanged, and you include this statement.

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