Sunday, March 23, 2014

Education for All

10M students a month. 2B math problems done. Khan Academy has come a long way since Khan's original TED talk; up from 6.9M users to 140M users, to be exact, with 20M new users joining every month. And 200,000 teachers using Khan Academy's lessons. 

Khan's next target is the College Board exams. Rich kids enjoy a significant advantage in those tests because they benefit from the prolific array of coaching options. Now anyone can get such help free at the Khan Academy.

The lessons are also being translated into other languages, including Spanish, Turkish, Portuguese, with French and other languages coming soon.


Shai Resef briefed us on the success of the University of the People since its founding in 2009. The university is tuition free, and charges $100 to write an exam, but there are scholarships to assist with those exam fees. 1,700 students have registered from 143 countries.

The university's business model works because of the cost-effectiveness of online learning and the generosity of volunteer professors. Resef says University of the People will be self-sustaining at 5,000 students. The university has recently been accredited by the US Distance Education and Training Council. 

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