Podcast Reflection: Sal Khan and Khan Academy

 

This podcast is about Sal Khan's journey to creating Khan Academy. Khan Academy is an American non-profit educational organization that creates videos ranging from all levels of math to complex organic chemistry and physics. 

From listening to the podcast, it sounds like Sal Khan had a tough childhood. His father left the picture when he was 2 years old and he ended up living with his mother's extended family. However, these childhood struggles did not stop him from pursuing higher education. Sal Khan attended and graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Upon graduating from MIT, he worked as a hedge fund analyst and would tutor one of his younger cousins struggling in math on the side. Although they were far from each other, technology made their tutoring session possible. Through his tutoring sessions, his cousin became one of the top performers in the class for this subject. From here other family members heard about this and eventually, he started posting videos on YouTube. 

The videos received numerous positive feedback from viewers all over the world. His viewers ranged from students with learning disabilities and even to a young girl in the Middle East who had stopped attending school due to the Taliban. These positive feedback is what prompted him to quit his job as a hedge fund analyst and fully pursue Khan Academy. 

Sal Khan has helped bridge NUMEROUS learning gaps for many individuals--including myself--through his innovative use of technology. During my undergraduate journey, I recall watching Khan Academy videos for my most challenging subjects--general chemistry, organic chemistry, and math. I always gravitated towards Khan Academy because of how Sal Khan was able to simplify the most challenging subjects and because I can learn content at my own pace. 

Like Sal Khan, I hope I can become the teacher who uses technology to help bridge learning gaps for all students. Additionally, I hope that I can teach my students how to use technology so that they develop their skills even further. Who knows...maybe one day they will be the ones to develop a new technology for learning.