Sal Khan is revolutionizing the way we think about
education. He says that our current educational model is based on Prussian
ideas two hundred years old, and this system no longer works because it does
not encourage creative and logical thinking which is needed in our modern-day
information age. He is a proponent of “flipping the classroom” where students
get their information from on-line instruction outside of the classroom, and then the students work with their teachers.
Those teachers now help with the assignments and become mentors and coaches
instead of a lecturers. He believes that learning should be personalized,
students should move at their own pace, and the focus should be mastery. Too
often in a classroom situation, the teacher moves on because of time
constraints, unfortunately before many of the students have learned the
material. It has been interesting for me to see how Khan's model of education coincides in many ways with my view of tutoring.
Khan has written a fascinating book about education and
learning: The One World School House. You
can also view his website at www.khanacademy.org.
