Answers for Malibu Magazine

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Kind: captions
Language: en

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Sal: Here are some questions that I got

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from Malibu Magazine, so I
thought I would answer them.

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Question number 1: Your
videos began as a means

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of tutoring your cousins
and now exist as a resource

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to educate the world, which
must be hugely inspiring.

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Yes, it is, and a bit surreal.

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Your model is hyper-scalable
because any one lecture

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can be viewed an infinite
number of times anywhere,

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but it's also very dependent
on your personal input.

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Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the idea

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of having to record one more,
or based on expectations

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hundreds of more videos, or
ever questioned the notion

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you should be the Khan
Academy's only lecturer?

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On the first part, do I
ever feel overwhelmed?

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Not in the way that I guess it
sounds like this is phrasing.

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Actually this is what is
really exciting about me

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and almost from my own
selfish point of view,

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this is one of the reasons
why I love doing this

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is that I get to spend the rest of my life

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doing what I really
enjoy, which is teaching,

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and many times learning and teaching,

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or teaching myself a new
way of looking at something

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or getting to make
connections between things

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that I've never been
able to have the luxury

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to explore before, so
I view it as a luxury

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more than something
that would overwhelm me.

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I really love this aspect of getting

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to do more and more videos,

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and I hope that as long as I live I'm able

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to continue making videos,

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and at least hundreds more per year.

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Even though there is a
lot of responsibility

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of the organization and
being one of the people

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who help manage what is
now this organization

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that's beyond me, the
Khan Academy, I always

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want to be spending a
significant amount of my time

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making videos because
that's really what I love.

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The second part of it,
do you ever question

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the notion that you should be
the Academy's only lecturer?

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That's a big yes.

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But the answer to that has
never been completely obvious.

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I think one of the
reasons why we've gotten

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a lot of traction is the
consistency and the trust.

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When you learn from
someone, it actually takes

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a lot of trust to invest your
own mental cycles in them.

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I think people have learned
to trust the Khan Academy.

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We never thought that it
should be this kind of thing

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that everyone can throw videos on.

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In fact, there are already
things and its called YouTube

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or other things like it.

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It's jarring when you
have different quality

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and you have different
teachers, even if they are good.

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That's what we struggled with.

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We also think that there's
kind of an understanding,

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an agreement with the student that content

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on the Khan Academy will focus on

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conceptual development over
mechanical understanding,

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it will be conversational, it
won't talk down to the student,

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it will talk to everyone
as if they are smart,

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but not talk in a way
that assumes that someone

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knows all of the terminology
or not talk past people.

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It's been very important that we bring ...

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Nothing sounds scripted.

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Everything sounds authentic.

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Everything is directly
coming from a person;

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that it's a person-to-person
communication,

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not a corporation-to-person communication.

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These are surprisingly
hard things to find.

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We've been searching.

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What you'll see in the next few months

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is we actually are bringing
on some other lecturers,

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in particular the humanities,

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who will be lecturers in the humanities.

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I love them.

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The videos that I've watched
of theirs made me wish

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that I had them as teachers
when I was growing up.

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I hope other people
have that same reaction.

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The other thing that
people have begun to notice

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is the last few weeks
we've been experimenting

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with bringing contributors
in who I kind of interview.

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We're experimenting with that forum factor

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to see if it's something that makes sense

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or maybe something that just compliments

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the broader library.

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I'll always be doing the
independent, traditional,

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Sal teaching type of thing.

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I've really been enjoying
getting these experts in

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and being able to kind
of play the student role.

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So the simple answer is,
yes, we have questioned it

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and over the next few
months you're going to see,

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actually, the faculty of the Khan Academy

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expand in a pretty substantial way.

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Question number 2: One of
the most difficult things

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for people to wrap their
heads around is the idea

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that you're not interested
in monetizing the Academy.

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Cold hard cash pales next
to the intrinsic value

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of the tools you've create
and their attendant legacy,

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but if the Academy will
never be a source of wealth,

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do you think you'll
eventually turn your attention

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to another, for-profit driven venture?

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The simple answer is no, no.

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I've gone through the mental
simulation multiple times.

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If someone were to give
me a billion dollars,

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this is exactly what I would want to do.

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So I get a chance to do it now.

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Regardless of whatever happens,

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if for whatever reason you see Sal saying,

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"Hey, I'm done with the Khan Academy,

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"I now want to go start
managing money again,"

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or if I want to go start doing X or Y,

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people should wonder
whether I've been abducted

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and replaced by someone else.

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I consider myself the
luckiest person on the planet

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that I get to do what I'm doing now,

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and hopefully for the rest of my life,

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and hopefully it's a decent,
respectably long life,

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but you never know.

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Yes, and you've articulated
in the question exactly.

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I'm not someone who doesn't mind

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a little bit of cold, hard cash,

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but at the same time the
satisfaction of people

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really enjoying the stuff,
we're genuine about it.

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We really love it.

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I think it's not just me,
it's most of our team.

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If you look at the people
on the Khan Academy team,

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some of them are actually very well known

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in their respective domains.

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Even the ones that aren't well known,

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they really are all rock stars.

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We are really bringing on ...

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This is really the most amazing team

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that I've ever worked with
and I've worked with a lot

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of very, very smart people in the past.

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They've all turned away
higher paying jobs,

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jobs at pre-IPO companies where they could

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make millions of dollars,
to work on this project.

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It's not just me, I am
actually surrounded by people

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who are similarly
inspired by this mission.

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I hope that they continue
to want to do this

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for a long time.

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Question number 3: When you
say that you'd like to make

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the Academy self-sustaining
in 5 years, what do you mean?

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If you don't charge for the videos,

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what will be the source of funding?

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This not charging for the videos,

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this is kind of core to our religion

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of the Khan Academy,

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not that Khan Academy's a religion,

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but core of what we hold dear.

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That's true also for our software.

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As far as what the source
of funding will be,

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it's an open question.

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There's ideas on the table.

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I don't know what all of the ideas are.

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We are building, hopefully,
a trusted brand here.

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Maybe the way Sesame does
it, they license Elmo out!

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(laughs) I say that half jokingly,

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but that's one way that Sesame Street

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has supported themselves.

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We think we're kind of like Sesame Street

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but for older kids and adults

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in terms that we're making
learning approachable for them.

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Maybe that type of model might work.

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We do hope that foundations continue

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to support us forever, to some degree.

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We don't want to be 100% reliant on that,

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but we do think relative
to the impact it's having,

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our budget is still smaller
than most individual schools,

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even elementary schools.

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We're able to reach
millions of students now,

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and that same content
that's already produced

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can reach tens of millions
for a long, long time.

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We also hope that our
user base supports us.

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We definitely don't mind if people say,

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"Wow, that really helped me.

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"Let me go to PayPal"

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or "Let's send Khan Academy $20"

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or "Let me give them $5 from
my paycheck every month,"

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if they can afford it.

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We hope that people
are already doing that,

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and as our user base grows,

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we think that could also help us.

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So, the simple answer is
we always want to have

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no barrier to accessing the knowledge,

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but we do think that there will be ways

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over the next 5-10 years
so that we can at least

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support our base salaries
and our operating expenses

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so that this resource never goes away.

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We don't want to be complacent about that,

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so I do encourage people to donate.

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Question number 4: What influence have

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the Gates Foundation
and other donors had on

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the scope or evolution of the Academy?

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Example: Is it now a
collaborative effort, and if so,

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what are their objectives

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and how might they differ from yours?

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At a first level, our supporters,

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Gates Foundation is a large supporter,

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Google is another major supporter,

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we've had several major
individual supporters.

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They've treated us in a great way.

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They're obviously people
whose opinion we really want

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and want to take into
account, but they have said,

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"Look, what's made Khan Academy work

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"is it's kind of grassroots.

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"You all have tried stuff
and you all saw what works,

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"and based on what works
you keep doing more of it,

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"and you keep iterating on the process."

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So they've given us a lot of freedom

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to explore the space

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and make decisions on our own

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and pursue the things that we found

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or are compelling for our students.

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With that said, they have
a bunch of good ideas,

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so we are taking those great
ideas into consideration.

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I think the one thing that especially

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the Gates Foundation
has brought to the table

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is that they've really
plugged us in to a lot

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of the other stuff that's
going on in education

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and education research and
helping to make those connections.

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It's helping us, from
Khan Academy from being

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this kind of quirky
thing that one guy did,

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and we want to keep it a quirky thing,

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but it also helps us
interface with the more

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authoritative side of the education world.

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Question number 5: Your
videos are now being

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leveraged to drive more
intense classroom learning

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by flipping the classroom, as I've said,

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and as I've said in many videos,

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we view the flip as halfway.

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The ideal is kids using
the software and the videos

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to work at their own pace anytime,

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and then that they use
class time for the real

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interventions and
interactions with their peers.

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And you have had some very clear opinions

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about how to improve the
educational experience.

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I just gave one of them.

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Do you have any aspirations
around a larger role

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in educational reform?

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I've learned, "reform"
seems like a good word,

00:10:06.602 --> 00:10:08.867
but I've learned that
it can be a loaded word.

00:10:08.867 --> 00:10:12.330
If this question is do
I want a role as like

00:10:12.330 --> 00:10:16.409
a State Superintendent of Education, NO!

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The answer is a very clear no.

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I don't want to get involved at all

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in the political debate.

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I think we are valuable,
or we can be valuable,

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or let me put it this way,

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we strive to be valuable to everyone.

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So we don't want anyone
to have a predisposition

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against us just because Sal
says he feels X, Y and Z

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about some hot button issue there.

00:10:38.100 --> 00:10:40.005
If that's the question, we say no.

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If it's do we want to be a catalyst

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in maybe the reform conversation

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being a clear-thinking
conversation, maybe.

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Maybe we can provide common ground.

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Maybe everyone in the debate agrees

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that class time is better
spent when it's interactive;

00:10:54.133 --> 00:10:56.740
everyone agrees that
ideally students should

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be allowed to work at their own pace;

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everyone agrees that teachers
are adding more value,

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are going up the value chain,

00:11:04.130 --> 00:11:05.275
when they are mentors,

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when they are diagnosing students,

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when they are providing things that videos

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and on-demand exercises can't;

00:11:12.941 --> 00:11:15.100
when everyone agrees
that it's really valuable

00:11:15.100 --> 00:11:16.731
for teachers to get real time data

00:11:16.731 --> 00:11:17.923
so that they can make those interventions

00:11:17.923 --> 00:11:18.891
in a valuable way.

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We hope that we're a catalyst

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or that we have aspirations
about serving those functions

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about maybe clarifying or
finding a common ground,

00:11:25.649 --> 00:11:29.067
but I have no aspirations at
all about becoming some type

00:11:29.067 --> 00:11:35.652
of a pundit on the political
debates around this.

00:11:35.652 --> 00:11:38.989
Question number 6: What's
the most important thing

00:11:38.989 --> 00:11:40.588
you've learned through the
process of establishing

00:11:40.588 --> 00:11:42.239
and growing the Academy,
and have there been

00:11:42.239 --> 00:11:44.972
any unintended consequences?

00:11:44.972 --> 00:11:48.639
I think the most important
thing is I've learned

00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:49.781
the power, and it's
something that I always

00:11:49.781 --> 00:11:52.052
suspected, kind of, with
an engineering background,

00:11:52.052 --> 00:11:59.925
but you need to be close to the consumer

00:11:59.925 --> 00:12:03.250
or the end user to really
understand the problems,

00:12:03.250 --> 00:12:05.325
and then you should try
to put something out

00:12:05.325 --> 00:12:07.653
that's even very simple and
basic, and see if it works,

00:12:07.653 --> 00:12:12.050
and not make any assumptions
that more technology's good

00:12:12.050 --> 00:12:13.450
or fancier is better,

00:12:13.450 --> 00:12:15.785
but just try to solve the need at hand,

00:12:15.785 --> 00:12:17.202
but try to solve it quickly.

00:12:17.202 --> 00:12:19.258
Don't try to plan and
talk about it for years

00:12:19.258 --> 00:12:22.037
and get funding and do
all this stuff before

00:12:22.037 --> 00:12:24.117
you've tried stuff out.

00:12:24.117 --> 00:12:27.381
The big takeaway I've
had, it's kind of my way

00:12:27.381 --> 00:12:28.958
I would have operated
beforehand but it's really

00:12:28.958 --> 00:12:30.454
made me feel even strongly about this,

00:12:30.454 --> 00:12:33.855
is build, test and iterate things,

00:12:33.855 --> 00:12:37.918
and don't get into weeks-long debates

00:12:37.918 --> 00:12:40.029
that focus on meanings of words

00:12:40.029 --> 00:12:42.855
and whether one research
study is saying one thing

00:12:42.855 --> 00:12:44.791
or the other research
study is saying the other.

00:12:44.791 --> 00:12:49.255
Just build stuff, put it out
there, and see if it works.

00:12:49.255 --> 00:12:52.388
The unintended consequences
is that this idea

00:12:52.388 --> 00:12:54.540
of a lot of what Khan Academy is doing is,

00:12:54.540 --> 00:12:57.721
I think, obvious and
people have been talking

00:12:57.721 --> 00:12:59.293
about this for a long, long time,

00:12:59.293 --> 00:13:01.373
but I think that attitude of just, look,

00:13:01.373 --> 00:13:03.588
let's not talk about it,
let's do something about it

00:13:03.588 --> 00:13:06.055
has allowed us to get traction

00:13:06.055 --> 00:13:08.988
in a space where there really
hasn't been a lot of traction

00:13:08.988 --> 00:13:11.457
from things like what we're doing.

00:13:11.457 --> 00:13:15.169
Question number 7: You are super-numerate

00:13:15.169 --> 00:13:16.717
and offer lots of performance data

00:13:16.717 --> 00:13:17.947
to leverage teachers' efforts.

00:13:17.947 --> 00:13:19.783
Are teachers, many of whom may not be as

00:13:19.783 --> 00:13:21.448
naturally data-centric,
embracing these tools,

00:13:21.448 --> 00:13:23.024
or are you finding resistance?

00:13:23.024 --> 00:13:24.584
What other criticisms are you hearing

00:13:24.584 --> 00:13:26.582
from professional educators
or administrators?

00:13:26.582 --> 00:13:28.784
The first part of it, are
we finding resistance?

00:13:28.784 --> 00:13:30.115
No, not at all.

00:13:30.115 --> 00:13:32.724
The teachers who we've
been working closely with

00:13:32.724 --> 00:13:34.923
who've actually been helping
to define some of these tools,

00:13:34.923 --> 00:13:36.396
they love it.

00:13:36.396 --> 00:13:38.323
If anything, their main feedback is,

00:13:38.323 --> 00:13:39.660
some of the 5th grade teachers,

00:13:39.660 --> 00:13:41.234
they teach all the subjects,

00:13:41.234 --> 00:13:44.456
so now they feel unarmed with data

00:13:44.456 --> 00:13:45.593
when they're teaching other subjects,

00:13:45.593 --> 00:13:47.065
so they want us to go
into those other subjects

00:13:47.065 --> 00:13:49.196
as quickly as possible so they
can start to have that data.

00:13:49.196 --> 00:13:53.241
The teachers, we found,
really do love the data.

00:13:53.241 --> 00:13:54.470
In terms of what other criticisms

00:13:54.470 --> 00:13:56.370
are you hearing from
professional educators,

00:13:56.370 --> 00:14:00.134
I think some criticism
is, what is new here?

00:14:00.134 --> 00:14:02.932
Hey, isn't this just lecture?

00:14:02.932 --> 00:14:05.534
Look, even those lectures
aren't using anything fancy.

00:14:05.534 --> 00:14:07.738
They're just literally a
guy chatting about something

00:14:07.738 --> 00:14:10.459
and kind of writing on a board.

00:14:10.459 --> 00:14:12.466
They're right!

00:14:12.466 --> 00:14:13.782
There isn't anything new here.

00:14:13.782 --> 00:14:16.171
I think what they're missing, the point is

00:14:16.171 --> 00:14:18.255
it's not always about the idea.

00:14:18.255 --> 00:14:19.835
A lot is about the craftsmanship

00:14:19.835 --> 00:14:21.744
or what happens on the ground.

00:14:21.744 --> 00:14:24.526
I think a lot, especially
the publishing companies,

00:14:24.526 --> 00:14:27.334
I think they miss the
point that human-to-human

00:14:27.334 --> 00:14:30.027
interaction, it's
important with real humans,

00:14:30.027 --> 00:14:31.328
but it's also important when it's human

00:14:31.328 --> 00:14:32.535
interacting with a product.

00:14:32.535 --> 00:14:34.460
They don't want to feel like
something is overproduced.

00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:38.287
They want to feel like they're
talking to someone who cares.

00:14:38.287 --> 00:14:42.207
It's also more important to
focus on deep understanding

00:14:42.207 --> 00:14:43.752
and conceptual understanding

00:14:43.752 --> 00:14:45.503
and why a subject is beautiful.

00:14:45.503 --> 00:14:47.264
It's more important to focus on that

00:14:47.264 --> 00:14:51.002
than on fancy graphics
and on fancy whatever.

00:14:51.002 --> 00:14:52.261
I try to improve my penmanship

00:14:52.261 --> 00:14:56.297
and I try to draw nice diagrams
so people understand things,

00:14:56.297 --> 00:14:58.406
but we never are going to be that place

00:14:58.406 --> 00:15:01.333
that says we have the fanciest graphic.

00:15:01.333 --> 00:15:03.468
Maybe if a really fancy
graphic is compelling

00:15:03.468 --> 00:15:04.468
we'd want to integrate it,

00:15:04.468 --> 00:15:06.881
but we don't want to do it
just for the sake of it,

00:15:06.881 --> 00:15:09.876
just to impress other people
in the computer graphics space

00:15:09.876 --> 00:15:11.071
that we have the best one.

00:15:11.071 --> 00:15:13.249
That's one kind of knee-jerk reaction

00:15:13.249 --> 00:15:14.801
of like wait, this is pretty basic.

00:15:14.801 --> 00:15:16.735
Why is this interesting?

00:15:16.735 --> 00:15:19.047
The answer is it is pretty basic,

00:15:19.047 --> 00:15:20.965
but maybe to some degree
that is why it's interesting,

00:15:20.965 --> 00:15:24.268
that is why it's why people
are finding it compelling.

00:15:24.268 --> 00:15:29.800
The other reaction we get
is when some people learn

00:15:29.800 --> 00:15:32.203
about look, kids learning
at their own pace,

00:15:32.203 --> 00:15:35.675
using software, people
using videos to learn,

00:15:35.675 --> 00:15:40.072
they believe that this is somehow trying

00:15:40.072 --> 00:15:41.550
to replace the classroom,

00:15:41.550 --> 00:15:45.406
or trying to replace the
interaction with the teacher.

00:15:45.406 --> 00:15:48.075
For us, we just think
that's a misconception.

00:15:48.075 --> 00:15:51.293
We think we're the exact
180 degrees opposite.

00:15:51.293 --> 00:15:53.266
We are a catalyst for enhancing

00:15:53.266 --> 00:15:54.599
the interaction with the teacher.

00:15:54.599 --> 00:15:57.384
The teacher will no longer
be lecturing at the students,

00:15:57.384 --> 00:15:58.967
they will now be discussing with students.

00:15:58.967 --> 00:16:01.471
They will now be having those small group

00:16:01.471 --> 00:16:03.739
discussions that everyone,
I think, recognizes

00:16:03.739 --> 00:16:05.632
is the best way to learn.

00:16:05.632 --> 00:16:06.794
They'll now be leading projects,

00:16:06.794 --> 00:16:08.136
that I think everyone agrees

00:16:08.136 --> 00:16:09.800
is a really great way to learn,

00:16:09.800 --> 00:16:11.536
especially if it's augmented with kids

00:16:11.536 --> 00:16:12.675
getting a lot of practice

00:16:12.675 --> 00:16:14.468
and being able to get a
lot of their core skills,

00:16:14.468 --> 00:16:19.677
to some degree, at their own pace.

00:16:19.677 --> 00:16:24.096
I think those are the two areas.

00:16:24.096 --> 00:16:26.404
There's some resistance about the idea

00:16:26.404 --> 00:16:29.663
of more voices on the Khan Academy,

00:16:29.663 --> 00:16:31.268
and I already talked about it earlier.

00:16:31.268 --> 00:16:33.127
We are bringing more voices to the table

00:16:33.127 --> 00:16:35.397
and we do want to make
tools so that teachers

00:16:35.397 --> 00:16:38.086
themselves can also
contribute to the platform.

00:16:38.086 --> 00:16:40.193
All of that's coming and
we're going to have the crowd,

00:16:40.193 --> 00:16:41.750
hopefully, if we can think of a good way,

00:16:41.750 --> 00:16:43.864
curate what makes sense to add in.

00:16:43.864 --> 00:16:45.521
But we want to do all that without losing

00:16:45.521 --> 00:16:47.330
a lot of the consistency
and even the quirkiness

00:16:47.330 --> 00:16:51.319
that we think makes Khan
Adademy work right now.

00:16:51.319 --> 00:16:53.516
Number 8: The content is heavily weighted

00:16:53.516 --> 00:16:54.783
towards math and science.

00:16:54.783 --> 00:16:56.316
What's your plan for
building more humanities

00:16:56.316 --> 00:16:58.193
content, and how do you choose what to add

00:16:58.193 --> 00:16:59.447
to the site and when?

00:16:59.447 --> 00:17:01.115
For example, what drove
the decision to add

00:17:01.115 --> 00:17:03.116
a playlist about he
Paulson financial bailout

00:17:03.116 --> 00:17:04.990
versus another series of history lessons?

00:17:04.990 --> 00:17:08.604
Our plan on the humanities,
the answer is yes,

00:17:08.604 --> 00:17:11.002
we actually are, actually
I think they accepted today

00:17:11.002 --> 00:17:12.210
and we're going to make the announcement

00:17:12.210 --> 00:17:14.342
once we integrate some of their work

00:17:14.342 --> 00:17:16.011
more deeply with the
site, but we've brought on

00:17:16.011 --> 00:17:18.087
two professors in the humanities

00:17:18.087 --> 00:17:20.129
and I love what they've already done.

00:17:20.129 --> 00:17:22.481
I hope everyone can start
getting excited about it

00:17:22.481 --> 00:17:23.536
because I think they'll be pretty happy

00:17:23.536 --> 00:17:24.302
with what they've done.

00:17:24.302 --> 00:17:25.298
I think they've tackled the humanities

00:17:25.298 --> 00:17:26.577
in a very interesting way.

00:17:26.577 --> 00:17:28.514
In fact, this new technique of me doing

00:17:28.514 --> 00:17:30.984
conversations with people,
this was inspired by them

00:17:30.984 --> 00:17:35.128
because many of the humanities
are very subjective.

00:17:35.128 --> 00:17:37.325
They've kind of got this really neat way

00:17:37.325 --> 00:17:38.992
of having a conversation
about subjective things

00:17:38.992 --> 00:17:41.459
that bring more than one way to think

00:17:41.459 --> 00:17:42.523
about something to light,

00:17:42.523 --> 00:17:43.992
and I think it also encourages students

00:17:43.992 --> 00:17:45.728
to think of what their own opinions

00:17:45.728 --> 00:17:47.298
about something are, not just to take

00:17:47.298 --> 00:17:51.422
the professor's opinion as gospel.

00:17:51.422 --> 00:17:53.248
Then, for example, what drove the decision

00:17:53.248 --> 00:17:55.121
to add a playlist about the
Paulson financial bailout

00:17:55.121 --> 00:17:57.759
versus another series of history lessons?

00:17:57.759 --> 00:17:59.581
That one in particular was the midst

00:17:59.581 --> 00:18:01.781
of the financial crisis
and I just saw stuff on TV

00:18:01.781 --> 00:18:02.999
that I thought was wrong.

00:18:02.999 --> 00:18:04.851
I was still working at a hedge fund then

00:18:04.851 --> 00:18:07.006
and I was spending most of my time reading

00:18:07.006 --> 00:18:09.379
the Federal Reserve Act
and I was reading all

00:18:09.379 --> 00:18:10.725
of the details of a lot of these bailouts.

00:18:10.725 --> 00:18:12.549
It just felt like there was huge gap

00:18:12.549 --> 00:18:14.720
between what the public understanding was

00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:16.721
and what the real reality was.

00:18:16.721 --> 00:18:18.586
I also thought that it was a very

00:18:18.586 --> 00:18:20.388
unbalanced conversation in the public,

00:18:20.388 --> 00:18:23.388
that essentially this thing was being

00:18:23.388 --> 00:18:28.051
steamrolled forward, the
take from the interested

00:18:28.051 --> 00:18:30.988
parties was, "Trust us
on this; bail us out.

00:18:30.988 --> 00:18:33.471
"If you even think about
it for another day,

00:18:33.471 --> 00:18:35.058
"we have a gun to the economy,

00:18:35.058 --> 00:18:36.921
"or a bomb is about to
blow up in the economy

00:18:36.921 --> 00:18:38.392
"and we're all going to," you know,

00:18:38.392 --> 00:18:40.098
everything's going to go
to hell in a hand basket

00:18:40.098 --> 00:18:43.652
if we don't address those issues.

00:18:43.652 --> 00:18:45.604
I though another more,
hopefully, rational voice

00:18:45.604 --> 00:18:47.803
was needed because there were some very

00:18:47.803 --> 00:18:48.939
irrational things happening.

00:18:48.939 --> 00:18:50.939
People were asking me a lot of questions

00:18:50.939 --> 00:18:52.845
at parties and things, so I was like, hey,

00:18:52.845 --> 00:18:54.402
let me scale up my answer.

00:18:54.402 --> 00:18:56.935
The general idea is
there's a constant tension

00:18:56.935 --> 00:19:01.871
between what is a useful,
hey, look, we still

00:19:01.871 --> 00:19:03.809
haven't done those type of algebra videos,

00:19:03.809 --> 00:19:06.593
let's do those, and
there's just this stuff

00:19:06.593 --> 00:19:08.839
that's current events that need answering,

00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:10.751
and then there's just some quirky things

00:19:10.751 --> 00:19:12.935
that I just happen to run
into that I find interesting

00:19:12.935 --> 00:19:15.069
and I'm just dying to make
a video and I'll do those.

00:19:15.069 --> 00:19:17.535
It's a constant balance
between all of those things.

00:19:17.535 --> 00:19:21.542
Question number 9: Your
FAQ answer on your website

00:19:21.542 --> 00:19:23.103
about your religion is very eloquent,

00:19:23.103 --> 00:19:25.336
but why did you feel compelled
to put it on the site at all?

00:19:25.336 --> 00:19:27.529
Did people, in fact, frequently ask

00:19:27.529 --> 00:19:29.898
about your religious beliefs?

00:19:29.898 --> 00:19:31.728
Yes.

00:19:31.728 --> 00:19:35.732
Many people did ask about
my religious beliefs.

00:19:35.732 --> 00:19:37.851
They wanted confirmation
one way or the other

00:19:37.851 --> 00:19:39.145
about my religion.

00:19:39.145 --> 00:19:42.924
I thought that that FAQ answer
was actually the best way

00:19:42.924 --> 00:19:44.653
to address that question
because that is actually

00:19:44.653 --> 00:19:46.389
how I feel about my religion.

00:19:46.389 --> 00:19:52.852
Question number 10: The
American educational system

00:19:52.852 --> 00:19:55.586
is broken in many ways,
but we also have a problem

00:19:55.586 --> 00:19:57.654
of misallocation of
resources in that highly

00:19:57.654 --> 00:19:59.929
educated minds gravitate
towards hedge funds,

00:19:59.929 --> 00:20:01.814
investment banks and other
lucrative professions

00:20:01.814 --> 00:20:03.788
and away from teaching
and other professions

00:20:03.788 --> 00:20:05.736
that are more productive
for society as a whole.

00:20:05.736 --> 00:20:08.388
Given your highly relevant
personal career shift,

00:20:08.388 --> 00:20:09.502
do you have any ideas

00:20:09.502 --> 00:20:12.229
about how to change that misallocation?

00:20:12.229 --> 00:20:17.503
I think people go into a
career for multiple reasons.

00:20:17.503 --> 00:20:21.000
I think one is intellectual stimulation.

00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:24.205
Teaching is as, or more,
intellectually stimulating

00:20:24.205 --> 00:20:26.416
than many of those other
higher paid careers.

00:20:26.416 --> 00:20:28.535
They go into something for compensation,

00:20:28.535 --> 00:20:30.076
and that's something where,

00:20:30.076 --> 00:20:32.003
at least definitely at
the K through 12 level,

00:20:32.003 --> 00:20:34.668
there isn't that compensation.

00:20:34.668 --> 00:20:37.203
They also go into it for respect.

00:20:37.203 --> 00:20:39.935
The one example I give here is professors.

00:20:39.935 --> 00:20:43.337
There isn't any crisis about great minds

00:20:43.337 --> 00:20:46.666
going into academia, even though academia

00:20:46.666 --> 00:20:50.465
really has, the compensation academia

00:20:50.465 --> 00:20:52.534
even though it's just
as competitive to become

00:20:52.534 --> 00:20:53.989
a tenured professor at a great university,

00:20:53.989 --> 00:20:55.357
or actually more competitive to become

00:20:55.357 --> 00:20:56.589
a tenured professor at a university

00:20:56.589 --> 00:20:58.810
than make partner at a prestigious bank

00:20:58.810 --> 00:21:00.201
or hedge fund or private equity firm,

00:21:00.201 --> 00:21:02.667
you still have a lot of
people going into academia

00:21:02.667 --> 00:21:04.873
despite the lack of compensation.

00:21:04.873 --> 00:21:06.334
They make more than K through 12 teachers,

00:21:06.334 --> 00:21:09.670
but nowhere near what those
same people would make

00:21:09.670 --> 00:21:11.071
if they went into industry.

00:21:11.071 --> 00:21:13.338
I think the reason why
really, really, really

00:21:13.338 --> 00:21:14.906
smart people, and not
say that really, really

00:21:14.906 --> 00:21:16.405
smart people aren't going to K through 12,

00:21:16.405 --> 00:21:18.471
but it's just their threshold of passion

00:21:18.471 --> 00:21:20.568
has to be so high that it
overcomes these other things;

00:21:20.568 --> 00:21:23.733
but the reason why you
have less of a problem

00:21:23.733 --> 00:21:26.655
in the higher education
is I think you have

00:21:26.655 --> 00:21:29.783
a high degree of respect,
and actually I'll add

00:21:29.783 --> 00:21:34.018
independence at the
higher education level;

00:21:34.018 --> 00:21:35.193
that to some degree the reason why you

00:21:35.193 --> 00:21:37.996
become a professor at
university is that obviously

00:21:37.996 --> 00:21:39.465
you get a lot of intellectual stimulation,

00:21:39.465 --> 00:21:41.059
but you get a ton of respect,

00:21:41.059 --> 00:21:42.726
and you get a lot of independence,

00:21:42.726 --> 00:21:45.257
especially once you get tenure.

00:21:45.257 --> 00:21:50.115
I think the solution
here is get compensation,

00:21:50.115 --> 00:21:51.315
compensation is important.

00:21:51.315 --> 00:21:53.054
Compensation has to go up.

00:21:53.054 --> 00:21:54.950
I think it has to at least get comparable

00:21:54.950 --> 00:21:56.448
to university professors.

00:21:56.448 --> 00:22:01.209
This day and age, that's
definitely a lot higher

00:22:01.209 --> 00:22:02.918
than where teachers are paid right now,

00:22:02.918 --> 00:22:05.051
but they don't have to get to
investment banking salaries.

00:22:05.051 --> 00:22:07.118
I think even more importantly,
they have to be fields

00:22:07.118 --> 00:22:09.610
where teachers can
express their creativity

00:22:09.610 --> 00:22:14.671
and they're given much
more power and respect

00:22:14.671 --> 00:22:17.872
than, in a lot of cases,
they're given right now.

00:22:17.872 --> 00:22:19.345
Definitely even independence.

00:22:19.345 --> 00:22:21.203
I think this is a role that we have.

00:22:21.203 --> 00:22:23.946
Every iteration, every
time government officials

00:22:23.946 --> 00:22:25.445
panic about the education system,

00:22:25.445 --> 00:22:26.733
they just micromanage it more.

00:22:26.733 --> 00:22:28.946
That might, in their minds,

00:22:28.946 --> 00:22:30.607
de-risk the worst that's going on,

00:22:30.607 --> 00:22:32.667
but it also handicaps
the best that's going on.

00:22:32.667 --> 00:22:37.693
It forces teachers to
lose their independence.

00:22:37.693 --> 00:22:41.006
We hope what we're advocating
is that it makes the teachers,

00:22:41.006 --> 00:22:42.704
it gives them more independence to do

00:22:42.704 --> 00:22:44.047
what they want with class time

00:22:44.047 --> 00:22:49.253
because so much of the core stuff

00:22:49.253 --> 00:22:52.524
students can do through the Khan Academy.

00:22:52.524 --> 00:22:55.226
Then the last question, extra credit:

00:22:55.226 --> 00:22:58.329
What is the next big step for the Academy?

00:22:58.329 --> 00:22:59.392
I hinted at this several times.

00:22:59.392 --> 00:23:03.925
We are expanding the faculty,
so that is a really big thing.

00:23:03.925 --> 00:23:05.383
Outside of that, we are just continuing

00:23:05.383 --> 00:23:06.781
to layer on more features.

00:23:06.781 --> 00:23:10.353
We're adding a lot more
content on the exercise side.

00:23:10.353 --> 00:23:13.483
I think you'll start to see,
in the next 6 months to a year,

00:23:13.483 --> 00:23:16.395
exercises that go beyond
our core math core.

00:23:16.395 --> 00:23:18.522
Our videos, obviously,
already go well beyond math,

00:23:18.522 --> 00:23:22.149
but you'll start seeing
exercises that go beyond that.

00:23:22.149 --> 00:23:24.993
I think the next really big
one that's going to make waves

00:23:24.993 --> 00:23:29.310
is the faculty members that are not me.


NCSU Answers

WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:00.874 --> 00:00:04.938
These are questions that I got here from
the North Carolina State University paper.

00:00:04.938 --> 00:00:07.188
I'm just going to answer
them in video format so

00:00:07.188 --> 00:00:10.948
everyone can enjoy them. If
they find them enjoyable.

00:00:10.948 --> 00:00:13.942
Question number 1. Where
did you get the idea of

00:00:13.942 --> 00:00:17.355
making such a website? What
was the inspiration or reason?

00:00:17.355 --> 00:00:22.210
Forgive me if any of you
are tired of hearing this

00:00:22.210 --> 00:00:24.204
story. It really did start
with my cousins [Naudia]

00:00:24.204 --> 00:00:26.607
in particular. In 2004
I started tutoring her,

00:00:26.607 --> 00:00:28.950
and really everything that
is the Khan Academy now,

00:00:28.950 --> 00:00:30.956
or at least a lot of it's initials stages,

00:00:30.956 --> 00:00:34.352
were out of me as a tutor
needing tools to help my cousin.

00:00:34.352 --> 00:00:37.737
The first software, it was actually
written before the first video,

00:00:37.737 --> 00:00:40.205
I started working on it
2005. It was a way to

00:00:40.205 --> 00:00:42.543
give my cousins, [Naudia]
being one of them, and then

00:00:42.543 --> 00:00:46.606
her brothers practice,
for me to keep track of

00:00:46.606 --> 00:00:50.536
what they were doing, and
for me to be able to not

00:00:50.536 --> 00:00:52.208
use the time that we had on the phone,

00:00:52.208 --> 00:00:55.873
kind of doing all of
the practice problems.

00:00:55.873 --> 00:00:56.888
They can do it own their own.

00:00:56.888 --> 00:00:58.142
Then I started making the videos, so

00:00:58.142 --> 00:01:00.150
they could pause and
repeat and watch a lot

00:01:00.150 --> 00:01:01.803
of the stuff at their own
pace at their own time.

00:01:01.803 --> 00:01:06.728
We could use our in-person
time, is was to remote tutoring,

00:01:06.728 --> 00:01:09.062
but our in-person time
to do the exact problems

00:01:09.062 --> 00:01:12.732
they were having. It's
been a very organic process

00:01:12.732 --> 00:01:15.508
all the you get to last
year where we got our

00:01:15.508 --> 00:01:19.266
major funding. Once again
it was what were our needs

00:01:19.266 --> 00:01:21.598
of the students that we're
hearing from on YouTube

00:01:21.598 --> 00:01:24.486
that are messaging us.
Even this whole notion

00:01:24.486 --> 00:01:26.805
of what's happening and
[unintelligible] and the pilots

00:01:26.805 --> 00:01:29.376
and the other pilots were
starting in this year.

00:01:30.237 --> 00:01:32.378
We kind of thought, that
eventually, we could us it

00:01:32.378 --> 00:01:34.469
in schools, but it was
one of these opportunities

00:01:34.469 --> 00:01:37.459
that just happened through happenstance.

00:01:37.459 --> 00:01:38.965
Where someone reached
out to us and hey, what

00:01:38.965 --> 00:01:40.944
would you do if you could do
anything with a 5th grade classroom?

00:01:40.944 --> 00:01:43.376
We told them, and that's
what we've been doing.

00:01:44.190 --> 00:01:47.858
There's the inspiration or the reason.

00:01:47.858 --> 00:01:49.798
I guess I can give credit to my cousins,

00:01:49.798 --> 00:01:55.726
and a little bit to my
own ... when I was going

00:01:55.726 --> 00:01:58.268
through schooling myself.
I did sometimes feel

00:01:58.268 --> 00:02:01.022
frustrated that we
couldn't use class time in

00:02:01.022 --> 00:02:03.364
a more interactive way,
or that we couldn't learn

00:02:03.364 --> 00:02:07.435
at our own pace. It really
has been a very organic

00:02:07.435 --> 00:02:10.196
and gradual process of
lairing on things that

00:02:10.196 --> 00:02:12.799
seem to make sense, building
them, and seeing if they work.

00:02:12.799 --> 00:02:15.660
We actually think we're
still in the very early

00:02:15.660 --> 00:02:17.659
stages of that process.
We have a long way to go,

00:02:17.659 --> 00:02:20.597
and a lot more things
to experiment and test.

00:02:20.597 --> 00:02:25.182
Question number 2. Where do
you get all the videos from?

00:02:25.182 --> 00:02:28.269
The simple answer to this
first part of the question is,

00:02:28.269 --> 00:02:31.796
we get them all from me
right now. I am the only

00:02:31.796 --> 00:02:34.944
faculty. I'm the only person
on the site right now.

00:02:34.944 --> 00:02:37.267
We have 2,500. I think
we're even pushing 2,600

00:02:37.267 --> 00:02:40.730
videos right now. The
second part of the question.

00:02:40.730 --> 00:02:43.465
Are the coaches allowed to
upload their own personal videos?

00:02:43.465 --> 00:02:46.796
Right now the coaches
are not allowed to upload

00:02:46.796 --> 00:02:48.532
their own personal videos.
Obviously, they can

00:02:48.532 --> 00:02:50.942
tell students independently
at Khan Academy

00:02:50.942 --> 00:02:53.368
they could watch those
videos. This is something

00:02:53.368 --> 00:02:56.731
we are very seriously
looking at. Not just coaches,

00:02:56.731 --> 00:03:00.729
we're very seriously
looking at a way for people

00:03:00.729 --> 00:03:03.943
to create their own
Khan Academy experience

00:03:03.943 --> 00:03:06.024
on top of our platform.
That they could expose

00:03:06.024 --> 00:03:08.128
to their students or
to the world generally.

00:03:08.128 --> 00:03:10.392
We hope they would expose
them to the world generally.

00:03:10.392 --> 00:03:13.770
Right now, it's just an
engineering bottle-neck.

00:03:13.770 --> 00:03:16.000
We don't have the bandwidth
to do it, although

00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:17.800
we think it could be a
really powerful thing.

00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:21.329
Closer to that, in terms
to where do we get all

00:03:21.329 --> 00:03:23.876
the videos? This is something
that you expect to hear

00:03:23.876 --> 00:03:26.462
a lot more from us soon.
Some people might have

00:03:26.462 --> 00:03:28.361
noticed that I have
started to do some videos

00:03:28.361 --> 00:03:30.407
experimenting with this
interview form factor,

00:03:30.407 --> 00:03:33.287
where I'm getting outside
experts. I'm there as well.

00:03:33.287 --> 00:03:36.803
I'm there as well talking
to them about some

00:03:36.803 --> 00:03:40.532
of these concepts, and them educating me.

00:03:40.532 --> 00:03:43.801
You'll also see we're
bringing on some full-time

00:03:43.801 --> 00:03:46.135
faculty members in the humanities soon.

00:03:46.135 --> 00:03:48.659
Who, I think have made
some tremendous videos.

00:03:48.659 --> 00:03:51.277
Their libraries are going
to be interrogated soon.

00:03:51.277 --> 00:03:53.931
I think people are going
to really enjoy it.

00:03:53.931 --> 00:03:56.669
The short answer, all
the videos right now are

00:03:56.669 --> 00:03:58.532
from me. In the next few
months you're going to see

00:03:58.532 --> 00:04:01.368
some other very talented
teaches come into the mix

00:04:01.368 --> 00:04:03.870
that we've really found to be rock stars.

00:04:03.870 --> 00:04:07.032
You go out maybe another
year, year and a half

00:04:07.032 --> 00:04:10.067
I think you're going to
have ways for coaches to

00:04:10.067 --> 00:04:13.063
create or just people
generally to create used

00:04:13.063 --> 00:04:15.443
Khan Academy's more
generalized learning platform.

00:04:15.443 --> 00:04:18.332
It's an open question
on how much that becomes

00:04:18.332 --> 00:04:21.128
a main stream experience,
or do we use crowd-sourcing

00:04:21.128 --> 00:04:24.129
to curate the content
to say what's good and

00:04:24.129 --> 00:04:25.529
what's not. It's still an open question.

00:04:25.529 --> 00:04:27.332
We haven't really figured that one out.

00:04:27.332 --> 00:04:31.066
What is your target audience?

00:04:31.066 --> 00:04:34.367
It's kind of a simple
answer. I hope you don't

00:04:34.367 --> 00:04:36.865
find that I'm not
answering the question, but

00:04:36.865 --> 00:04:39.124
it's really everybody.
It's really anyone who ...

00:04:39.124 --> 00:04:43.027
independent of the
traditional schooling system

00:04:43.027 --> 00:04:45.128
or the traditional hurdles
people have to jump through.

00:04:45.128 --> 00:04:46.956
It's anyone who wants to
learn. Anyone who's curious

00:04:46.956 --> 00:04:48.945
about the world. That's
our target audience.

00:04:48.945 --> 00:04:50.626
We see it. We get letters
from people who are

00:04:50.626 --> 00:04:53.994
in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 70s,
who are learning for fun.

00:04:53.994 --> 00:04:56.469
That is our target
audience, but on top of that

00:04:56.469 --> 00:04:58.536
we obviously care about
the stakeholders in

00:04:58.536 --> 00:05:00.659
other peoples learning's,
teachers and parents.

00:05:00.659 --> 00:05:05.044
We are also trying to
make sure they find us to

00:05:05.044 --> 00:05:07.143
be a very useful tool and their arsenal,

00:05:07.143 --> 00:05:09.802
and hopefully a transformatinal tool.

00:05:09.802 --> 00:05:13.373
Their arsenal to make
their classes all that more

00:05:13.373 --> 00:05:15.818
rich and interactive.

00:05:15.818 --> 00:05:20.135
Number 4. In many cases,
the students open some

00:05:20.135 --> 00:05:22.802
social networking or other
websites or play games

00:05:22.802 --> 00:05:24.953
as soon as they sit in
front of a computer.

00:05:24.953 --> 00:05:26.262
I think that is true.

00:05:26.262 --> 00:05:28.460
So, do you think online
lectures education can

00:05:28.460 --> 00:05:31.262
substitute the in-class way of teaching?

00:05:31.262 --> 00:05:34.133
It depends what the
in-class way of teaching is.

00:05:34.133 --> 00:05:36.532
It's depends on what
students motivations are.

00:05:36.532 --> 00:05:39.639
It's true. Students like
to go to Facebook or

00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:42.540
social websites, or whatever
else, and the reality

00:05:42.540 --> 00:05:45.931
is that's getting in the way
of not just online learning

00:05:45.931 --> 00:05:48.401
that's getting in the
way of learning period.

00:05:48.401 --> 00:05:50.729
I'm sure that's getting
in the way of traditional

00:05:50.729 --> 00:05:52.623
homework and studying
they have to do right now.

00:05:52.623 --> 00:05:55.288
To some degree, the fact,
that the studying is only

00:05:55.288 --> 00:05:57.133
a click away makes it a
little bit easier than the

00:05:57.133 --> 00:05:59.331
fact that the studying
is, go to your knapsack,

00:05:59.331 --> 00:06:02.715
take out a text book, turn
to page 543, read that

00:06:02.715 --> 00:06:06.323
dense text, then open
up your notebook, and do

00:06:06.323 --> 00:06:08.061
every other odd problem. Whatever it is.

00:06:08.061 --> 00:06:09.553
Whatever your homework
assignment might be.

00:06:09.553 --> 00:06:11.890
I actually think it lowers
the threshold to starting

00:06:11.890 --> 00:06:14.998
the actual the learning.
I think it also lowers

00:06:14.998 --> 00:06:18.063
it, because I would hope
our content is viewed as

00:06:18.063 --> 00:06:20.666
approachable content
and content that focuses

00:06:20.666 --> 00:06:22.876
the beauty of the
learning as opposed to the

00:06:22.876 --> 00:06:26.285
mechanical nature of the
learning. I think when most

00:06:26.285 --> 00:06:28.398
people are exposed to that they
find it much more satisfying.

00:06:28.398 --> 00:06:31.871
On a broad level, maybe, this
is being a little too hopeful.

00:06:31.871 --> 00:06:35.730
I think when content
becomes interesting everyone

00:06:35.730 --> 00:06:38.621
does feel better when
their learning then when

00:06:38.621 --> 00:06:42.143
they spend 5 hours stalking people
on a social networking site.

00:06:42.143 --> 00:06:44.876
I think once people
experience it, their like

00:06:44.876 --> 00:06:46.965
I actually enjoy it when
I spend more time learning

00:06:46.965 --> 00:06:50.210
than when I do other
things. With that said,

00:06:50.210 --> 00:06:54.806
it's an open question, and
we don't claim to solve it.

00:06:54.806 --> 00:06:58.332
Like I've answered in
a previous interview,

00:06:58.332 --> 00:07:03.462
if people are going to skip
out ... when they go home

00:07:03.462 --> 00:07:05.874
if their not going to
do their assignments, or

00:07:05.874 --> 00:07:08.059
if their not going to do
their learning, I would

00:07:08.059 --> 00:07:13.398
rather they skip out on lectures
than skip out on doing problems.

00:07:13.398 --> 00:07:15.883
That's where I think this
whole notion of flipping

00:07:15.883 --> 00:07:19.218
a classroom or whatever is
important. If someone's not

00:07:19.218 --> 00:07:21.927
going to do any work at
home, whether it's watching

00:07:21.927 --> 00:07:23.335
videos or doing traditional
homework, when you

00:07:23.335 --> 00:07:25.551
go to the classroom, I still
think it's more important

00:07:25.551 --> 00:07:28.641
that students do problems
there with their peers,

00:07:28.641 --> 00:07:31.814
and their teacher there,
than getting this lecture

00:07:31.814 --> 00:07:34.871
they may or may not be
prepared for, or be able

00:07:34.871 --> 00:07:36.888
to pay attention to, or
they may not find engaging.

00:07:36.888 --> 00:07:38.299
They never get to do the practice.

00:07:38.299 --> 00:07:41.999
The idea obviously is that
they use the human time

00:07:41.999 --> 00:07:45.147
in the classroom for
interaction, and then they go

00:07:45.147 --> 00:07:48.796
home and there they do exercises
and videos at their own pace.

00:07:48.796 --> 00:07:50.729
It's not just watching lectures at home.

00:07:50.729 --> 00:07:52.551
It's actually exercise and videos.

00:07:52.551 --> 00:07:55.150
Whatever's appropriate at that
stage of the learning process.

00:07:55.150 --> 00:07:59.397
Question number 5. What
according to you is the

00:07:59.397 --> 00:08:05.224
future of online education?
I don't think I answered

00:08:05.224 --> 00:08:06.864
the second part of that first question.

00:08:06.864 --> 00:08:08.636
So do you think online
lectures education can

00:08:08.636 --> 00:08:10.397
substitute the in-class way of teaching?

00:08:10.397 --> 00:08:14.979
I think online lecturers
education can substitute

00:08:14.979 --> 00:08:18.220
the in-class way of
lecturing. Especially, the

00:08:18.220 --> 00:08:20.225
relatively non-interactive
lectures that I've been

00:08:20.225 --> 00:08:22.395
a part of in college,
and the rest where it's

00:08:22.395 --> 00:08:24.532
really a professor lecturing,
and everyone taking

00:08:24.532 --> 00:08:26.130
notes. There's very [demeanor] action.

00:08:26.130 --> 00:08:29.477
I don't think it's a substitute
for in-class discussion,

00:08:29.477 --> 00:08:32.809
in-class simulations,
in-class problem solving,

00:08:32.809 --> 00:08:36.204
or in-class interaction.
To take it a step further,

00:08:36.204 --> 00:08:39.895
I think it's catalysis.
I think online lectures

00:08:39.895 --> 00:08:42.477
education solve these
problems. Their not something

00:08:42.477 --> 00:08:45.473
that's a substitute for
in-class interaction,

00:08:45.473 --> 00:08:47.480
their a catalysis for
in-class interaction.

00:08:47.480 --> 00:08:49.535
When you can get everything
done at your own pace

00:08:49.535 --> 00:08:51.930
at your own time, then
that makes the conversation

00:08:51.930 --> 00:08:54.228
you have in class, the
projects, the experiments,

00:08:54.228 --> 00:08:56.832
the expiration's you have in
class that much more productive.

00:08:56.832 --> 00:09:01.595
It frees up time for them. I think it's
a catalysis for it, not a substitute.

00:09:01.595 --> 00:09:03.508
Number 5. What, according
to you, is the future

00:09:03.508 --> 00:09:05.935
of online education? Will
having lectures online

00:09:05.935 --> 00:09:08.272
have any impact on the way
students are taught in the class?

00:09:08.272 --> 00:09:09.731
I'll answer the second part first.

00:09:09.731 --> 00:09:12.733
It's kind of what I just touched on. Yes.

00:09:12.733 --> 00:09:16.075
I think, right now,
universities are all ready

00:09:16.075 --> 00:09:18.231
telling their student
you're not in high schools.

00:09:18.231 --> 00:09:20.564
Go do the reading, read
page 40 through 70 tonight,

00:09:20.564 --> 00:09:22.670
and then come back to
lecture the next day.

00:09:22.670 --> 00:09:26.277
You'll get a better experience.
Some students do it.

00:09:26.277 --> 00:09:29.822
Some students don't. We
think the videos are much

00:09:29.822 --> 00:09:33.986
more approachable thing to
have to do the night before.

00:09:33.986 --> 00:09:36.738
Even if the student doesn't
do it the night before,

00:09:36.738 --> 00:09:38.933
the value is you always have it there.

00:09:38.933 --> 00:09:41.735
Even if you don't do it
the night before, in a

00:09:41.735 --> 00:09:43.542
traditional hall right
now, you go to class.

00:09:43.542 --> 00:09:45.333
and your lost, because
you didn't do the reading.

00:09:45.333 --> 00:09:46.999
At least now you have the
equivalent of a lecture

00:09:46.999 --> 00:09:50.228
that's better, because it's
granular and all the rest.

00:09:50.228 --> 00:09:52.652
You can review when you need to do it.

00:09:52.652 --> 00:09:55.065
Pause and repeat, review
things from previous years.

00:09:55.065 --> 00:09:58.943
It's going to have a
way. It has a huge impact

00:09:58.943 --> 00:10:00.927
the way students are
taught in class. They will

00:10:00.927 --> 00:10:03.403
no longer be lectured. That
is what's happening outside.

00:10:03.403 --> 00:10:06.401
I think our biggest role ...
I can't emphasis this enough.

00:10:06.401 --> 00:10:09.232
We are all about taking
lecture out of the class.

00:10:09.232 --> 00:10:11.067
We're not saying lecture
is the best way to learn.

00:10:11.067 --> 00:10:12.903
We're just saying let's
take it out of the class.

00:10:12.903 --> 00:10:15.259
We're saying that
interaction with teachers and

00:10:15.259 --> 00:10:17.344
your peers are the best way to learn.

00:10:17.344 --> 00:10:20.398
We hope to be a catalysis for that.

00:10:20.398 --> 00:10:22.742
In terms of what is the
future of online education?

00:10:22.742 --> 00:10:25.230
Open question. We don't
even know what the future

00:10:25.230 --> 00:10:27.322
of Khan Academy is. It's
something we're consistently

00:10:27.322 --> 00:10:30.735
experimenting with. Be open
minded about what works

00:10:30.735 --> 00:10:36.603
and what doesn't, then
adapting. It's not something

00:10:36.603 --> 00:10:39.076
that I'm 100% sure of.
I hope there's a future

00:10:39.076 --> 00:10:42.436
5 or 10 years where anyone
can go online and get a deep

00:10:42.436 --> 00:10:45.751
learning or understanding
of anything. On top of that,

00:10:45.751 --> 00:10:47.940
I hope there's a way to
prove what they know.

00:10:47.940 --> 00:10:49.591
They can credential. They
can say look, I don't

00:10:49.591 --> 00:10:51.282
need to take Algebra
anymore, because I've proven

00:10:51.282 --> 00:10:53.603
that I understand this.
It could be a traditional

00:10:53.603 --> 00:10:55.466
exams or it could be ...
this is what's interesting

00:10:55.466 --> 00:10:58.021
about online. Maybe it's
something with crowd-based

00:10:58.021 --> 00:11:00.604
oral exams, where if you
want to become a level

00:11:00.604 --> 00:11:03.474
5 Algebraist. You're level 4 right now,

00:11:03.474 --> 00:11:07.673
there's 5 out of 5 level
5 people have to say

00:11:07.673 --> 00:11:10.282
you're ready for level 5. Or,
ready to be deemed level 5.

00:11:10.282 --> 00:11:12.434
You do a Skype or meet
up, or who knows what

00:11:12.434 --> 00:11:15.207
it might be to be evaluated.
There's even ways online

00:11:15.207 --> 00:11:18.282
education to bring the
best of physical education

00:11:18.282 --> 00:11:21.093
into a scalable rate. Right
now, the goal standard

00:11:21.093 --> 00:11:22.878
of examination is the oral examination.

00:11:22.878 --> 00:11:25.936
It only happens during PhD
qualifiers, because they

00:11:25.936 --> 00:11:30.202
don't have resources to do
it for the undergraduates

00:11:30.202 --> 00:11:33.804
or regular K through 12 level.
I think with crowdsourcing

00:11:33.804 --> 00:11:37.471
we could start to explore
some really interesting ways.

00:11:37.471 --> 00:11:39.346
We don't know the answers there.

00:11:39.346 --> 00:11:43.609
Number 6. With respect to your
article in the Wall Street Journal

00:11:43.609 --> 00:11:45.226
regarding the Khan
Academy, could you please

00:11:45.226 --> 00:11:46.670
elaborate the concept of
taking lectures at home

00:11:46.670 --> 00:11:48.125
and doing homework in class?

00:11:48.125 --> 00:11:49.878
This is something I
really want to emphasis,

00:11:49.878 --> 00:11:52.464
because this really caught
on after I gave a talk

00:11:52.464 --> 00:11:56.220
about flipping the
classroom. The idea there was

00:11:56.220 --> 00:11:59.075
I mentioned is that I made these videos.

00:11:59.075 --> 00:12:01.473
I started getting letters
from teachers who said

00:12:01.473 --> 00:12:04.374
hey you made the videos?
The teachers then started

00:12:04.374 --> 00:12:06.042
to assign the videos as
homework, and then using

00:12:06.042 --> 00:12:10.069
class time for actual homework for
actually doing problem solving.

00:12:10.069 --> 00:12:13.305
Which, I think is super important.
That was halfway through the

00:12:13.305 --> 00:12:15.462
[temp] talk. What we're trying
to do with Khan Academy,

00:12:15.462 --> 00:12:17.587
is really go a step further than that.

00:12:17.587 --> 00:12:23.717
Whether your at home, in a
classroom, or on the train,

00:12:23.717 --> 00:12:26.451
learn at your own pace.
Whether, it's watching videos

00:12:26.451 --> 00:12:28.782
or doing exercises. Whatever's
appropriate for you.

00:12:28.782 --> 00:12:32.753
Learn at your own pace.
Then, your teacher will have

00:12:32.753 --> 00:12:36.186
data on what you've been
working on and maybe

00:12:36.186 --> 00:12:39.118
whether you are stuck.
So, when you go with that

00:12:39.118 --> 00:12:40.982
interaction with the
teacher, if you don't need

00:12:40.982 --> 00:12:42.460
any help maybe some of it is still working

00:12:42.460 --> 00:12:44.455
continuing to work at your own pace with

00:12:44.455 --> 00:12:47.005
videos and exercises. The
teacher will know when

00:12:47.005 --> 00:12:48.851
you do need help. Even if
you're shy they'll have

00:12:48.851 --> 00:12:51.442
that data, and they can
come up to you and hopefully

00:12:51.442 --> 00:12:53.512
have a productive intervention with you.

00:12:53.512 --> 00:12:56.589
What we're saying is, it's
not so much as a pure flip,

00:12:56.589 --> 00:12:58.861
we think it's a step
beyond that. Everyone works

00:12:58.861 --> 00:13:00.585
at their own pace at their own time,

00:13:00.585 --> 00:13:03.005
mastering concepts before they move on.

00:13:03.005 --> 00:13:05.856
The real crocks of what
the Khan Academy is

00:13:05.856 --> 00:13:09.193
about is making that
class time as interactive

00:13:09.193 --> 00:13:12.126
as possible. Leveraging
that human in the room,

00:13:12.126 --> 00:13:14.202
whether it's the teacher or your peers.

00:13:14.202 --> 00:13:17.065
So, they can do what
humans are best at which is

00:13:17.065 --> 00:13:21.452
mentor, diagnose,
understand what exactly is

00:13:21.452 --> 00:13:24.409
the students problem is, and
take it to the next level.

00:13:24.409 --> 00:13:27.657
Do what the videos and
exercises could not do.