February 4, 2012 14 comments
Over the past year, it’s become difficult to have a conversation about education and education reform without mentioning the words “Khan Academy.” For those who aren’t familiar, Khan Academy is a website that offers free instructional videos on everything from basic arithmetic to multi-variable calculus. Its founder, Sal Khan, originally started the site to help tutor his cousins in math. Today, millions of students across the world have used it for homework help and test prep, while major school districts have begun to incorporate Khan Academy into their curriculum. Some even wonder whether it will eventually replace teachers altogether.
From the Washington Post to 60 Minutes, Sal Khan has been hailed a pioneer, while everyone from gleeful journalists to investors have anointed Khan Academy a “revolution in education.”
It’s not.
Instead, Khan Academy may be one of the most dangerous phenomenon in education today. Not because of the site itself, but because of what it — or more appropriately, our obsession with it — says about how we as a nation view