ONLINE LEARNING: Khan Academy and MOOC

Khan Academy

A free world-class education for anyone anywhere.

Khan Academy is an organization on a mission. We're a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education for anyone anywhere.

All of the site's resources are available to anyone. It doesn't matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology. Khan Academy's materials and resources are available to you completely free of charge.

2011 _  the beginnings

        KA on John Stossel Documentary

Khan Academy on Jon Stossel Documentary in September 2011

OTHER resources

     1. MOOC learning

What in the world is a MOOC?  By Jenna Johnson

In the last few weeks, the word “MOOC” has become part of the higher education lexicon. The cute little acronym has been thrown around by administrators in suits-only meetings, casually dropped by blogging or vlogging faculty, and explained by student newspapers. Earlier this month, a PhD student and blogger in Canada declared: “I've watched agog as the word MOOC has proliferated and spiralled into the higher education buzzword of the year.” 

So, what in the world is a MOOC? It’s a “Massive Open Online Course” that anyone with an Internet connection can attend for free. These classes are aimed at expanding a university’s reach from thousands of tuition-paying students who live in town, to millions of students around the world.

• * Georgetown University Provost Robert Groves blogged: “The ability of massive open online courses to deliver exactly the same experience simultaneously to thousands and thousands of students breaks the mold of traditional university education.  We can all see their potential to increase access to education and reduce the costs of education.” 

(Full blog post: “Our Moment in Time.”)

• * Several TIME magazine staffers have enrolled in MOOCs this semester, including technology writer Harry McCracken who is taking a class through University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. One of his observations: “There are 76,000 people registered for the class, which is more than twice the entire current enrollment for my alma mater, Boston University. Only 13,000 turned in the first written assignment on time. I wonder how many of us will still be at it when the final exam rolls around?”

 (Full column: “MOOC Brigade: Back to School, 26 Years Later.”)

     2.  Tech Company Helps South Korean Students Ace Entrance Tests

http://www.megastudy.net/

Mr. Son’s idea for cheap mass education has made him one of the richest men in the country. Sales at his company, which went public in 2004, jumped to 202 billion won last year, from 579 million won in 2000, when the company was formed. From high school-level courses, Megastudy has expanded into elementary school and opened courses for college students studying to get into medical and law school.Besides South Koreans’ affinity for all things online, whether shopping or watching TV, Mr. Son’s success also rests on distrust of the public school system. "Koreans who “study like crazy” is what keeps the country’s economy going."With the country pouring billions of dollars into making its Internet 10 times faster by 2014, Mr. Son suggested that the world turn to South Korea for a glimpse of what education might look like in the future.“Offline schools will become supplemental to online education,” he predicted. “Students will go to school, perhaps once a week, for group activities like sports.”