The Khan Academy takes YouTube, the easy-to-use video-sharing platform, and turns it into a K-12 teaching tool for students around the world. Salman Khan, the site’s creator, started making the instructional videos after tutoring his cousin, who lived more than 1,500 miles away. Using an Internet connection and the Yahoo Doodle program, he was able to create videos that focus on problem-solving. They’re grouped by subject—many of them are math- or science-related—and they offer careful explanations in broadcast clips that typically range from five to eight minutes long. Khan’s videos have been translated into a number of different languages, and his site receives some 40,000 Web hits a day. That’s not bad considering most other YouTube videos do very little in the way of teaching. Khan is working on attracting foundation and other private funding for the nonprofit academy so he can continue to offer the virtual courses for free.
—Tim Ebner
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