Khan Academy Arrives in Latin America

This post is also available in: Spanish

The Khan Academy, which provides students with instructional online videos and learn-as-you-go problem sets, is forcing educators to re-think the traditional teaching model.

Founded in 2009 by MIT graduate Salmon Khan, the learning platform enables teachers to assign lectures as homework, leaving class time for practice and individualized instruction. Khan has six million online visitors per month, and several public and charter schools in the United States have adopted the Khan model in their classrooms.

With funding from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, Khan has now begun to translate videos into Spanish, making them more easily accessible to students in Latin America. Similar online platforms are also being developed within Latin America, such as Argentina’s Educatina. While empirical research on the learning outcomes of these types of instruction is scarce, opinions abound as to their projected effectiveness. Follow the links below to learn more.

From the horse’s mouth: 

•  Ted Talk by Founder Salmon Khan
• Khan Academy Webpage

Outside Analyses:

• “How Well does Khan Academy Teach?” By Christopher Danielson and Michael Paul Goldenberg. The Washington Post, July 27, 2012.
• “Can Khan Move the Bell Curve to the Right?” By June Kronholz. Education Next, Spring 2012.
• “Don’t Use Khan Academy without Watching this First.” By Justin Reich. Education Week. June 21, 2012.

Similar Programs in Latin America:

• Educatina (Argentina)
• Você Aprende Agora (Brazil)