Khan Academy: The future of education?

The following script is from "Teacher to the World" which aired on March 11, 2012, and was rebroadcast on Sept. 1, 2013. Sanjay Gupta is the correspondent. Denise Schrier Cetta, producer.

Take a moment and remember your favorite teacher - now imagine that teacher could reach, not 30 kids in a classroom, but millions of students all over the world. As we first reported last year, that's exactly what Sal Khan is doing on his website Khan Academy. With its digital lessons and simple exercises, he's determined to transform how we learn at every level. One of his most famous pupils, Bill Gates, says Khan -- this "teacher to the world," is giving us all a glimpse of the future of education.

36-year-old Sal Khan may look like a bicycle messenger, but with three degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard, his errand is intensely intellectual. In his tiny office above a tea shop in Silicon Valley, he settles in to do what he's done thousands of times before.

[Sal Khan: We've talked a lot now about the demand curve and consumer surplus. Now let's think about the supply curve.]

He's recording a 10-minute economics lesson. It's so simple - all you hear is his voice and all you see is his colorful sketches on a digital blackboard.

Watch Internet phenomenon Sal Khan's video lessons

[Khan: In this video we are going to talk about the law of demand.]

When Khan finishes the lecture, he uploads it to his website - where it joins the more than 3,000 other lessons he's done. In just a couple of years he's gone from having a few hundred pupils to more than six million every month.

Sanjay Gupta: Has it sunk in to you that you are probably the most watched teacher in the world now?

Khan: I, you know, I try not to say things like that to myself. You don't want to think about it too much because it can I think paralyze you a little bit.

[Khan: So if we get rid of the percent sign, we move the decimal over...]

He's amassed a library of math lectures...

[Khan: 12 plus four is sixteen...]

Starting with basic addition and building all the way through advanced calculus.

[Khan: We are taking limited delta x approach to zero. It's the exact same thing.]

But he's not just a math wiz, he has this uncanny ability to break down even the most complicated subjects, including physics, biology, astronomy, history, medicine.

Gupta: How much reading do you do ahead of time?

Khan: It depends what I'm doing. If I'm doing something that I haven't visited for a long time, you know, since high school I'll go buy five textbooks in it. And I'll try to read every textbook. I'll read whatever I can find on the Internet.

[Khan: Let's talk about one of the most important biological processes...]

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Education: Common Core standards not understood

Most Americans have never heard of the Common Core State Standards, the educational approach that is overhauling classroom instruction across most of the country and has triggered intensifying political and policy debate about the nation's academic benchmarks, according to a recent national poll.

The disconnect between policymakers and the public is among the key findings of a PDK-Gallup poll that was the 45th annual effort to measure Americans' views on key education issues.

The poll found two in three people had not heard of the Common Core, which has been fully adopted in 45 states and the District of Columbia. The new rigorous standards emphasize critical thinking and problem solving and are meant to better prepare students for success.

Of those who did recognize the term, most had major misconceptions about the standards and believed that they will have no effect or will make American students less competitive with their peers across the world.

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Parents in Brick upset about move of special education students

BRICK — A school district plan to move about 60 special education students to the Osbornville Elementary School from their neighborhood schools has drawn the ire of some parents who think it will have a negative impact on their children?s education.

Marjory Towey said she was shocked when she heard her 7-year old daughter, a special education student, would attend the Osbornville Elementary School in September. Her daughter now attends the Emma Havens Young Elementary School.

?These are special education students who need stability in their surroundings and we feel that the Brick school system has unjustly chosen to move this demographic and has not thought of our children?s best interest,?? said Towey, 40. ?This will be the third school that my daughter has attended in three years. How is that stability???

Some concerned parents attended the township Board of Education meeting July 25 seeking answers to why students are being moved. During the meeting, district officials said the move was an educational move but failed to elaborate. Superintendent Walter Uszenski said he would meet with groups of parents to discuss the issue during the next couple of weeks. Calls to Uszenski on Wednesday were not returned.

Towey said parents were kept in the dark until the last minute about the change.

?The only way that I knew something was going on was when I saw my daughter?s teacher getting transferred to the Osbronville School last month,? Towey said. ?We feel like this was done behind our back. It?s like they kept us out of loop. It?s like they did not want anyone to fight it. It?s so late in the summer, what can be done??

Jennifer Hanley?s son will be a special education first-grader in September. She said moving the students is not right.

?The district did not supply any information to the parents, there is a lot of confusion,? said Hanley, 41. ?We feel our kids are being segregated and being taken away from their neighborhood kids.?

Colleen Collichio, a 36-year-old mother of twin 6-year-old boys, one of whom is autistic, said the change could have long-term effects on the children.

?They (the district) really didn?t give us much information. They claim that the smaller condensed classes will give them more one-on-one academically,? Collichio said. ?Most of these kids on the spectrum are so academically smart, it is the social issue that they need help with to prepare them for independence.?

Since the move was announced, Collichio talked district officials into letting her son stay at Lanes Mills Elementary School. Yet Collichio said she still is upset by the situation.

?Most of us parents accept that our kids won?t go to college but if they can get a job and know how to take care of themselves, know how to communicate to the locals to get through life that is all we want,? Collichio said. ?We would rather them have the social skills to get through life so we don?t have to put them in assisted living or nursing homes when we pass away.?

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Parents in Brick upset about move of special education students

BRICK — A school district plan to move about 60 special education students to the Osbornville Elementary School from their neighborhood schools has drawn the ire of some parents who think it will have a negative impact on their children?s education.

Marjory Towey said she was shocked when she heard her 7-year old daughter, a special education student, would attend the Osbornville Elementary School in September. Her daughter now attends the Emma Havens Young Elementary School.

?These are special education students who need stability in their surroundings and we feel that the Brick school system has unjustly chosen to move this demographic and has not thought of our children?s best interest,?? said Towey, 40. ?This will be the third school that my daughter has attended in three years. How is that stability???

Some concerned parents attended the township Board of Education meeting July 25 seeking answers to why students are being moved. During the meeting, district officials said the move was an educational move but failed to elaborate. Superintendent Walter Uszenski said he would meet with groups of parents to discuss the issue during the next couple of weeks. Calls to Uszenski on Wednesday were not returned.

Towey said parents were kept in the dark until the last minute about the change.

?The only way that I knew something was going on was when I saw my daughter?s teacher getting transferred to the Osbronville School last month,? Towey said. ?We feel like this was done behind our back. It?s like they kept us out of loop. It?s like they did not want anyone to fight it. It?s so late in the summer, what can be done??

Jennifer Hanley?s son will be a special education first-grader in September. She said moving the students is not right.

?The district did not supply any information to the parents, there is a lot of confusion,? said Hanley, 41. ?We feel our kids are being segregated and being taken away from their neighborhood kids.?

Colleen Collichio, a 36-year-old mother of twin 6-year-old boys, one of whom is autistic, said the change could have long-term effects on the children.

?They (the district) really didn?t give us much information. They claim that the smaller condensed classes will give them more one-on-one academically,? Collichio said. ?Most of these kids on the spectrum are so academically smart, it is the social issue that they need help with to prepare them for independence.?

Since the move was announced, Collichio talked district officials into letting her son stay at Lanes Mills Elementary School. Yet Collichio said she still is upset by the situation.

?Most of us parents accept that our kids won?t go to college but if they can get a job and know how to take care of themselves, know how to communicate to the locals to get through life that is all we want,? Collichio said. ?We would rather them have the social skills to get through life so we don?t have to put them in assisted living or nursing homes when we pass away.?

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World Arbor Day observed at College of Education, GHSS Kothi Bagh

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