- The virtual liberates the physical. Time and time again I'm confronted with individuals who assert a false choice between either face-to-face learning or learning in the virtual environment. I never bought it. Sal Khan doesn't either. I found compelling his notion of the virtual knocking down doors, extending learning beyond the classroom and freeing teachers to engage with students more meaningfully. In fact, this concept helped to crystallize, for me, the real benefits of virtual learning for our schools.
- Khan Academy provides individualized coaching for the new SAT (for free). Khan Academy has offered free PSAT and SAT tutorials almost since its inception. Weeks ago, the Academy unveiled a new partnership with SAT that provides students with personalized diagnostics to help them understand where they require greater focus to improve their score. By leveraging some of the best minds in education and technology, this deepened emphasis on mastery-based learning could accomplish what no individual school can.
- The Khan Lab School is built on the traditional independent school business model—and faces a familiar challenge. Even with the cachet of Khan Academy, the 58-student, bricks-and-mortar-based Khan Lab School charges $22,000 in tuition for its year-round education—at an actual cost per student of $30,000. Last week, Khan told business officers that he expects this gap to diminish or vanish when the school scales up. We will watch closely to see if he achieves this goal, and will look for lessons to share along the way.
The day after Khan's presentations, a colleague noted a certain irony in Sal Khan keynoting our meeting. This person said, "He offers everything for free, and our schools offer the most expensive preK–12 option in the marketplace." In response, I could only underscore my honest belief that we will benefit by listening to and learning from this pioneer. He is changing preK–12 education for the better in real time, and he is striving (as we are) to offer a world-class education as affordably as possible. As he continues to innovate, we must attempt to understand the potential implications for independent education.
You've heard my Sal Khan takeaways. I would love to hear yours as well. Please email me at jeff.shields@nboa.org, or post on Twitter @shieldsNBOA.
