6 Reasons Why Khan Academy And Its iPad Teaching App Can Revolutionize Education

With over 4 million users per month, Khan Academy is by far and away the largest school in the world. School is a term used loosely since Khan Academy is no brick-and-mortar institute of knowledge. The free, online tutoring site is leaps and bounds beyond anything dreamed of by students of yesterday; and it just might make the dreams of today's students come true.

Khan Academy was created by Sal Khan, a 35-year-old with three degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard. Khan is, undoubtedly, the most-watched teacher in the world. 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, the humble genius told CBS News.

Khan Academy is unlike anything the tutelage realm has ever encountered. Here are five reasons why Sal Khan and his Khan Academy can revolutionize education.

Learn Everything from Trigonometry to Astronomy

The Khan Academy, a not-for-profit institution, has over 3,000 educational videos available for your viewing your pleasure. Want to learn about trigonometry, the Bay of Pigs, the bromination of benzene, organic chemistry or the cosmological time scale? Khan Academy has tutorials videos for it all. And, the best perk of all, the videos are free. Over 129 million lessons have been delivered so far.

Keeping Track of Students

One of the greatest assets of the Khan Academy is its vigilance capability. Combined with over 3,000 videos, the website offers a world of exercises to help students learn interactively along the way. Students' stats are recorded in visually enhanced profiles. Along with this comes classroom data on total classroom performance; a map of knowledge which shows all exercise concepts and suggests the best exercises for you; and, finally, badges and points for those who accomplish goals worth bragging about. Teachers, tutors, parents and coaches can all monitor what exactly their students are learning with the Khan Academy and can keep track of their success.

A Classroom in Your Pocket

There is no better way to increase accessibility than with an Apple app. The Khan Academy has done just that. It January, it introduced its Khan Academy: A Classroom In Your Pocket app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch with iOS 4.0 or later. Though the app does not allow for practice exercise as does a PC or Mac, the Khan Academy app offers a collection of over 2,500 tutorials for hungry minds on the go. The app also allows users to interact with Facebook friends, ask questions in discussion forums and see lecture ratings to determine which videos are most helpful. Thus, bringing topnotch education to anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world.

It's Easy!

Sal Khan and the Khan Academy team make learning easy. Many of the lessons are simple, 10-minute clips with soothing voiceovers and clear, bold graphics. Art history lessons will feature close-up views of paintings, while mathematics tutorials will features colorful notes on a digital blackboard. The videos are streamed and can be viewed without the need of downloading an entirely new file. Fast forward and rewind capabilities make it simple for a student to go back and review a concept he or she might have had difficulty understanding the first time. Some students are more visual learners and can benefit greatly from the tutorial graphics; auditory learners can benefit from the simple, clearly-delivered tutorials; and kinesthetic learners can benefit from the hands-on exercises.

Khan Academy Spans Generations

Though many might think of the Khan Academy as a tool best used by grammar school or high school children, the digital tutorial forum has an expansive collection of videos for GMAT studies as well as those topics studied in med and nursing schools. Bill Gates was once one of Sal Khan's most famous pupils, according to CBS News. Gates said that Khan is the teacher to the world and has given us a glimpse of what possibilities the future holds for education

Big-Name Backers

Khan Academy has the support of Google, Bill and Melinda Gates, Reed Hastings, the Satter Foundation, the McCall McBain Foundation and more. In early-February, Craig Silverstein, the first employee hired by Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Paige, left the search giant for a position at Khan Academy. Craig's been with Google since the early days, said a Google spokesperson at the time. He was instrumental in the development of search and made numerous contributions to Google over the years. We wish him all the best at the Khan Academy and know that he will do great things to help them promote education around the world.