Podcast Reflection #9: Salman Khan: Let's use video to reinvent education.

In this episode of TED Talks, Salman Khan discusses the creation of his educational website Khan Academy. Salman Khan began posting videos to YouTube as a way to assist his young family members grasp mathematical concepts they were learning in school. However, because he received such a great response about the videos from both his family and other people who used the videos, he began the Khan Academy. On this website, educators and learners can find thousands of videos in various subjects to learn important curricular concepts. After pondering the response he received, Mr. Khan has suggested the possibility of teachers reversing the typical instructional approach and replacing traditional lectures with these online videos. In this method, students would be assigned certain videos to view prior to the class period freeing up valuable instructional time for practice and critical thinking activities that lead to deeper understanding. As a result, the student becomes familiar with the important content before class and then has time to practice and demonstrate understanding with the teacher who can assist with any questions and provide extra instruction if needed. While I had never considered this method before, I would like to see it in practice because I believe it could be an effective way to make students more comfortable with learning, especially when it comes to more challenging material.