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Comment by runawaybottle | Hacker News Reader

Is khan academy even worth a shit? The videos seemed kinda pedestrian, the narrative seemed to carry it.

Edit:

So, I’ll double down on the bitterness. Why Khan? Why not the million other people that make instructional videos? Why did this guy get funding from Melinda Gates foundation?

If we objectively look at it, I think we’ll come to the answer - vanity. Indian guy with good cred (well shit, what did you think your SAT tutor was supposed to look like?) peddling the shit out of the narrative.

Ok, that’s fine. Did he do anything more than your standard YouTube video? That’s all I’m saying, no Popes in this world please, no one is above criticism.

Sal khan makes regular ass YouTube instructional videos.

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Yes, they are "worth a shit" to the millions of students they have helped, because videos being "pedestrian" doesn't matter when all you need is someone who can explain what your teacher tried to cover in class.

They're not meant for people who already have a major in the subject — they're meant for students in the middle/high school range.

Absolutely. Personally, I am forever grateful to Sal for helping me overcome my fear of math in my late teens. I started from 1+1=2 and eventually got to Calculus and Linear Algebra (using KA and other resources). I particularly liked the randomized exercises on the site, and how it tracked your progress over time. It became kind of an obsession -- I thought, if I can learn math, I can do anything. I believe Sal's style of teaching had a lot to do with it.

There are tons of other people like me, and it makes me sad seeing such bitterness about a person who obviously brought a lot of good into the world.

I literally only got through calculus in college because of this one guy on YouTube:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL58C7BA6C14FD8F48

He doesn’t give TED talks, he doesn’t have an organization, he doesn’t have a tech team, and he isn’t selling a narrative. Probably because he didn’t go to MIT, and Harvard, and wasn’t the brand that could go out and evangelize it. But Khan was, so his responsibility is much higher, and he mostly failed at it.

I believe in what that guy is doing. What Khan billed himself as was unfortunate and we needed to see a lot more from it. A glorified YouTube tutor. This thread might as well be a how-to on using YouTube-dl to download any number of auxiliary help videos on YouTube, not for our pristine Khan, savior of education.

I understand that Khan Academy isn’t a right fit for you. But to make personal comments on an individual because they aren’t a fit for you, is petty. I hope you find more people whom you believe in and write about them.

Such an odd criticism, I think. Khan started in 2006 with exactly that, online tutoring using YouTube. Is your criticism that he ever considered doing more? That he gave a TED talk?

Are you asking why Khan is now close to a household name while patrickJMT is not? There could be many reasons: Khan started 2-3 years earlier, Khan is (now, and for a while) a non-profit, arbitrary chance, etc.

Besides, PatrickJMT has 350mm views, has 200 patrons, and has published a book, _Calculus for Dummies_. He doesn't seem to be doing badly.

I found it really useful and anectodally so have many other people that I know. From this and your other comments I gather that you aren't a fan. That's okay - it's a free resource and no one is forced to use it.

They are incredibly valuable to myself a lots of students I know.

He never claimed to be savior of education - he is doing the same thing the other youtube guy you linked to - just at a bigger scale.

What would be more than “worth a shit” in comparison to Khan Academy? What process do you use to define the “worth”?

Platforms that should have integrated with k-12 schools by now.

It was a massive failure of the vision more or less.

Are you telling us that platforms that don’t integrate with K-12 schools (but are a complement to them) are failures?

I think at this point, yeah. We have the tech.

We also have the tech to have complementary resources. You and me don’t get to decide success or failure of an initiative based on mere existence of technology.

It seems you’re quite passionate about labelling success/failures from your individual lens.

FWIW, Khan Academy integrates with Google Classroom, supports login with Clever and offers tools for teachers and school districts.

The vision should be to replace K-12 schools, which have no accountability for unionized teachers and poor results compared to schools worldwide. We need school choice and decentralization, not propping up failing institutions.

Not sure your education is finished.

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