The One World Schoolhouse
As Founder and CEO of the nonprofit Khan Academy, Sal Khan seeks to remove the barriers to education that leave over 600 million children lacking basic math and reading skills. His free, world-class curriculum—available to anyone, anywhere—has made a massive impact, with the academy’s videos reaching over a billion views. In talks, Khan shares how we can revolutionize education with technology, open interaction, and a personalized approach to learning.
“I discovered Sal Khan and Khan Academy like most other people—by using these incredible tools with my own kids. Sal Khan’s vision and energy for how technology could fundamentally transform education is contagious. He’s a true pioneer in integrating technology and learning.”— Bill Gates
Recognized for his incredible influence in the field of education, Sal Khan has been profiled by 60 Minutes, featured on the cover of Forbes, and named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. His passion project, the Khan Academy, started humbly when he began tutoring his cousins and a few family friends in math. Soon, word spread, demand grew, and the Khan Academy was born. Today, the platform has more than 62 million registered users across 190 countries, each able to access practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized dashboard to help students learn at their own pace. Boasting a state-of-the-art, adaptive technology, Khan Academy has partnered with world-class institutions such as NASA, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and MIT. The technology has had a reported meaningful impact for students attending top schools such as Stanford, Princeton, and Yale, especially those who are first-generation college students.
In his book, The One World Schoolhouse, praised by both Bill Gates and Al Gore, Khan outlines his vision for the future of education: liberating teachers from mandated curriculums and encouraging human interaction in classrooms. The ideas in One World are the basis for Khan Lab School, an independent off-shoot of the Khan Academy, that offers a collaborative, project-based learning approach to a mixed-age student group.
Khan holds three degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School. While at MIT, he taught MCAT prep courses and was named Teacher of the year by a national prep test company.
“Terrific and inspiring indeed. It had been a couple of years since I had seen Salman speak, and his sense of humor was better than ever. He got a standing ovation, and many people wanted to come up and say hello and thank him. As always, he was incredibly gracious and lovely to work with. I look forward to the next one.”BaAM Productions