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The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined

Salman Khan

4.33 · Rating details · 4,007 ratings · 616 reviews

A free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere: this is the goal of the Khan Academy, a passion project that grew from an ex-engineer and hedge funder's online tutoring sessions with his niece, who was struggling with algebra, into a worldwide phenomenon. Today millions of students, parents, and teachers use the Khan Academy's free videos and software, which have expan A free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere: this is the goal of the Khan Academy, a passion project that grew from an ex-engineer and hedge funder's online tutoring sessions with his niece, who was struggling with algebra, into a worldwide phenomenon. Today millions of students, parents, and teachers use the Khan Academy's free videos and software, which have expanded to encompass nearly every conceivable subject; and Academy techniques are being employed with exciting results in a growing number of classrooms around the globe.

Like many innovators, Khan rethinks existing assumptions and imagines what education could be if freed from them. And his core idea-liberating teachers from lecturing and state-mandated calendars and opening up class time for truly human interaction-has become his life's passion. Schools seek his advice about connecting to students in a digital age, and people of all ages and backgrounds flock to the site to utilize this fresh approach to learning.

In THE ONE WORLD SCHOOLHOUSE, Khan presents his radical vision for the future of education, as well as his own remarkable story, for the first time. In these pages, you will discover, among other things:

* How both students and teachers are being bound by a broken top-down model invented in Prussia two centuries ago
* Why technology will make classrooms more human and teachers more important
* How and why we can afford to pay educators the same as other professionals
* How we can bring creativity and true human interactivity back to learning
* Why we should be very optimistic about the future of learning.

Parents and politicians routinely bemoan the state of our education system. Statistics suggest we've fallen behind the rest of the world in literacy, math, and sciences. With a shrewd reading of history, Khan explains how this crisis presented itself, and why a return to "mastery learning," abandoned in the twentieth century and ingeniously revived by tools like the Khan Academy, could offer the best opportunity to level the playing field, and to give all of our children a world-class education now.

More than just a solution, THE ONE WORLD SCHOOLHOUSE serves as a call for free, universal, global education, and an explanation of how Khan's simple yet revolutionary thinking can help achieve this inspiring goal. ...more

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Published October 2nd 2012 by Hachette Audio (first published 2012)

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Oct 05, 2012 Karen.s rated it it was amazing

I am an English teacher in Israel in the Bedouin sector, a sector with multiple handicaps in education. I don't have a background in education but have been quite successful in teaching my students. Many of my unconventional methods were stumbled upon or found by trial and error. Salman Khan of the Khan Academy is someone I have admired since I first heard of him earlier this year and a kindred spirit I believe. I didn't know he had published a book, so when I happened upon his article in Time m I am an English teacher in Israel in the Bedouin sector, a sector with multiple handicaps in education. I don't have a background in education but have been quite successful in teaching my students. Many of my unconventional methods were stumbled upon or found by trial and error. Salman Khan of the Khan Academy is someone I have admired since I first heard of him earlier this year and a kindred spirit I believe. I didn't know he had published a book, so when I happened upon his article in Time magazine this week, I immediately downloaded the book. I wish I could make it mandatory reading for every teacher in the world!

This book more or less outlines Khan's vision for the future of schools: that each student should learn according to his own pace and learning style, the fundamentals would be presented in short videos available online or DVDs that would be watched whenever the student wants and class time would be devoted to actual practical application of the fundamentals. Teachers are available to help but students can help each other as well. That's the vision in a nutshell although Khan goes into greater depth and expands the concept of learning. After reading this book, if I can't join his institution, I want to adapt whatever parts I can on my own! That is the definition of an inspiring book.

I had feared that this book would more or less be a blatant advertisement for the Khan Academy. Even though Khan would have every right to brag and push his "business", he seems to be a humble man who just wants to best educational possibilities for every student in the world. He often repeats a line to the effect of "students can use video tutorials from Khan Academy or elsewhere". Though he could envision a business model where his name is stamped on a multitude of schools and he makes millions, he provides simply the well-thought out vision and offers his experiences. This makes him all the more admirable.

Possibly what I liked best about this book, is it's simple and to the point presentation. It is not an education theory textbook, heavily padded with lofty language and concepts. It is concise, easy to read and understand, which makes it easily digested by anyone from student, parent, academic or investor. That's great. ...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Roopa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: india-2013-april

This is the best book ever.

I know, I know, but it really is. I love the topics Sal covers, and how he basically lays this book out in an inculcative format that would make a decent knowledge map. The history of American education, the explanations about the science of learning, the way things would/should/could be in Sal's opinion, all of it is great. The story of Khan Academy is nothing less than inspiring and heartwarming, you can't help but love Sal.

Disclaimer: I've been drinking the Khan Ac ...more

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Dec 27, 2012 John Stein rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ted, memoir

Really interesting book on several levels. First, the khan academy online lessons are great, and understanding the guy and vision behind the program is very worthwhile. Second, though a little utopian in its vision, the book is a good starting place for the "how would education be different if we started with a blank page" conversation. And finally, as someone interested in social entrepreneurism, it is an interesting case study - still being written- about how and if a great idea can maybe buil ...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Diane rated it it was amazing

When a colleague asked me about the educational philosophies of Salman Khan and the use of Khan Academy by my students to support their math journey, she wanted to know if this would put teachers out of a job. She wanted to know if I was worried. No way! For anyone who has had the opportunity to investigate or use Khan Academy, reading this book of education reimagined is a must to understand the fundamentals behind how educational reform can and should happen in our 21st century.

When I first st ...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Juliana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: dot-com-history, memoir, how-to, books, education

First of all a thank you to Lynda Weinman, Lynda of lynda.com for giving every single one of the company's employees a copy of this book over the holidays. Books make the best gifts and when I start a job and first thing they hand me is a stack of free books I know I've landed in the right place.

You have heard of Salman Khan the creator of the Khan Academy and this book published by TwelveBooks serve as an introduction to his story and his thoughts or manifesto on learning. I was inspired by this book. Sal started out tutoring one student--his cousin Nadia and before he knew it he was spending his spare time tutoring more family members. He was very good at it. And from there his teaching starts to spread, his ideas start to catch on and now he is on a mission to create a free world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

I could relate to Nada's issue. She had missed one important concept and that put her on a lesser school track. When I was a freshman in high school in my first Algebra class--maybe I was talking...maybe I was sleeping... but I missed something important. That semester I received my first ever D! My teacher told my mother I was lazy and she needed to take my television and music away from me. (I knew the woman hated me! And yeah I was probably too busy talking.) From then on I was put in the more basic math--not the college prep and I had to repeat the semester in order to change my grade for college transcripts. The next semester when I took the class, I took the textbook and studied on my own. Then it clicked and I spent the rest of semester doing my homework during lectures. This time I received an A.

And I do owe a big apology to my older brother the engineer who didn't talk alot in class and studied harder. He actually tried to sit down and teach Khan-style concepts before I received my D. At the time I just wanted to learn how to do my homework, I didn't want to learn the concepts he attempted teach me. C'mon I had Brady Brunch re-runs to watch! Luckily he seems to have had a better student in my niece.

I like what Salman has to say about learning--covering the basics and practicing until you can prove you've got it to move on, and to also move at your own speed. Okay--you got me. The guy speaks my language. After all my career has been all about learning--first in creating how-to technology books to self-paced elearning, ILT courseware to certs and now in online video training. Not ironically, a career that has also called on my "talking" skills so there Algebra teacher! Technology loves self-learners and there is plenty to learn. This book did make me think about what concepts are basic and essential for the business technology subjects I cover.

I've also spent a lot of time on Khan Academy the past few days. I always regretted that I never really made it past basic Algebra and Geometry. I thought it was because I hated math, but the fact is I've loved puzzles. I've done quilting which requires a lot of math. And I use data analysis and statistics regularly to uncover business insights. So I'm going back to the basics--starting at the beginning just like Salman Khan suggests (and how can you not respect someone that Bill Gates says is his favorite teacher!). His site also has Science, Art History and more. Stuff I want to learn.

Check out his book and the Khan Academy site. ...more

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Dec 28, 2013 Lars rated it liked it

I love Khan Academy and owe to it many of my late successes in math and other quantitative subjects. Sal is not only a first-rate teacher, but also a brilliant engineer. Case in point, educators and authorities have been worrying for years over how to construct a system that takes into account the varying skillsets, learning styles and countless random variables that go into a student's performance.

KA presents a workable, effective solution; let students learn at their own pace with short, easy I love Khan Academy and owe to it many of my late successes in math and other quantitative subjects. Sal is not only a first-rate teacher, but also a brilliant engineer. Case in point, educators and authorities have been worrying for years over how to construct a system that takes into account the varying skillsets, learning styles and countless random variables that go into a student's performance.

KA presents a workable, effective solution; let students learn at their own pace with short, easy-to-understand videos, and make them master their skills with randomly generated problems. Sprinkle some algorithmic magic and videogame-inspired reward systems to tie it all together, and you suddenly have a plausible alternative to the standard classroom setting.

The system has worked very well for me and I am extremely grateful to Sal and his team. However, I do have some reservations about the contents of this book. "The One World Schoolhouse" is seven parts good and three parts bad. Seven parts good for its inspiring anecdotes and thought-provoking ideas. Three parts bad for its occasional overreach and Valley-style evangelism.

Having seen Khan Academy work in some experimental settings, Sal is encouraged by the results to argue for a radical departure from the classic, "Prussian-style" classroom learning with grades, lectures and homework. Instead, he says, kids should be in mixed-grade classes using KA-style videos to learn at their own pace. Instead of giving final grades, teachers should be using a computer-assisted, comprehensive approach to assess a student's potential. A lot of it is really interesting. But then there are parts like this:

"The various outposts of our schoolhouse would therefore be interconnected as well, through things like Skype or Google Hangouts. Students and teachers in San Francisco could interact with those in Toronto, London, or Mumbai. Imagine students in Tehran tutoring students in Tel Aviv or students in Islamabad learning from a professor in New Delhi."

This is utopian dreck. Passages like these are the stuff of Thomas Friedman columns, or a second-rate TED talk, not a serious treatise on school reform.

Many of Sal's suggestions (such as free-form semesters) seem to me to require idealized children, the type that has a genuine desire to learn when not supervised. The kind that does not care for the innumerable distractions of on-demand TV series and first-person shooters, and shows the respect necessary to not indulge in them during school hours. The kind that is not inclined to use time on school iPads to draw dongs and send pictures of cats. Adults frequently develop a blind spot for this side of adolescent behavior, and it grows ever larger when they start having children of their own. Khan Academy does fine when it is presented as an supplement to, or alternative to the traditional system. But what happens when Sal's system is the institutional norm? Does it retain its freshness and appeal to kids? I have my doubts.

Would I recommend this book? In a certain sense, absolutely, because everyone should be supporting Sal and his efforts. Many of the ideas contained in the book are fresh and thought-provoking. But they are too detached, not real enough for me to fully embrace yet. ...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Dina rated it liked it

I think of this book as a dream of Khan's. I do think it has some ideas for practical applications but on a large scale I find it hard to believe that this can be the future of education. The biggest obstacle is motivation for students. Khan doesn't address how to motivate students in general, he believes that all students are motivated in some area and without being disciplined and will engage in online videos of mathematics on their own. I certainly don't think this will happen, for instance, ...more

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May 08, 2013 Gail rated it really liked it

In “The One World Schoolhouse,” Salman Khan sets forth a compelling - though admittedly imperfect and imprecise - vision for the future of education based upon the success of Khan Academy, a not-for-profit website that features free ten-minute instructional videos, software-generated exercises, and data analysis (e.g., alerting teachers when a student is “stuck” on a particular concept). Despite my initial (and apparently common) “fear that computer-based instruction is all about replacing teach In “The One World Schoolhouse,” Salman Khan sets forth a compelling - though admittedly imperfect and imprecise - vision for the future of education based upon the success of Khan Academy, a not-for-profit website that features free ten-minute instructional videos, software-generated exercises, and data analysis (e.g., alerting teachers when a student is “stuck” on a particular concept). Despite my initial (and apparently common) “fear that computer-based instruction is all about replacing teachers or lowering the level of skill needed to be a teacher,” Khan largely wins over both the parent and former teacher in me by demonstrating that “[t]he exact opposite is true” in his reimagined classroom where “initial exposure to a concept online” is followed by personal and personalized instruction as well as plenty of socialization.

Driving Khan’s pedagogical philosophy is identification of myriad ways in which schooling as we know it is incompatible with learning as neuro and social science know it: age-organized classrooms, “broadcast lectures,” hour-long class periods, balkanized subject matter (knowledge broken down into discrete lessons, units, and subjects rather than a flow of concepts that facilitates associative learning), testing, homework, summer vacations, grading, and, most importantly, communal pacing.

“[L]essons should be paced to the individual student’s needs, not to some arbitrary calendar[, average student of similar age, or clock].”
“In most classrooms in most schools, students pass with 75 or 80 percent. This is customary. But if you think about it even for a moment, it’s unacceptable if not disastrous [since] . . . basic concepts need[] to be deeply understood if students [a]re to succeed at mastering more advanced ones.”
“Homework becomes necessary because not enough learning happens during the school day. Why is there a shortage of learning during the hours specifically designed for it? Because the broadcast, one-pace-fits-all lecture . . . turns out to be a highly inefficient way to teach and learn.”
“The danger of using assessments as reasons to filter out students . . . is that we may overlook or discourage those whose talents are of a different order - whose intelligence tends more to the oblique and the intuitive.”
“What should be fixed is a high level of comprehension and what should be variable is the amount of time students have to understand a concept.”
“With self-paced learning . . . [i]f a given concept is easily grasped, one can sprint ahead, outrunning boredom. If a subject is proving difficult, it’s possible to hit the pause button, or to go back and do more problems as necessary, without embarrassment and without asking the whole class to slow down.”

I see these points, and I wholeheartedly agree with many of Khan’s big-picture assertions:

“Discovering - and nurturing - the natural bent of the child; isn’t this the proper goal of education?”
“We limit what students believe they can do by selling short what we expect them to do.”
“[I]f you give students the opportunity to learn deeply and to see the magic of the universe around them, almost everyone will be motivated.”
“Since we can’t predict exactly what today’s young people will need to know in ten or twenty years, what we teach them is less important than how they learn to teach themselves.”

I also desperately hope that the efficiency gains he discusses (accomplishing as much as a student currently does during a full school day and several hours of homework at night in just a few hours of computer-based learning followed by practical, physical, creative, and fun exercises) are real and replicable.

Yet I struggle with some aspects of Khan’s vision. He complains that “[c]onventional curricula don’t only tell students where to start; they tell students where to stop.” I can see his perspective, but I think an artificial stopping point is a two-sided coin. Counterbalancing the risks of boredom, loss of inertia, and lack of growth is the fact that capping kids’ efforts protects childhood and prevents burnout. Internal and external pressure will drive at least some kids off the deep end if pace is totally unfettered, especially when you mix in competition assessed not by grades but by Khan’s alternative measure of work completed vis-a-vis the entire world. Khan also doesn’t totally condemn homework, in my view selling short the burdens on at-risk kids (like working afternoon and evening jobs, caring for siblings, and dodging bullets) in the name of raised expectations. Finally, his justification for mixed age classrooms seems a bit off the mark to me. He writes, “The older ones take responsibility for the younger ones. . . . The younger ones look up to and emulate the older ones. . . . [N]ature would not have made it possible [for twelve year-olds to procreate] unless adolescents were also wired to be ready to take responsibility for others.” I was tasked with teaching a class of thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen year-olds structured around this concept (it mixed "honors" and "special ed" kids on the theory that the former would help teach the latter), and it was an unmitigated disaster. Kids tutoring each other sounds wonderful, but throw hormones and social standing in the mix and things get a lot more complicated. (I also bristle at Khan's treatment of adolescence, a developmental period that needs to be fiercely protected; teenagers in some ways are capable of taking on responsibility but in others are physiologically incapable.) I’m not saying his vision of a bustling, cooperative classroom is naive or impossible, just a bit trickier to accomplish than he makes it sound.

I’m also not sure what to make of Khan’s clear focus on math and engineering. I’d love to hear his ideas fleshed out in the K-12 liberal arts context. I understand how software can generate math exercises, but improved sentence structure? Brainstorming? Outlining? I’m sure there are ways (diagramming sentences, for starters), but they aren't as readily apparent in the context of teaching skills like writing.

At the end of the day, Khan proposes a paradigm shift: “The current system is rife with inefficiencies and inequalities, with tragic mismatches between how students are taught and what they need to know; and the situation grows more urgent with every day that the educational status quo survives while the world is changing all around it.” He presents many smart, intriguing ideas (including ones for higher, adult, and continuing education) as well as a track record of success that is as exciting as it is modest. Like Khan himself, I’m not ready to say Khan Academy ought to be the new paradigm, but I think it’s a contender and that his case for reform is well worth the reading time. ...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Sarah Bringhurst Familia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: education, heroes

A couple of years ago, I started hearing rumors about some mysterious and amazing online learning tool called Khan Academy. Being well immersed in the literature on the evils of screen time for children and jaded about all the companies springing up to take advantage of insecure parents, I ignored what sounded like just the latest homeschooling fad. Finally though, my curiosity got the better of me. Sure enough, my five-year-old was soon hooked on the math knowledge map, while I myself sampled v ...more

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Aug 30, 2015 Akemi G rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-nonfiction

We know the problem: Current school system is broken.
Education is essential for individuals, and in tern, for the sustenance and prosperity of the society. However, few intelligent people want to become teachers (and who can blame them?), public schools are all about following rules and government-defined curriculums, private school are about making money, both are authoritative and no fun for children, therefore kids hate schools. Learning is actually fun, but not many people ever get to know ...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Joleigh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

For most of my life I have been involved in education. Over those many years I have been saddened by the potential wasted in classrooms. The system has needed change forever! Salman Kahn is making that change happen. This book presents his ideas for the future and should be read by everyone: teachers, administrators, parents, students, entrepreneurs, EVERYONE! The good news is that Bill Gates and others have already recognized the brilliance of this man and are supporting him monetarily and othe For most of my life I have been involved in education. Over those many years I have been saddened by the potential wasted in classrooms. The system has needed change forever! Salman Kahn is making that change happen. This book presents his ideas for the future and should be read by everyone: teachers, administrators, parents, students, entrepreneurs, EVERYONE! The good news is that Bill Gates and others have already recognized the brilliance of this man and are supporting him monetarily and otherwise.

When I was taking education courses back in the 60's and 70's, I came across Summerhill and A.S, Neill. Kahn has, whether knowingly or not, stumbled on a plan for education that echoes Neil, only with computers. I, as a classroom teacher, saw this potential and strove in my English classroom to stick to the curriculum, but still provide as much Neill and computers as possible. My last five years of teaching I was able to team with a special ed teacher in an inclusion classroom where we used computers, and every other adaptive device we could get, to work creating much the same atmosphere as Kahn envisions. We added Kathy Nunely's Layered Curriculum and had a wonderful time. Students were eager to go from activity to activity and, whether labeled or not, took advantage of the the "toys" we had. Many voiced the opinion that our's was the best class ever and the only one they wanted to come to. The good news is that their scores on the tests showed they were learning "stuff."

After those good years, I saw the handwriting on the wall and realized the ideal learning environment my co-teacher and I had created was heading for the trash, as money got tight and "experts" had better ideas about how to provide inclusion. I was lucky enough to retire and go out on a high note.

Mr. Kahn, were I ten years younger, I would be sending you my resume and begging to sign on to work on the language arts and literature for Kahn Academy. Your vision of the future of education from K-12 through college should come to reality. I only hope it happens in time for my granddaughter who is ten and already struggling within the structure of standardized education in New York State. ...more

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Aug 14, 2018 Brent rated it it was amazing

Khan Academy is one of those things I really wish I would have had back in high school. I didn’t discover it until I was toward the end of my undergrad. Sal Khan emphasizes deep learning or mastery learning over the traditional “learn for the test” model that is so prevalent in today’s schools. Students rush to cram for an exam only to forget the majority of what they learned as soon as the test is over. For subjects such as mathematics, which require having a solid foundation of basic principle ...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Shantel U rated it liked it

3.5 -- Full of great ideas but seemed like an extended magazine article. Light on facts -- heavy on opinion. I read this book because my daughter's sixth grade math teacher tried to implement Khan's ideas and it was a disaster. I'm not blaming Khan -- just wanted a better understanding of the concepts. ...more

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Apr 12, 2021 Dhvani Parekh rated it really liked it

I wish I had read this book sooner in my life. It makes some wonderful points about why our current education model needs to be replaced by something completely different. I love the radical ideas. I love how the book challenges the status quo. Blurring the boundaries between subjects, bringing them together, it all seems great. While I loved reading through all the points Khan makes, there were times when the realistic side of me showed up saying that the implementation/solution side of the boo I wish I had read this book sooner in my life. It makes some wonderful points about why our current education model needs to be replaced by something completely different. I love the radical ideas. I love how the book challenges the status quo. Blurring the boundaries between subjects, bringing them together, it all seems great. While I loved reading through all the points Khan makes, there were times when the realistic side of me showed up saying that the implementation/solution side of the book is a bit fuzzy.

For example: Khan argues that instead of the broadcast lecture, students should be able watch videos on their own pace. In the school, which is a one classroom school, the teacher should be a mentor/guide/facilitator to build on those concepts. This scenario has a few problems. First, it assumes that students are able to understand the video completely, at their own pace. It also assumes that without someone to solve their doubts at that moment, they will be able to proceed with the explanation given in the video (especially when learning a new concept). It also assumes that the students will be at a certain comprehension level. The methods of the teacher in the video versus the teacher in the classroom might differ. The student might need to understand the concept using a different example the second time, instead of just rewinding the video with the same example which he/she did not understand the first time. Lastly, can every topic be reduced to a 10 minute video which can engage the child's attention completely? I am not sure, unless we are talking of involving some cool graphics and videos within the video to keep the child hooked in.

The methods proposed by Khan are biased towards mathematics. The other subjects (okay, let's not call them subjects, but the other parts of education that do not involve mathematical ability) require engagement and exploration, which might be difficult to do through a recorded video. Education isn't just about Math. The arts, the social sciences and even science, require immersing into the environment while learning. I'm not saying it's not possible to aid this through technology, I'm just saying that the proposed model in the book doesn't cover it. Another area that's not covered in this visionary school is sports, even though one of the book's best points was that a teacher should be more like a coach: someone who feels is on our side.

This book did a good job at convincing me how technology needn't always be the enemy of everything that's human. Being an educator, I strongly believe in the human element in education, especially in the earlier stages. This book doesn't suggest eliminating that element but empowering it.

Another area that I felt the book could have done better is understanding the ground realities of countries like India, before proposing some seemingly bizzare ways of getting the required data to the teacher. While I do get that the point Khan was trying to make was more of a 'where there's a will, there's a way', this one world schoolhouse might not cut through classes and in India's case, castes. The poor in India have an incredibly long way to go before they're all armed with devices that enable them to learn and before they manage to find the appropriate resources (time, space, money) to learn amid various other life problems that they find themselves surrounded with. The model proposed by the book will work great for the upper and middle class, but there are many questions unanswered when it comes to catering to the poorest.

To summarise, Khan has an incredible grip on the efficiency that technology can bring in. The gentle nudges and pushes that a child requires growing up, to help them make connections and to help contextualise learning for their environment, are still areas only a teacher can excel at. I loved reading the book and I will be championing Khan's 100% mastery rationale, wherever I go. ...more

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Jan 01, 2016 Samantha rated it liked it

Shelves: adult, library, reviewed, non-fiction, college

While Khan has a few solid points, he misses the marks on a lot of things and fails to provide legitimately practical solutions. Overall it sounds like Khan is trying to sell an educational utopia.

Several sections of the book are spent discussing how Khan Academy came about and how it developed into what it is now. There are lots of personal anecdotes scattered throughout the book and and lot of the word "I" and personal experience and opinions by the author. I only mention this to create the d While Khan has a few solid points, he misses the marks on a lot of things and fails to provide legitimately practical solutions. Overall it sounds like Khan is trying to sell an educational utopia.

Several sections of the book are spent discussing how Khan Academy came about and how it developed into what it is now. There are lots of personal anecdotes scattered throughout the book and and lot of the word "I" and personal experience and opinions by the author. I only mention this to create the distinction that this is Khan's opinion and experience regarding education, and not a book that is completely devoted to presenting evidence to support the argument as would be expected from a collegiate text or article. While Khan does cite some studies and quotes, it isn't to the full extent it should be for making a logical, solid argument. The argument is good, yet it is still lacking in the long term.

Some of the things Khan focuses on are the current model of schools, teacher-student ratio, subject comprehension,testing, homework, and the division of school subjects. While his comments on a few of these make legitimate sense, others fail to hit the mark for me. I personally don't believe that the current school system is broken and I don't believe technological education will be as revolutionary as some people think. I think software like Khan Academy could be good aids if implemented well, but technology won't take over the job of a teacher, nor should they and they shouldn't be the main focus overall. They should be supplements that can add on to the curriculum and help solidify concepts that have been covered to further ensure student comprehension. While I think that schools don't do everything right, I do believe they do a lot of good and with some tweaks could become even better.

Khan suggests potential solutions for taking education to a more global level but none of the approaches seem practical in the long term and he mentions money being put in, but my question is why not go for broke? Instead of having tiny technological elements introduced, why not build a technological center and begin improving the entire community? Why haven't Microsoft and Google started that kind of initiative? Is it too expensive for Gate's pocketbook to handle? I doubt it, but it probably wouldn't turn a good enough profit to be a worthwhile investment I suppose.

Khan also runs himself in circles when he says that the arts need to be appreciated, but then says that public schools are doing students a disservice by having extracurriculars such as band.

Even though I understand where he's coming from, I don't feel like he has taken his idea and pushed it to its farthest potential even in his own mind. He hasn't provided any solid, practical solutions to many of the problems raised in the book and the ones he does provide are usually in his and his software's best interest. I don't want to downplay his achievements in the educational field, but more has to be done and some of these ideas aren't the appropriate approaches. The school system isn't broken, it just needs to adapt and become more efficient. I personally feel that my public school education provided each student with equal opportunity from 1st grade on (I did not attend kindergarten so I have no real experience or opinion on it overall). Anything extra in years to come, came from students pushing themelves to achieve more and be more. Everything that happened was not a result of the school's tracking or the testing results, sometimes the student just has to decide to excel and find ways around their own problems. It starts with students, parents, and teachers. You can't change personalities, but you can provide resources that might help each of them get engaged. You can't make a horse drink, regardless of how close to the watering hole you bring it. You can implement all the technology in the world and some people still won't take advantage of it or won't have enough intiative to engage with it. There are many more factors involved than Khan expresses. His system builds student confidence and helps solidify knowledge of certain subjects which is fantastic, but what else can it do for others? Does it present the beauty of literature, the basics of grammar, and the time periods of art? Does it encourage anything outside of STEM? Khan presses that STEM subjects are as creative as the humanities, but can his system create that creativity or will his opinion of that have a difference in societal perspective? He says that "not everyone can major in english or history at a traditional college", but in my experience I've seen more STEM majors turning out than liberal arts ones and the STEM majors get much more respect and overall opportunities offered to them. Everyone cannot major in Engineering or the hard sciences at a traditional university. Furthermore, I don't believe tracking has much overall effect on students. I'm sure I was tracked, but my academic success had nothing to do with it. I was in some APs but I missed out on a couple pre-APs because my school didn't put me in the right courses I registered for, which was pure technical error that wasn't fixable, but that doesn't mean I did any poorer in the classes. I was just surrounded by different students who were more likely to goof off than buckle down in their studies. That is a personal decision made by the students themselves, not a direct product of the school. Whether you are tracked or not, the smartest kids in elementary school were still the ones at the top of the class come graduation. Their potential was theirs to use or waste, as is everyone's. I don't feel like my school did anything to hinder or further me in the long term that would have been considered unequal in comparison to other students.

I enjoyed this book overall, but I think the approach of Khan Academy could be applied in many more ways and needs further tweaking in order to efficiently provide for students across the globe. The current school system isn't broken, it just needs to adapt and realign itself in certain regards and address the current shortcomings. A good book, but not the best supported argument I've ever read or the best book. ...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Lauren rated it really liked it

Shelves: professional, scitechsoc, future-of-libraries, higher-education

I've been interested to hear more than a TED talk length discussion from Khan since the Khan Academy first started taking off. This book did the trick. It's very good. It's in simple language, so that even those not from an education background would follow his discussion. As he points out, much of what he's advocating isn't entirely new. Lots of it is being done to some degree in some educational settings. He does, however, advocate for a wider adoption of active learning/flipped teaching/inqui ...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Shirley Freeman rated it it was amazing

I loved, loved, loved this book. Everybody who cares about, thinks about, and influences education should read this. Part of the book is personal: Hedge Fund analyst Salman Khan began tutoring his 12 year old cousin in math. Through a process of trial and error, he began making short you-tube videos to help his cousin and her friends gain a deeper understanding of their math work. He wrote software to collect data on how the videos were used, what was helpful and how quickly problem sets were co ...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Daniel Taylor rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: career, education

More than any other individual, Salman Khan is reshaping education. To paraphrase a certain Vulcan, "It's education, Jim, but not as we know it."

Khan started the Khan Academy and its aim now is "A free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere." The first part of the book "Learning to Teach" tells how through a serendipitous series of events he started the Academy. In "The Broken Model" he looks at the problems with conventional education. "Into the Real World" talks about how the Khan Academy ...more

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Nov 18, 2013 Damian rated it it was ok

I'm as much an admirer of the Kahn academy as the next guy. But reading this book ACTUALLY made me think that Sal Kahn himself does not know that much about the institution he is trying to disrupt. His characterizations of the classroom as it traditionally exists ("teachers lecturing for hours at a time") are wrong, and his insights are often shockingly mundane, at least to teachers with whom I've talked about the book ("children tend to have a 10 minute attention span"? This is not news to anyo ...more

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Sep 02, 2017 Erin Barnes rated it it was amazing

This one will make you take a long hard look at education as it is. I have often said that we need to move away from the old way we educate. I think I am settled in nicely at a school that has a different take on education. After reading this book however, I know we still have room to grow. Salcon uses common sense with his Ivy League education to enlighten the reader.

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Aug 18, 2018 Jess d'Artagnan rated it it was ok

Salman Khan is most well known as the creator and leader of the Khan Academy, a tool used frequently across education facilities. I think he prefers to go by Sal so he isn't confused with the famous Bollywood actor Salman Khan (rawr). The One World Schoolhouse documents the process Khan went through in creating this resource. It all started when Sal started tutoring his niece long distance and needed some tools to make their work together more effective. This resulted in a set of videos that tau Salman Khan is most well known as the creator and leader of the Khan Academy, a tool used frequently across education facilities. I think he prefers to go by Sal so he isn't confused with the famous Bollywood actor Salman Khan (rawr). The One World Schoolhouse documents the process Khan went through in creating this resource. It all started when Sal started tutoring his niece long distance and needed some tools to make their work together more effective. This resulted in a set of videos that taught basic math and a fledgling Youtube channel that made the videos easily accessible.

Khan attempts to provide a broad history of the American education system and why the system functions the way it does. This section was highly problematic. Khan cherry picked his research, failing to show the entire story and leaving out seminal, groundbreaking work by scholars like Jean Piaget and Benjamin Bloom. It was almost unethical the way the information was presented. He made it seem like he was giving readers the full story but he really wasn't. I couldn't help but feel like he could benefit from taking a few more courses in research and writing. He bias towards math and sciences over art and humanities was painfully obvious. The arts and humanities were always mentioned as secondary to STEM rather than being a critical part of education.

Another problem with Khan's assessment of the educational system is that he functions under the assumption that the only way students' learning is being assessed is through formal tests (think bubble sheets and scantrons). This is far from what educators are actually doing to assess student learning. Educators are using tests, yes, but they aren't stupid. They understand that a test isn't necessarily the best was to assess learning. That is why there are other assignments (the dreaded HOMEWORK that Khan bagged on in one of his chapters) such as papers, multimedia projects, and group assignments which Khan fails to mention in any way except negatively.

The rest of the book can be summed up by the last part of the title: reIMAGINED. Imagined. Imaginary. The rest of the book where he discusses the future of higher education was a rambled fantasy. It had no basis in reality or in current research or academic trends. I wish I could meet him so that I could say, "Hey Sal, my university had been doing the things you describe in your book for almost a decade before you published your ideas." Truly, the ideas he had that were solid weren't entirely new (and not ENTIRELY HIS. He tapped dance on plagiarism through the whole book!) and the ideas that were new had no basis in research or educational theory. or even economics.

Bottom line: the best part of this book was learning about how the Khan academy was developed and that would honestly be better told in a magazine article rather than in a book.

Recommended for: readers who like Khan academy and what to learn about how it was create BUT who can also read with a critical eye toward the lack of research in the rest of his writing.

Not Recommended for: readers who want an ACCURATE depiction of the educational system. ...more

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May 28, 2016 Evon rated it it was amazing

Emerging Tech Book Report – The One World School House by Salman Khan

Evon Pontino

EDUT 522: Emerging Learning Technologies

June 30, 2016

Robert Hayden

Concordia University Irvine

School of Education

In the book The One World School House Education Reimagined, Salman Khan believes the Information Revolution, the current era we are in, is underutilizing technology. If Americans as a whole were ambitious enough, we could provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Khan ...more

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Dec 14, 2020 Vilas Annavarapu rated it really liked it

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. While I hoped for a greater degree of rigor and empirical analysis, it offered a radically new vision for education that meaningfully addresses entrenched issues of inequality in the classroom. It was my first exposure to an alternative form of pedagogy to the one I have been trained in, and such a breath of fresh air. There's so many ways to build community, promote creativity, and allow students to flourish at their own pace as Khan intelligently describ ...more

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Jan 06, 2021 Mirela rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

A really great book about education nowadays.

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Feb 03, 2013 AngryGreyCat rated it it was ok · review of another edition

As a teacher I often use video clips from the Khan academy, along with other sources, to reinforce my instruction, to differentiate, or just to provoke interest and discussion in class. The book had many interesting aspects and topics, however I think that his condemnation of public school education in America is due to the wrong reasons. I'm not saying that there are not problems; it is obvious that there are however, the public school education that he talks about is not what happens in most c As a teacher I often use video clips from the Khan academy, along with other sources, to reinforce my instruction, to differentiate, or just to provoke interest and discussion in class. The book had many interesting aspects and topics, however I think that his condemnation of public school education in America is due to the wrong reasons. I'm not saying that there are not problems; it is obvious that there are however, the public school education that he talks about is not what happens in most classrooms anymore. No one should be lecturing middle school students for an hour at a shot. Teachers are using active learning or discovery learning models. Teachers vary groupings and present material using different methods and techniques. Many districts have given up tracking altogether. The mastery model he discusses sounds to me like outcome based education that many public schools have adopted...and abandoned.

He does acknowledge that his videos are not sufficient alone; students need face time with teachers. It is supported by research that children and inner city children in particular, learn best when they have a connection to the person who is teaching them.

He also discusses the homework issue, but again seems to think it is used to teach material. I don't know of any teachers that use it to teach material. Homework is about review and reinforcement or perhaps producing independent projects.

He is very critical of age based groupings and perhaps that is true if you are only thinking of schools as providing a strictly academic experience, however that is not reality. It is not appropriate for 9 year olds to be in a classroom with 16 year olds. They are at a different places in life, particularly where I teach, in an inner city district. Many 16 year olds(even many of my 13 year old students) are having sex, driving cars, taking care of siblings or other young children, basically being in charge of themselves...no curfew, no bed time, no one telling them what to do or when while most 9 year olds still are subjected to some sort of parental authority. The age based system may not be perfect, however he needs to realize that schools do not just serve academic purposes.

This could have been a much stronger book if Mr. Khan did not start off with so many false assumptions about the state of public education today. ...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Jesse rated it it was ok

Shelves: non-fiction

As an academic and pedagogical enterprise, the Khan Academy gets 5 stars from me (http://khanacademy.org: sign up and learn lots!). The book describing the enterprise is not as good. The personal anecdotes about the humble beginnings of the Khan Academy are the most interesting part of the book. Otherwise, it offers a one-sided history of education (a Prussian plot to contain the masses rather than to unleash their educational potential) and some dreamy, utopian notions for the future.

Actually, ...more

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Dec 17, 2016 Abdullah Alaqeel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audible

One of the best views I've seen on education. Sal is a truly remarkable genius and his efforts must be studied. ...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Kilian Metcalf rated it really liked it

I learned about Salman Khan and his Khan academy from a magazine article. I was intrigued by his dream of making free education available for everyone. One of the regrets of my life is that I was forced to abandon the study of math due to pressures of real life. Trying to fit into the traditional school system as a working adult is very challenging. Now I can renew my study of math and go as far as I want. I can study as long as want, whenever I want without the worry of registering, trying to f ...more

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Dec 18, 2019 Tahira Maria rated it really liked it

Brother Sal has written what’s been on my mind for awhile. My circle of influence is small, but I’ve been trying to tell people the same things he is saying so well in this book. I’m grateful he’s laid everything out so simply. I hope many more influencers are listening to his words and take his ideas seriously. We all need to vibe with the impulses of Br. Sal for the sake of our future. Education is the problem and the solution, and solutions suggested in this book are well worth exploring.

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Oct 24, 2017 Rama Ramaswamy rated it it was amazing

The One World Schoolhouse is Sal Khan's vision for the future of schools - where each child learns at his or her own pace, enjoys the process and is motivated to self-learn beyond the realms of conventional curriculum, teaching methods, standardised testing, deadlines with rigid approaches and many more such set conventions that plague our education system today.

Yes, its a mighty vision, magnanimous, one would say. But after reading the whole book, I can confidently say that Sal Khan is a very ...more

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About Salman Khan

Salman Khan

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Salman Khan is an American educator, entrepreneur, and former hedge fund analyst. He is the founder of the Khan Academy, a free online education platform and a organization with which he has produced over 6,500 video lessons teaching a wide spectrum of academic subjects, mainly focusing on mathematics and sciences.

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“Personal responsibility is not only undervalued but actually discouraged by the standard classroom model, with its enforced passivity and rigid boundaries of curriculum and time. Denied the opportunity to make even the most basic decisions about how and what they will learn, students stop short of full commitment.” — 10 likes

“Can you imagine if someone told Einstein, Okay, wrap up this relativity thing, we’re moving on to European history? Or said to Michelangelo, Time’s up for the ceiling, now go paint the walls. Yet versions of this snuffing out of creativity and boundary-stretching thought happen all the time in conventional schools.” — 8 likes

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