{"id":16097,"date":"2012-02-16T00:55:34","date_gmt":"2012-02-15T22:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/?p=16097"},"modified":"2012-02-16T00:55:34","modified_gmt":"2012-02-15T22:55:34","slug":"khan-academy-a-must-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2012\/02\/16\/khan-academy-a-must-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Khan Academy &#8211; a MUST KNOW!"},"content":{"rendered":"<!-- google_ad_section_start -->\n<p>I&#8217;ve heard about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/\">KhanAcademy.org<\/a> a few times since about 2009-2010. \u00a0But I haven&#8217;t really explored it or learned much about it. \u00a0It was just one of those &#8220;good things&#8221; on the Internet, which was about education and which was a not-for-profit. \u00a0And now I can&#8217;t believe I&#8217;ve been missing out on it. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Khan_Academy\">Wikipedia page<\/a> describes the project in a rather dry language:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit educational organization, created in 2006 by Indian American educator Salman Khan, a graduate of MIT. With the stated mission of &#8220;providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere&#8221;, the website supplies a free online collection of more than 2,800 micro lectures via video tutorials stored on YouTube teaching mathematics, history, healthcare and medicine, finance, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, economics, cosmology, organic chemistry, american civics, art history, microeconomics and computer science.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There you go. \u00a0A cheese slogan, a single guy, a bunch of videos on YouTube &#8211; what&#8217;s all the big fuss about, right? \u00a0Wrong! \u00a0Here is a better way to get introduced to the project &#8211; a TED talk by Salman Khan.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"660\" height=\"372\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gM95HHI4gLk?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Cool, isn&#8217;t it? \u00a0And it has nothing to do with the appearance of Bill Gates there. \u00a0Apparently, Bill Gates is a big fan of the project. \u00a0He mentioned it a few times in the interviews of its own, and according to the Wikipedia page, helps out the project with donations. \u00a0But I digress.<\/p>\n<p>I went to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/\">KhanAcademy.org<\/a> project a couple of days ago, without big goals or expectations. \u00a0I just wanted to see if it was useful to me personally. \u00a0So I started watching some videos. \u00a0Not bad. \u00a0A small popup window informed me that I am getting some sort of points even just for watching videos and that I can save those points by registering and logging in. \u00a0I clicked in. \u00a0No lengthy registration forms or activation emails &#8211; Facebook or Google account sign-in. \u00a0Literally, three clicks and five seconds. \u00a0And I was back to videos.<\/p>\n<p>At first, I was watching videos on history and American civics and such. \u00a0I especially was trying to stay away from science, since my head is full these days with other things. \u00a0But. \u00a0Those history and civics videos were good. \u00a0The ones I saw were short &#8211; only 10-15-20 minutes, not like most other video lectures I&#8217;ve seen online &#8211; things that span anywhere from 40 minutes to a couple of hours. \u00a0Nothing like that! \u00a0And Khan videos were so simple, straight-forward, and specific. \u00a0No broad discussions, no numerous slides or complicated charts. \u00a0Just a guy talking in simple words and using some kind of digital blackboard, writing things by hand as needed.<\/p>\n<p>So, I went closer to science things. \u00a0I&#8217;ve watched about viruses and about bacteria in biology section, about plate tectonics in cosmology and astronomy, and a thing or two about interest in finance. \u00a0I was struck by how simple were some of the explanations. \u00a0I could understand pretty much everything without doing any research or translation. \u00a0And that&#8217;s where I need to pause for a moment to do a side note.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been heard a few times, especially at certain work environments, criticizing younger generation of specialists for relying so much on video tutorials. \u00a0And here I am &#8211; praising Khan Academy, which does exactly that &#8211; provides video lessons. \u00a0But that&#8217;s not the same. \u00a0My protests were not against video lessons in general, but against two very specific points &#8211; relying solely on video lessons and relying solely on video lessons for the professional education. \u00a0In other words, I&#8217;m saying that if you are a professional chef or doctor or programmer or whatever, you shouldn&#8217;t use video tutorials as your only means to teach yourself cooking or medicine or programming or whatever. \u00a0Video tutorials are nice but they have a whole range of limitations. \u00a0For professional education, one has to use other materials as well (books, blogs, mentors, encyclopedias, labs and other practical exercises, manuals, etc). \u00a0But as an addition to the rest, video lessons can be of great value. \u00a0For non-professional education maybe even more so. \u00a0After all, who doesn&#8217;t like a good documentary on TV?<\/p>\n<p>Now. \u00a0Back to the Khan Academy and my, and I&#8217;m not afraid of big words here, life-changing experience with it in the last few days. \u00a0I continued with some math videos. \u00a0I wasn&#8217;t going after any specific knowledge at that point. \u00a0Just wanted to see how well video tutorials apply to mathematics. \u00a0And maybe if I could learn a thing or two. \u00a0As I said before &#8211; I&#8217;m not a big fan of math and I had plenty of horrible experiences with this science from early school, through high school, through college, and even through some of my work experience. \u00a0(Whether you like it or not, programmers do need to know a few things from math books. \u00a0That&#8217;s a fact.)<\/p>\n<p>Words like algebra, trigonometry, and calculus send shivers down my spine. \u00a0The feeling of\u00a0nausea usually nearby. \u00a0And then I watch a single video, only minutes long &#8211; about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/video\/the-beauty-of-algebra?topic=core-algebra\">The Beauty of Algebra<\/a> &#8211; and all of a sudden so many things make sense. \u00a0I go from fear and forced indifference to a huge respect and mild interest in. \u00a0And I want more! \u00a0I followed that with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/video\/origins-of-algebra?topic=core-algebra\">Origins of Algebra<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/video\/abstract-ness?topic=core-algebra\">Abstract-ness<\/a> and that was more than enough to convert me forever. \u00a0Now, all of a sudden, for the first time in my life, I am interested in mathematics. \u00a0I want to know more, and I want to know what I don&#8217;t know, and what is out there. \u00a0In my book, just that alone is worth of a Noble prize in mathematics and psychology for Salman Khan!\u00a0But that wasn&#8217;t all I found awesome about this project. \u00a0There is more.<\/p>\n<p>As I was diving deeper into the website, I noticed the exercises. \u00a0Those were in a form of simple tests. \u00a0Each test covers only a single, very specific topic. \u00a0And if you know the topic, you can pass the test really quickly. \u00a0If you don&#8217;t know enough though &#8211; you are referred to related video tutorials that you need, plus you can get a hint on the problem or see a solution to any exercises, step-by-step. \u00a0And you can practice more, for as long as you need to understand the topic. \u00a0Which happens pretty fast anyways.<\/p>\n<p>The exercises were cool, but what was even cooler about them, was the system into which they are all tied. \u00a0Anyone who played video games like Civilization or Settlers or pretty much any other strategy game knows about the tree of knowledge or the tree of technologies. \u00a0I&#8217;ve blogged about those a couple of years ago <a href=\"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2009\/06\/23\/history-of-the-world-through-a-game\/\">here<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2009\/06\/24\/game-research-pottery-writing-alphabet\/\">here<\/a>. \u00a0Well, a very similar concept is used by Khan Academy to organize and relate tests. \u00a0Have a look at this screenshot for example.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Tree-zoomed-in.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"16098\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2012\/02\/16\/khan-academy-a-must-know\/khanacademy-tree-zoomed-in\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Tree-zoomed-in.png?fit=707%2C364&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"707,364\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"KhanAcademy &amp;#8211; Tree (zoomed in)\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Tree-zoomed-in.png?fit=660%2C340&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-16098\" title=\"KhanAcademy - Tree (zoomed in)\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Tree-zoomed-in-500x257.png?resize=500%2C257&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Tree-zoomed-in.png?resize=500%2C257&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Tree-zoomed-in.png?w=707&amp;ssl=1 707w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s basically a set of related tests. \u00a0The blue ones are those that I&#8217;ve successfully passed. \u00a0The green ones are those that are recommended for me to take next. \u00a0The white ones are other tests nearby, which I can still take. \u00a0Don&#8217;t worry if that looks too complicated. \u00a0First of all, there is another navigation mechanism right next to this map. \u00a0And secondly, this whole structure makes much more sense once you zoom out and look at it from a far. \u00a0Here is roughly a relationship on a bigger scale.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Tree-zoomed-out.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"16099\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2012\/02\/16\/khan-academy-a-must-know\/khanacademy-tree-zoomed-out\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Tree-zoomed-out.png?fit=472%2C457&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"472,457\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"KhanAcademy &amp;#8211; Tree (zoomed out)\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Tree-zoomed-out.png?fit=472%2C457&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16099\" title=\"KhanAcademy - Tree (zoomed out)\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Tree-zoomed-out.png?resize=472%2C457&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"472\" height=\"457\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Wow! \u00a0Again, things just start to make things all of a sudden. \u00a0I&#8217;ve been told and re-told the relationships between different branches of mathematics and what each one does, but I&#8217;ve never been presented with a simple tree-like structure of specific subjects that I could zoom in and out of. \u00a0Which, it seems, is the right for my brain to grasp it.<\/p>\n<p>By now, I&#8217;m going through the exercises. \u00a0I&#8217;m flying through simple things like addition and\u00a0subtraction, while learning new things on the way. \u00a0For example, I&#8217;ve never heard of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/video\/stem-and-leaf-plots?topic=algebra-worked-examples-2\">Stem and Leaf plots<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/video\/significant-figures?topic=core-pre-algebra\">Significant Figures<\/a>.\u00a0And even though I&#8217;ve heard plenty about<a href=\"http:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/video\/prime-numbers?topic=arithmetic\"> Prime Numbers<\/a>, my knowledge was dusty and rusty and needed some refreshing. \u00a0Did I mention yet that I&#8217;m really bad with math and numbers?<\/p>\n<p>More exercises, more videos, more points. \u00a0And I&#8217;m having fun. \u00a0If someone told me a week ago that just a few days later I would be having fun solving math problems for two hours in a row, I&#8217;d call that person totally insane. \u00a0And there was I, converting fractions to decimals and back at three o&#8217;clock in the morning. WTF?<\/p>\n<p>As the exercises got more advanced (for me at least), I started to realize that I can&#8217;t do all of them in my head. \u00a0I needed <del>a calculator<\/del> piece of paper and a pen. \u00a0I had none right next to me. \u00a0But when I&#8217;m looking for something, I often find other things. \u00a0And that&#8217;s what happened. \u00a0I noticed the scratchpad &#8211; an optional tool that I could enable or disable with a single mouse click, and with which I had the way to write notes, draw lines, and do pretty much anything I needed right next to the problem itself. \u00a0Here is the screenshot for you to get an idea.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Scratchpad.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"16100\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2012\/02\/16\/khan-academy-a-must-know\/khanacademy-scratchpad\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Scratchpad.png?fit=364%2C507&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"364,507\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"KhanAcademy &amp;#8211; Scratchpad\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Scratchpad.png?fit=364%2C507&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-16100\" title=\"KhanAcademy - Scratchpad\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Scratchpad-358x500.png?resize=358%2C500&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"358\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Scratchpad.png?resize=358%2C500&amp;ssl=1 358w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Scratchpad.png?w=364&amp;ssl=1 364w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 358px) 100vw, 358px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It was about then that I started paying more attention to the quality of the Khan Academy&#8217;s web application. \u00a0What I thought before was just a bunch of YouTube videos, turned out to be a quite powerful education platform. \u00a0One of the characteristics of good software is that it is completely out of your ways. \u00a0It helps the user do the job without attracting too much attention to itself. \u00a0It is\u00a0unnoticeable, ninja-like. \u00a0And being a somewhat of a web developer myself, I&#8217;ve trained my senses to notice the unnoticeable. \u00a0This software was excellent. \u00a0I was completely and totally focused on the math problems without paying any attention to the user interfaces and such. \u00a0 For example, in the exercise on measuring angles, you get to use an excellent protractor tool. \u00a0You just drag-n-drop it and rotate as needed, very much like the real thing. \u00a0Have a look:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Protrractor.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"16101\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2012\/02\/16\/khan-academy-a-must-know\/khanacademy-protrractor\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Protrractor.png?fit=517%2C428&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"517,428\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"KhanAcademy &amp;#8211; Protrractor\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Protrractor.png?fit=517%2C428&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-16101\" title=\"KhanAcademy - Protrractor\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Protrractor-500x413.png?resize=500%2C413&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Protrractor.png?resize=500%2C413&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Protrractor.png?w=517&amp;ssl=1 517w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And when I was proving that I can create bar charts, I was given simply The Best Tool For Creating Bar Charts! \u00a0Even in the Microsoft Excel one needs to create the table first, then select the data to plot, and then go through a lengthy wizard of generating just the right bar chart. \u00a0But here, all I needed to do was to drag the bars on the chart up and down, until I thought it was right. \u00a0Brilliant stuff! \u00a0Even a three year old can figure out how to use this!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Creating-Bar-Charts.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"16102\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2012\/02\/16\/khan-academy-a-must-know\/khanacademy-creating-bar-charts\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Creating-Bar-Charts.png?fit=679%2C525&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"679,525\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"KhanAcademy &amp;#8211; Creating Bar Charts\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Creating-Bar-Charts.png?fit=660%2C510&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-16102\" title=\"KhanAcademy - Creating Bar Charts\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Creating-Bar-Charts-500x386.png?resize=500%2C386&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"386\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Creating-Bar-Charts.png?resize=500%2C386&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/KhanAcademy-Creating-Bar-Charts.png?w=679&amp;ssl=1 679w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As you probably see by now, I can go on and on and on about the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/\">Khan Academy<\/a>. \u00a0And I&#8217;ve only been using it for a few days. \u00a0I still have plenty to discover about their gaming system and about their mentoring system (which was mentioned in that TED talk, and which I want to use once I introduce my son to the project) and most importantly about all those science topics that I&#8217;ve missed, didn&#8217;t care or forgot about since high school. \u00a0But I&#8217;d rather not. \u00a0I&#8217;d rather get back to my learning and let you be, so you can follow me the video classes and exercises. \u00a0Give it a try, see how simple it is, and share your experience. \u00a0 Let me know how it goes.<\/p>\n<p>P.S.: My profile on Khan Akademy is public and you can see whatever you can see about me <a href=\"http:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/profile\/mamchenkov\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<!-- google_ad_section_end -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<!-- google_ad_section_start -->\n<p>I&#8217;ve heard about KhanAcademy.org a few times since about 2009-2010. \u00a0But I haven&#8217;t really explored it or learned much about it. \u00a0It was just one of those &#8220;good things&#8221; on the Internet, which was about education and which was a not-for-profit. \u00a0And now I can&#8217;t believe I&#8217;ve been missing out on it. \u00a0Wikipedia page describes &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2012\/02\/16\/khan-academy-a-must-know\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Khan Academy &#8211; a MUST KNOW!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<!-- google_ad_section_end -->\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,62],"tags":[1114,1336,2983,2984,655,2525,1109,1158,1908],"keyring_services":[],"class_list":["post-16097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-technology","tag-education","tag-inspiration","tag-khan-academy","tag-salman-khan","tag-science","tag-ted","tag-usability","tag-user-interfaces","tag-youtube-videos"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21713,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2014\/04\/28\/john-resig-write-code-every-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":16097,"position":0},"title":"John Resig : Write Code Every Day","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"April 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"John Resig, of the Khan Academy developers and the author of jQuery JavaScript library, ran an interesting experiment on himself - write code every day. \u00a0The rules were very simple: I decided to set a couple rules for myself: I must write code every day. I can write docs, or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13434,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2010\/10\/04\/day-in-brief\/","url_meta":{"origin":16097,"position":1},"title":"Day in brief","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"October 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I favorited a YouTube video -- The English Language In 24 Accents http:\/\/youtu.be\/dABo_DCIdpM?a # I favorited a YouTube video -- AMAZING Jump Rope Performance by US Naval Academy \"Kings... http:\/\/youtu.be\/TqI7cGM9mWs?a # I favorited a YouTube video -- xphone promo http:\/\/youtu.be\/udlxr8t1nZM?a #","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15819,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2011\/10\/31\/michael-winslow-whole-lotta-love-by-led-zeppelin\/","url_meta":{"origin":16097,"position":2},"title":"Michael Winslow : Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"October 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"If you are not a teenager or a pensioner, you should remember a rather successful comedy \"Police Academy\". It was so good they made 6 sequels. It was about a bunch of cadets going through the training in the police academy. One of the cadets, played by Michael Winslow -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/QxcCC2g1Ke0\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16049,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2011\/12\/30\/day-in-brief-2011-12-30\/","url_meta":{"origin":16097,"position":3},"title":"Day in brief &#8211; 2011-12-30","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"December 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"@CloudFlare Thank you for the t-shirt. Happy New Year and best wishes. :-) http:\/\/t.co\/gm74OJeZ # I favorited a @YouTube video from @recordsetter http:\/\/t.co\/AxzSlPf1 http:\/\/t.co\/c2qjD61M 2011 World Record: World's # I favorited a @YouTube video http:\/\/t.co\/90BWQyXw santa academy # @jujav4ik Lucky you. I think we'll be in the office until the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12455,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2010\/04\/10\/day-in-brief\/","url_meta":{"origin":16097,"position":4},"title":"Day in brief","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"April 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I favorited a YouTube video -- Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer http:\/\/youtu.be\/nFicqklGuB0?a # Latest version of pino Twitter client is awesome. Can show full names instead of nicknames and supports multiple services. # Facebook is still as horrible as ever. Is there any way to hide everything except status updates\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11568,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2009\/03\/27\/slumdog-millionaire\/","url_meta":{"origin":16097,"position":5},"title":"Slumdog Millionaire","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"March 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Just watched \"Slumdog Millionaire\".\u00a0 It's been just a few minutes, and I am still under impression and all, but I will still call it a brilliant masterpiece.\u00a0 Beautiful film on so many levels!\u00a0 Perhaps it's a bit too sad and dramatic for some, and too unrealistic for the others, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;5 stars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"5 stars","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/movies\/movie-reviews\/5-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Slumdog Millionaire","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/slumdog_millionaire.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16097\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16097"},{"taxonomy":"keyring_services","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyring_services?post=16097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}