SHERMAN, TX - The founder of the Khan Academy came to Austin College Thursday to school faculty, staff, and community members about his foundation of learning.

Sal Khan's cousin was failing algebra in 2004 when he begin tutoring her online. What stemmed from that started an education revolution, that Khan brought to Austin College.

"my real dream is to start a school on my own terms. I wanted to be kind of a Dumbledore figure at some point. And the irony is that it kind of happened in this weird, strange digital way," said Khan.

Sal Khan was a hedge fund analyst when he began tutoring his cousin in algebra over the internet. Now, nine years and over 3,700 educational videos later, Khan has revolutionized a way of learning for any age.

"Education is a bunch of things. it's learning, it's socialization, it's credentialing," said Khan.

The Khan academy was founded in 2006, and focuses on teaching math and sciences to K-12 students. Each lesson is about 10 minutes long, and helps students learn the building blocks of concepts.

Which is why Sherman ISD Superintendent, Dr. Al Hambrick, says they have adopted the program to help teach their students.

"I think it's very important to have something like this in the school system and available to our students and our parents. I think that there are opportunities for continuation for our learning that is happening in the classroom during the day, we can extend that to the home," said Dr. Hambrick.

Hambrick says the district has used the Khan academy quite a bit. And it is helping more than students.

"It's providing a great resource for the parents in the p.m. When the parent may not have access to a teacher or to some of the concepts that were taught in the classroom," said Dr. Hambrick.

And Khan's idea of teaching basic concepts before learning the more difficult ideas, is something Austin College professor, Julia Shahid, supports.

"The whole idea of building a house on a foundation that's not 100%, is so ludacris, but you think about how sometimes that is how we are doing in education," said Shahid.

If you are interested in getting more information on this way of learning, visit the Khan Academy's website.

ON THE WEB:
https://www.khanacademy.org/