If you haven’t heard of Sal Khan yet, chances are you will soon. He’s the founder and sole instructor at Khan Academy, a not-for-profit website with hundreds of free video lectures in math, science, and a handful of other subjects. Khan’s trying to change the way people study online (a subject near and dear to our hearts here at Tutor.com), and by all accounts he’s succeeding. Bill Gates praised him this summer at the Aspen Ideas Festival, calling Khan’s videos “unbelievable,” and he was recently profiled by Fortune magazine.
Here’s an excerpt from yesterday’s article:
His low-tech, conversational tutorials — Khan’s face never appears, and viewers see only his unadorned step-by-step doodles and diagrams on an electronic blackboard — are more than merely another example of viral media distributed at negligible cost to the universe. Khan Academy holds the promise of a virtual school: an educational transformation that de-emphasizes classrooms, campus and administrative infrastructure, and even brand-name instructors.
Of course, if your school or local public library offers the Tutor.com Learning Suite, you may already be familiar with Sal Khan. His videos are some of the most popular and highly-rated educational resources in our SkillsCenter Resource Library, where Tutor.com users have viewed them thousands of times. You can also find Khan Academy videos free of charge at our website if the Learning Suite isn’t available in your area.
To get you started, here are some of our users’ favorites:
Posted in Class Notes: Math, Class Notes: Science, Libraries, Schools, Tutors & Tutoring.
By Jake Ramsey
– August 25, 2010
Quick—what’s four times nine, plus two, minus seven? Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? Which molecule is required for photosynthesis?
You’ve got five seconds. Four, three, two, one. OK, time’s up.
If you said “31,” “Thomas Jefferson,” and “chlorophyll,” congratulations. Despite the long summer break, your brain appears to be in tip-top shape. But if you couldn’t answer quickly enough, drew a blank, or ran screaming from the room, your grey matter may need a workout before you (or your kids) head back to school.
Here are a few tips to get your brain back into shape by the end of the summer:
Refresh your math memory. Any math class builds on what you’ve learned before, so most teachers use the first week or two to make sure you understand important concepts from last year. Whatever math subject you took last, try a few practice problems from our free Homework Resources Library to see where you need more help.
Set aside reading time. It doesn’t have to be a textbook. It doesn’t even have to be great literature. For now, just get back into the habit of reading something—anything—at least once a day. If you’re not sure where to start, try our summer break recommendations.
Structure your day. Staying up late, sleeping in, and lounging around the house are what make summer vacation great. Unfortunately, these habits don’t work as well during the school year—and stopping them overnight can be hard. This summer, take your alarm clock out of storage a few weeks early and get used to going to sleep at a reasonable hour. Whether you like it or not, you’ll be waking up when it’s still dark outside in just a few weeks.
Get organized. No matter how you keep track of your schoolwork, get your system up and running now. If your teacher releases a syllabus or reading list before your first class, find yourself a copy and look it over. This can give you a head start on the year’s assignments, but even if you don’t do your readings early, you’ll save yourself time and aggravation later by finding the materials you’ll need in class now.
How do you prepare yourself for a new school year?
Posted in Beyond The Classroom, Homework and Test Taking.
Tagged with back to school.
By Jake Ramsey
– August 25, 2010
The NY Times recently published an article about tutoring as a financial investment in your children. We certainly agree that tutoring is about making an investment in your children, but wanted to bring up some additional ways that online tutoring can save you money and maximize your investment.
On-demand, online tutoring helps homework questions from becoming learning problems
It’s always easier to take care of a problem while it’s still small. A simple misunderstanding about a question on tonight’s algebra homework can quickly turn into a major math problem. If you get help early on and in the moment you need it, you can avoid a bigger problem, which may require expensive and intensive tutoring and remedial classes to solve.
Online tutoring saves time as well as money
With private tutors reaching into the hundreds of dollars per hour, online tutoring is affordable and be easily worked into your monthly budget.
When you connect to a tutor online, you save money on travel and gas, too. It means no driving to appointments, shuttling multiple students to multiple appointments, or dropping off the tutor at home. You save money not only on travel, but also free up time in your often busy schedule.
Online tutoring means greater access and flexibility
In-person tutoring can be a hassle. You first have to find someone in your neighborhood, qualify that they are reliable and safe and that they can help you with your subject. Sometimes you need help with on more than one subject. Chances are, your physics tutor can’t help you with your social studies research.
Online tutoring solves that problem. Whether you connect to an expert who can help with your physics homework, or a teacher who can edit your essay, being able to connect online means you don’t have to limit the talent pool to your neighborhood. And it means you don’t have to let strangers into your home, or drive to another appointment. All of Tutor.com’s tutors are already screened and qualified subject experts.
The other great part? Online tutoring is available day and night. You don’t have to make an appointment, worry about changing your schedule or last minute cancellations.
Online tutoring can even be free
Tutor.com works with public agencies to make online tutoring free for millions of students. We have six state-wide programs (including our newest library program in Louisiana) and thousands of public libraries that offer our service for free to the students in their community. There is even free tutoring for military families. If you aren’t eligible for one of these free programs, it’s easy to sign up for a Tutor.com subscription. Check with your local library or school to see if you have access!
Posted in Beyond The Classroom, Our Company, Tutors & Tutoring.
Tagged with online tutoring.
By Erica Manney
– August 23, 2010
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