Sal Khan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sal Khan
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Khan speaking at a TED conference in 2011
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Salman Amin Khan
October 11, 1976 Metairie, Louisiana, U.S.
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| Board member of | Aspen Institute |
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Umaima Marvi
(m. 2004) |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Abdul Wahab Khan (grandfather) |
Salman Amin Khan (born October 11, 1976), often called Sal Khan, is an American educator. He is famous for starting Khan Academy. This is a free online learning platform. He has made over 6,500 video lessons. These videos cover many school subjects. They started with math and science. Sal Khan also founded Khan Lab School. This is a private school in Mountain View, California.
As of January 2025, the Khan Academy YouTube channel has 8.74 million subscribers. Its videos have been watched more than two billion times. In 2012, Time magazine named Khan one of the 100 most influential people. He was also on the cover of Forbes magazine that same year.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Sal Khan was born in Metairie, Louisiana. This was on October 11, 1976. His family was Bengali Muslim. His father was a doctor. His mother was from Murshidabad, West Bengal. Khan has shared that his family faced money challenges when he was growing up.
Education Journey
Khan went to Grace King High School. He said that his classmates came from many different backgrounds. Some were heading to top universities. He was also a cartoonist for the school newspaper. While in high school, Khan took advanced math classes. He took them at the University of New Orleans. He graduated as the top student in 1994.
He then went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He earned two bachelor's degrees there in 1998. One was in electrical engineering and computer science. The other was in mathematics. He also earned a master's degree in engineering. Later, Khan earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School.
Career and Innovations
Before starting Khan Academy, Sal Khan worked in finance. From 2003 to 2009, he was an analyst at a company called Connective Capital Management.
Founding Khan Academy
In 2004, Khan started helping his cousin, Nadia, with math. He tutored her online using a simple drawing tool. Soon, other family members and friends wanted his help. So, he began putting his lessons on YouTube. He created his YouTube channel on November 16, 2006.
His educational videos became very popular. This led Khan to leave his job in finance in late 2009. He decided to work full-time on his YouTube channel, Khan Academy. He got help from a close friend, Josh Gefner. Ann Doerr, whose husband is John Doerr, also provided support.
In 2023, Khan Academy had over 155 million registered users. Students have spent billions of hours learning on the platform. Khan's goal is to "accelerate learning for students of all ages." He wants to share his content with anyone who finds it helpful. He plans to add topics like English literature to the "free school."
Khan wrote a book about Khan Academy and education. It is called The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined. In 2012, Khan Academy added a "Coach" feature. This helps teachers connect with students. It also provides tools to monitor progress. Khan has received several awards for his work. These include the American Academy of Achievement’s Gold Medal in 2012. He also received the Heinz Award in 2014.
In 2015, Khan announced a partnership with the College Board. They created free practice materials for the SAT test. Khan believes that technology can help teachers. It can free them from giving lectures. This gives them more time to help students individually.
Khan Lab School
Khan believes students learn best when they control their own learning. They should learn at their own speed. Then, they can work in teams to use what they have learned. This idea is called a flipped classroom. His teaching method also uses ideas from Benjamin Bloom's mastery learning. This way of learning is tested at his Khan Lab School. He founded this school in 2014.
Schoolhouse.world
In early 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Khan started Schoolhouse. This is a free non-profit program. It offers small-group tutoring to students worldwide. The tutoring happens through Zoom meetings.
Schoolhouse offers certifications. These test students' understanding of subjects. They certify their knowledge. The University of Chicago helped develop these certifications. Other universities like MIT and Caltech have also joined.
Awards and Recognition
In 2016, Khan received the Padma Shri. This is one of the highest civilian awards in India. The President of India gave him this award. On May 27, 2021, Harvard University gave Khan an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
In 2010, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation became a big supporter of Khan Academy. In 2012, Time magazine named Khan one of the 100 most influential people. Bill Gates has praised Khan Academy. He said he used it with his own children. He was amazed by Khan's knowledge and ability to explain hard topics.
Personal Life
Sal Khan is married to Umaima Marvi, who is a doctor. They live with their three children in Mountain View, California. Khan's first child had childhood epilepsy. The child later outgrew it. This experience helped the family understand what was truly important in life.
Khan has shared his thoughts on beliefs:
"If you believe in trying to make the best of the finite number of years we have on this planet (while not making it any worse for anyone else), think that pride and self-righteousness are the cause of most conflict and negativity, and are humbled by the vastness and mystery of the Universe, then I'm the same religion as you."
Khan also played the guitar when he was a child.
See also
In Spanish: Salman Khan (profesor) para niños
