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Khan Academy

By Dr. Marciene Mattleman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - My grandson told me he was learning advanced math and when I asked where, he told me it was at a free website program, Khan Academy, a site with more than 3,300 videos that have been viewed more than 160 million times by students worldwide.

The teaching is done at home first, where students watch videos on which problems are posted, explained and solved and then followed up in the classroom by discussion and interaction. They were developed by Salman Khan, who has degrees from Harvard and MIT, initially as a way to help his young relatives with math.

Khan Academy is supported by the Gates Foundation and Google among others, and now includes chemistry, physics, statistics and more topics that have been translated into numerous languages including Polish, Chinese and Greek.

Like other teaching methods, the program has its fans and detractors. Read their views in The Washington Post or watch some videos at KhanAcademy.org.

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