In a modest, unassuming office in Mountain View, Calif., a small group of Khan Academy employees recently celebrated the online education platform’s 200 millionth lesson. The workspaces are simple, cluttered even, and in them, a small group of designers, computer scientists and developers are reinventing education. At the forefront is Salman Khan.
Stanford students don’t agree on many things. With such a diverse student body, it’s no surprise that the campus rarely reaches a general consensus on any issue — whether the topic of debate is the Occupy movement, the return of ROTC or the quality of dining hall food. We just love to argue.
Students tend to scoff at the word “participation,” especially when it’s written on a syllabus with a big percentage of their grade. But it is, in math, English, language, biology and chemistry, a profoundly good thing…