

Let's get Salman Khan (khanacademy.org) on the TED stage - maheshs
http://alexisohanian.com/lets-get-salman-khan-on-the-ted-stage

======
mhb
I think he's a good candidate for a MacArthur fellowship, too.

~~~
gord
Give him the Nobel Peace Prize

~~~
gord
I genuinely meant this.

Better wording might be "I think his work is worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize",
to avoid the impression of sarcasm ?

~~~
henrikschroder
In what possible way could his work fit the guidelines for awarding the prize,
as described in the will of Alfred Nobel?

~~~
arvinjoar
This is exactly it. I have been trying to tell people that the Nobel Peace
Prize is _not_ the "Awesome Person" prize. Nobel was very clear on what a
person had to have been working on before receiving the prize.

~~~
zumda
In the words of Alfred Nobel: "the person who shall have done the most or the
best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of
standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses". [1]

Apparently, for some strange reason, someone nominated Adolf Hitler, too. Now
I learned at least something today.

[1] <http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/shortfacts.html>

------
sahillavingia
This seems like a noble effort, but Khan seems like the type of guy who likes
to be left alone, contributing to the world as best he can. Spending time at
TED would just slow him down.

~~~
revorad
He is a fantastic speaker - <http://vimeo.com/11731351> and interviewee -
<http://mixergy.com/salman-khan-academy-interview/>

~~~
hebejebelus
Thank you for the links, they're brilliant. Especially the first one, really
gives you an insight into the man who's getting me (and thousands more around
the world) through college. :)

------
Gormo
I could have sworn he already did a TED Talk - I remember first learning of
Khan Academy _from_ TED - but now there seems to be no trace of him on the TED
site.

Am I crazy, or did he do a talk that was subsequently removed?

~~~
barmstrong
You may be thinking about GEL? [http://www.khanacademy.org/video/salman-khan-
speaks-at-gel--...](http://www.khanacademy.org/video/salman-khan-speaks-at-gel
--good-experience-live--conference?playlist=Khan%20Academy-
Related%20Talks%20and%20Interviews)

~~~
Gormo
Thanks - that is the video I saw. The format is so similar to TED, though,
that I wonder if he'd have anything substantially different to say in a TED
talk.

------
JaretManuel
Salman is a premier TED candidate as he is "doing it" and it will be
interesting to hear what he is dreaming about for this space.

Stupendous choice Alexis.

------
rhythmAddict
The font on that blog makes me want to gauge my eyes out.

~~~
swombat
Gauge your eyes out?

I think you mean gouge.

~~~
rhythmAddict
I do indeed, sorry - my fingers have a mind of their own.

------
noverloop
I would like to fill in the form to nominate him but I can't find his email
address

~~~
kumarshantanu
<http://khanacademy.org/people.jsp>

------
johnohara
His contribution is impressive, but it has a long way to go.

Good online instruction presents very different challenges not found with
traditional classroom teaching or "professor-as-focus" videos. It's an
instructional medium unique to itself, and still finding its legs.

I completely disagree with course content that's been created using poor-
quality audio and "visuals" (not video). "Good enough" is not only
disrespectful to the student but completely unnecessary given the quality and
cost of great content production tools available the past four years.

Higher-quality means more post production work, however, but it's worth it
because "when it's done right, it will always be done right."

Four rules have emerged so far in this new medium: 1) The material must take
center stage, not the presenter, 2) students prefer granularity of subject
matter in short vignettes, 3) done well is always done well, promoting
repeatable instructional excellence, 4) high-quality audio/visual production
tools are a must.

A lot of us, not just Sal, employ these principals in our work. But overall,
it needs to bake a little more before being presented at TED or before the
MacArthur Foundation.

The educational paradigm is shifting, and indeed being disrupted, but not in
the way most people think.

~~~
rfrey
To me this sounds like much of the pedagogy I grew up with in the late 80's,
which emphasized production values over clear presentation, or assumed that
production values were an indicator of quality of presentation.

The underlying assumption then was that "modern students" needed to be
"entertained" or somehow spoken to "in their own language" whatever that is.
Your points, especially "high quality audio/visual production tools are a
must", echoes that sentiment to me.

All in all that seems to me more disrespectful to students than letting the
subject matter speak for itself, and assuming that young students are as
capable as we are of seeing the magic in geometry, or calculus, if it is
correctly and clearly explained.

Edited: Also, producing 1600 videos puts him rather apart from others in the
field, even those producing awesome graphics.

~~~
johnohara
This medium now allows for both: excellent production and clear presentation.
If it's presented well the first time, it will always be presented well.

The problem with production in the 80's and 90's was time and cost. High cost
and long production time guaranteed the problems you point out.

But the cost of high-quality production today is so low as to be non-existent.
Production time is still a factor -- as it is in software development.

Sal chose quantity over visual quality and hit the long ball. But c'mon, a
Blue Snowball USB microphone is only $99 and produces crystal-clear audio.

