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Salman Khan is an American online educator who has produced over 2000 (as of 2010) popular video clips elucidating a wide spectrum concepts in mathematics and the sciences in his home studio. His official channel, 'Khan Academy' has, as of July 2010, attracted close to 19 million views. His numerous videos on the other hand have attracted almost ten times that number.

Salman Khan was born and raised in New Orleans, Lousiana. Khan was valedictorian of his high school class and attained a perfect score in the math portion of his SATs. Khan has a B.S. in mathematics, another B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science, and an M.S. in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition, he also holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.^[1]

In late 2004, Khan began tutoring his cousin Nadia over the internet in mathematics using Yahoo!'s Doodle notepad.^[2] When other relatives and friends sought his tutelage, he decided it would be more practical and beneficial to distribute the tutorials on YouTube which he joined on 16 November 2006. ^[3] Their popularity on the video sharing website and the testimonials of appreciative students prompted Khan to quit his job as a Hedge Fund analyst in late 2009 to focus on developing his YouTube channel, 'Khan Academy', full-time.

His videos proved popular, attracting, on average, more than 20,000 hits each. Students from around the world have been attracted to Khan's concise, practical and relaxed teaching method.^[4]

Khan outlined his mission as to 'accelerate learning for students of all ages. With this in mind, we want to share our content with whoever may find it useful.' Khan also plans to extend his 'free school' to cover topics such as English and history.

Programmes are being undertaken to use Khan's videos to teach those in isolated areas of Africa and Asia.

Khan, during an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle in December 2009, delineated his motive: 'With so little effort on my own part, I can empower an unlimited amount of people for all time. I can't imagine a better use of my time.'

Salman Khan has been featured on the Public Broadcasting Station^[5], CNN^[6], and the National Public Radio.

Khan also gives lectures to students and teachers about better teaching methods. His effective utilisation of the internet have also aroused more curiosity throughout the world of its power.

In 2009, the Khan Academy received the Microsoft Tech Award for education.

• AcademicEarth.org

• Official Website of Khan Academy
• Khan Academy Educational Videos on YouTube