4 ms·

From the article: > Below is Khan’s e-mail to me, which I shared with the author of Monday’s post, Karim Kai Ani, a former middle school teacher and math coach

From the article: > Below is Khan’s e-mail to me, which I shared with the author of Monday’s post, Karim Kai Ani, a former middle school teacher and math coach who is the founder of a company called Mathalicious. He said Khan is wrong. So, to summarize, "Khan is wrong, but I won't bother to explain why, he just is, and I have a self-proclaimed expert that says so."

SoftwareMaven 14y ago
More so, Khan's free model has the potential to interfere with my paid model, so I'm going to sling some FUD around. There were some cogent points in Kai Ani's critique; the biggest one I think Khan would completely agree with: education problems aren't going to go away because of videos on YouTube.
- badclient 14y ago
  education problems aren't going to go away because of videos on YouTube Moot point since the Khan Academy is much more than about YouTube videos now. The videos may have kickstarted it; but to offer the above as a critic to Khan just shows that you are debating on an outdated version of what the Khan Academy is up to.
  - adgar 14y ago
    People debate about outdated versions of companies all the time. Why should Khan be any different?
    - dasil003 14y ago
      Yes, people debate moot points all the time out of ignorance. What's your point?
jcromartie 14y ago
For any equation in the Cartesian plane, Khan is right. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Slope.html http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Slope.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slope http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slope I cannot stand people who leave things at "just because". I can't remember who said it, but it goes "people who have explanations will explain".
- manicbovine 14y ago
  The Cartesian plane does not contain equations. I think what you mean is that a two variable linear equation over the reals describes a line in the Cartesian plane. Try thinking of a line's slope (as you've described it) as just one measure of that line's "steepness" in the Cartesian plane. Thinking like this, we could use any number of measures to describe "steepness" (for example, angle of inclination provides a measure for the "steepness" of any line) So it's sort of a philosophical difference. However, there is a a very subtle elegance at work here.... we have this geometric concept of "steepness" which -- very interestingly -- turns out to be related an algebraic concept. Actually, we can go further. The geometric concept of "steepness" is related to algebra via a simple quotient, which is further related to an analytic concept (rate of change). It seems so trivial, but a good number of mathematicians make a living by finding small connections between geometry, algebra, analysis, etc. (Edited)
jonhendry 14y ago
No, she presented Karim's argument in another column. This is Khan's response. I don't know if she has a position on Khan herself.
- kstenerud 14y ago
  "Khan is wrong" is actually Karim's response to the email: "Below is Khan’s e-mail to me, which I shared with the author of Monday’s post, Karim Kai Ani, a former middle school teacher and math coach who is the founder of a company called Mathalicious. He said Khan is wrong."
  - MrMatters 14y ago
    I think it just may be poor paragraph structure. "Below is Khan’s e-mail to me, which I shared with the author of Monday’s post, Karim Kai Ani, a former middle school teacher and math coach who is the founder of a company called Mathalicious. He said Khan is wrong. This won’t be the end of the debate." It was part of the recap, I understood it to mean "Khan responds to this guy who posted the other day who said Khan was wrong" and then "stay tuned for his response to Khan's response" rather than "And then he replies Khan is wrong in his response. Stay tuned."
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
ghshephard 14y ago
Not to suggest that credentials are everything, but, lacking any other information, they do provide useful signaling indicators, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_Academy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_Academy "After earning three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (a BS in mathematics, a BS in electrical engineering and computer science, and an MS in electrical engineering and computer science), he pursued an MBA from Harvard Business School" One would hope that his education background might have given him some insight into what "slope" was, and how to best explain it to someone in the 8th/9th grade. I can _recall_ when it was introduced to me, and I didn't really grok it until a few years later - "rise over run = slope" was complex enough for my brain back then - I can just imagine if people started yacking about "Ratios of variables" - my head would have exploded.
- Gormo 14y ago
  How often do you need signaling indicators, though? If someone has sufficient competence at a given field, they should be able to demonstrate that competence by delivering satisfactory work. The proof should be in the level of understanding of the concept of slope acquired by students using various methods; it doesn't matter at all who is "right" with respect to some formal definition.
  - ghshephard 14y ago
    Totally agree with you that what matters is whether the students eventually grasp the material. What I like about Khan, is he is fundamentally interested in teaching students so they _understand_ the material. He doesn't get caught up in theories of pedagogy or mathematical models or precise correctness - he sees his job is to communicate a concept in a way that the student says, "Oh, I get it." Now, with that said - there _is_ a danger in that model of teaching, in which the student gets lured into a zone of comfort. So there _absolutely_ is a place in teaching for instructors who are going to challenge, upset, and disturb the student - resulting in a form of stress that pushes to the student to new heights. This can be a very uncomfortable (and, indeed, upsetting/stressful) learning environment - but it does give students deeper, and sometimes much more meaningful insight into topics. But that's not what Khan's about. He is the guy you go to when you just want to get over some hurdle about a topic that has frustrated you.

SoftwareMaven 14y ago

More so, Khan's free model has the potential to interfere with my paid model, so I'm going to sling some FUD around. There were some cogent points in Kai Ani's critique; the biggest one I think Khan would completely agree with: education problems aren't going to go away because of videos on YouTube.

badclient 14y ago
education problems aren't going to go away because of videos on YouTube Moot point since the Khan Academy is much more than about YouTube videos now. The videos may have kickstarted it; but to offer the above as a critic to Khan just shows that you are debating on an outdated version of what the Khan Academy is up to.
- adgar 14y ago
  People debate about outdated versions of companies all the time. Why should Khan be any different?
  - dasil003 14y ago
    Yes, people debate moot points all the time out of ignorance. What's your point?

jcromartie 14y ago

For any equation in the Cartesian plane, Khan is right. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Slope.html http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Slope.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slope http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slope I cannot stand people who leave things at "just because". I can't remember who said it, but it goes "people who have explanations will explain".

manicbovine 14y ago
The Cartesian plane does not contain equations. I think what you mean is that a two variable linear equation over the reals describes a line in the Cartesian plane. Try thinking of a line's slope (as you've described it) as just one measure of that line's "steepness" in the Cartesian plane. Thinking like this, we could use any number of measures to describe "steepness" (for example, angle of inclination provides a measure for the "steepness" of any line) So it's sort of a philosophical difference. However, there is a a very subtle elegance at work here.... we have this geometric concept of "steepness" which -- very interestingly -- turns out to be related an algebraic concept. Actually, we can go further. The geometric concept of "steepness" is related to algebra via a simple quotient, which is further related to an analytic concept (rate of change). It seems so trivial, but a good number of mathematicians make a living by finding small connections between geometry, algebra, analysis, etc. (Edited)

jonhendry 14y ago

No, she presented Karim's argument in another column. This is Khan's response. I don't know if she has a position on Khan herself.

kstenerud 14y ago
"Khan is wrong" is actually Karim's response to the email: "Below is Khan’s e-mail to me, which I shared with the author of Monday’s post, Karim Kai Ani, a former middle school teacher and math coach who is the founder of a company called Mathalicious. He said Khan is wrong."
- MrMatters 14y ago
  I think it just may be poor paragraph structure. "Below is Khan’s e-mail to me, which I shared with the author of Monday’s post, Karim Kai Ani, a former middle school teacher and math coach who is the founder of a company called Mathalicious. He said Khan is wrong. This won’t be the end of the debate." It was part of the recap, I understood it to mean "Khan responds to this guy who posted the other day who said Khan was wrong" and then "stay tuned for his response to Khan's response" rather than "And then he replies Khan is wrong in his response. Stay tuned."
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]

ghshephard 14y ago

Not to suggest that credentials are everything, but, lacking any other information, they do provide useful signaling indicators, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_Academy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_Academy "After earning three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (a BS in mathematics, a BS in electrical engineering and computer science, and an MS in electrical engineering and computer science), he pursued an MBA from Harvard Business School" One would hope that his education background might have given him some insight into what "slope" was, and how to best explain it to someone in the 8th/9th grade. I can _recall_ when it was introduced to me, and I didn't really grok it until a few years later - "rise over run = slope" was complex enough for my brain back then - I can just imagine if people started yacking about "Ratios of variables" - my head would have exploded.

Gormo 14y ago
How often do you need signaling indicators, though? If someone has sufficient competence at a given field, they should be able to demonstrate that competence by delivering satisfactory work. The proof should be in the level of understanding of the concept of slope acquired by students using various methods; it doesn't matter at all who is "right" with respect to some formal definition.
- ghshephard 14y ago
  Totally agree with you that what matters is whether the students eventually grasp the material. What I like about Khan, is he is fundamentally interested in teaching students so they _understand_ the material. He doesn't get caught up in theories of pedagogy or mathematical models or precise correctness - he sees his job is to communicate a concept in a way that the student says, "Oh, I get it." Now, with that said - there _is_ a danger in that model of teaching, in which the student gets lured into a zone of comfort. So there _absolutely_ is a place in teaching for instructors who are going to challenge, upset, and disturb the student - resulting in a form of stress that pushes to the student to new heights. This can be a very uncomfortable (and, indeed, upsetting/stressful) learning environment - but it does give students deeper, and sometimes much more meaningful insight into topics. But that's not what Khan's about. He is the guy you go to when you just want to get over some hurdle about a topic that has frustrated you.