Khan Academy was founded by Salman Khan in 2008 and operates as a nonprofit in the United States. The project's objective is to provide a suite of digital resources to aid in teaching and learning. The company creates video tutorials that are a few minutes long. For teachers, the website also features additional practise exercises.
Follow Your Passion as Khan did
Those that are successful stand out simply by getting started. This is precisely what Khan did in 2008. After realising that his career as a hedge fund manager was leaving him feeling empty, he decided to pursue his lifelong dream of starting a nonprofit dedicated to helping people learn. To its knowledge, it was the first online non-profit whose stated goal was to make a high-quality education accessible to people all over the world for nothing.
Khan, who is 43 years old, has said, "A leader has to have the confidence to take action." This saying goes something like, "You can't tell people to do things that you won't do yourself." He believes that the secret to effective leadership is maintaining an even keel between modesty and assurance at all times. A great leader is one who "leads with action," he remarked. Khan refers to it as the "learn-from-doing" approach to leadership.
Sal Khan launched Khan Academy in2008, and since then, the site has produced countless short video tutorials on a wide range of academic topics to aid students worldwide.
Business Model
Khan Academy is structured as a non-profit organisation. It receives funding from donors, tuition from the Khan Lab School, and SAT prep course costs. More than 50 million students have seen videos on Khan Academy, which is available in roughly 190 countries. This is because Khan Academy's videos can be viewed in one of 28 different languages, allowing the organisation to reach nearly every student on the planet. These languages include Bangla, Chinese, Bulgarian, German, Spanish, Georgian, Norwegian, French, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian, Turkish, and Uzbek, among others. The organisation provides instruction in a variety of subject areas, including but not limited to: mathematics, science, mathematics foundations, computing, the arts, economics, Hindi (their most recent offering), and test preparation for the SAT, LSAT, and MCAT. For younger learners (ages 2 to 7), Khan Academy has developed a Kids App. In addition, there are professional development opportunities for teachers to learn more about the Academy's structure and other programmes, as well as strategies for implementing those programmes with their pupils.
As was previously noted, Khan Academy is a charitable organisation that runs on donations from the general public. Donors to Khan Academy include companies and organisations such as Google, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, NewSchools Venture Fund, Oracle, the Walt Disney Foundation, and Hyatt Hotels Corporation. The YouTube channel is also a significant source of income for Khan Academy, it has been revealed. A review of the company's YouTube account indicates that it brings in between $18,000 and $290,000 annually.
It is unclear how much revenue Khan Academy has been generating recently. Contributions and Grants and Program Service Revenue are the two main types of income it receives. As of the year 2020, the company's revenue was $79.3 million. According to the company's annual report, the bulk of this cash flow came from grants and donations from foundations and individuals, as well as corporate and community gifts, as well as earned income and other revenue streams. In addition to the pandemic's positive impact on sales, the company benefited from the infusion of $316 million in donations.
Collaboration and Awards
In July 2022, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited collaborated with Khan Academy India (KAI) to create academic content for classes 9 to 12. The collaboration is a part of the bank's goal to strengthen its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.
As part of the agreement, Kotak Mahindra Bank will support Khan Academy India to generate material aligned with the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT). According to an official announcement, the academic materials for grades 9 to 12 would be freely available on Khan Academy India digital platforms.
Let's take a look at the awards won by Khan Academy:Khan Academy received a Webby Award in the category of Websites and Mobile Sites, Education in 2012. Khan Academy received a Shorty Award for Best in Education in 2016.
Know How to Adapt
When the Covid crisis hit, Khan led an "instantaneous pivot." The goal? Fine-tune the online learning platform specifically to serve students, parents and teachers who were suddenly faced, for the very first time, with distance learning, says Curtis Feeny, a member of the Khan Academy board.
Detailed daily classroom schedules were created for all age groups. "So, if I'm a parent or teacher or student and have no idea how to continue my learning, I can look at this template and have very good, actionable ideas," said Feeny.
Khan keeps stretching its resources to support students, teachers and school districts. It's also increasing the number of its classes to prepare students for the grade they are entering. For example, its "Get Ready for Grade Six" tutorial makes sure students have their prerequisites for entering 6th grade.