good article by Salman Khan of the online Khan Academy:

But it doesn't have to be this way. In 2008, I started a non-profit organization called the Khan Academy to deliver free online education. As it turns out, our tools have given students and teachers the power to "flip" the traditional classroom: Students can hear lectures at home and spend their time at school doing "homework"—that is, working on problems. It allows them to advance at their own pace, gaining real mastery, and it lets teachers spend more time giving one-to-one instruction.

…At the Khan Academy, in Mountain View, Calif., learning is flipped. Lectures take place at home with videos over the Internet. And "homework" is done at school, where teachers intervene.

 

And here's a fun pop quiz from the article (answers below; I'm proud to say that my 14-year-old got them all right):

Pop Quiz!

Some math exercises from the Khan Academy website. Click here for the answers.

1. Solve for x: -5x = -1

2. Which of these numbers is prime? a. 56 b. 91 c. 17 d. 51 e. 26

3. What is the least common multiple of 20 and 36?

4. If -5x-y-5z = 1

Then what is -5y-25x-25z ?

5. Evaluate the following expression when x = -1.
-5x+7

6. Alice traveled by bus at an average speed of 20 miles per hour. Then she traveled by moped at an average speed of 44 miles per hour. In total, she traveled 216 miles for 6 hours. How many minutes did Alice travel by moped? (Round to the nearest minute.)

7. Gulnar has an average score of 87 after 6 tests. What does Gulnar need to get on the next test to finish with an average of 78 on all 7 tests?

8. In 15 years, Gulnar will be 6 times as old as she is today. How old is Gulnar today?

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Turning the Classroom Upside Down

Why not have lectures at home and 'homework' at school—and let students learn at their own pace?

By SALMAN KHAN

http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704101604576248713420747884.html