Can a Hedge Fund Analyst Revolutionize Education?

What’s the Latest Development?

Should former hedge fund manager Salman Khanbe be given a Nobel Prize for his ideas on bringing the digital revolution to education? That is what some are saying. At the very least, Khanbe’s video lectures, administered through his Khan Academy, have caught the eye of Bill Gates and TED, philanthropic organizations which want to reform education by bringing it up to speed with current technology. Using Khanbe’s method, children begin their lessons at home via video and receive support and exercises from their teachers at school later on.  

What’s the Big Idea?

Since Khanbe’s method introduces new ideas to students at home rather than in class, and asks teachers to play a more reinforcing role, it is being referred to as ‘flipping the classroom’. Curiously, Khanbe has never spent time studying formal education or working with non-profits to turn schools around. He began making the videos to remotely teach his cousin algebra, without any intention of becoming a wider education success story. Yet those who study innovation are not surprised. They say big ideas usually come from unexpected places. 

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