Educational Videos

This is a great example of how fabulous the Internet can be.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

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(This post is dated September 2010.)

 

This site has hundreds of educational videos done by an exceptional and imaginative communicator.  He is masterful in using graphics to get the subject material across in an easy-to-understand way.  Most videos are at the college level, but many are at the high school and even grade school level.

Most of all, you should let your college-age grandchildren know about this site — sooner or later, some of these videos will be helpful to them.  Also, tell your friends to tell their grandchildren.  Most teachers at any level are likely to be interested in these educational videos.

This is not just my opinion.  Bill Gates (he of the multi-billion educational foundation) has recognized the quality of the work done here.

Read the first paragraph of this article about what Bill Gates says about these educational videos.

Better yet, pick a subject at http://www.khanacademy.org/, select a video like Basic Addition and watch it.  Or pick whatever subject interests you.  I really liked “Introduction to Evolution and Natural Selection“.

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The following is a list of the video educational categories (copied from the Khan Academy website):

Algebra

This is the original Algebra playlist on the Khan Academy and is where Sal continues to add videos that are not done for some other organization. It starts from very basic algebra and works its way through algebra II. This is the best algebra playlist to start at if you’ve never seen algebra before. Once you get your feet wet, you may want to try some of the videos in the “Algebra I Worked Examples” playlist.

Algebra I Worked Examples

180 Worked Algebra I examples (problems written by the Monterey Institute of Technology and Education). You should look at the “Algebra” playlist if you’ve never seen algebra before or if you want instruction on topics in Algebra II. Use this playlist to see a ton of example problems in every topic in the California Algebra I Standards. If you can do all of these problems on your own, you should probably test out of Algebra I (seriously).

Arithmetic

The most basic of the math playlists. Start here if you have very little background in math fundamentals (or just want to make sure you do). After watching this playlist, you should be ready for the pre-algebra playlist.

Banking and Money

Videos on how banks work and how money is created.

Biology

Covers topics seen in a first year college or high school biology course.

Brain Teasers

Random logic puzzles and brain teasers. Fun to do and useful for many job interviews!

Calculus

Topics covered in the first two or three semester of college calculus. Everything from limits to derivatives to integrals to vector calculus. Should understand the topics in the pre-calculus playlist first (the limit videos are in both playlists).

California Standards Test: Algebra I

Sal works through the problems from the CA Standards released questions: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/documents/rtqalg1.pdf . Good videos to review Algebra I (The “Algebra I Worked Examples” playlist is more comprehensive and should probably be watched first).

California Standards Test: Algebra II

Sal works through 80 questions taken from the California Standards Test for Algebra II. Good place to review the major topics in Algebra II even if you’re not in California. Many of these topics are taught in more depth in the “Algebra” playlist.

California Standards Test: Geometry

Sal does the 80 problems from the released questions from the California Standards Test for Geometry. Test at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/documents/rtqgeom.pdf . Basic understanding of Algebra I necessary.

Chemistry

Videos on chemistry (roughly covering a first-year high school or college course).

Credit Crisis

Videos on the causes and effects of the credit crisis/crunch.

Current Economics

Discussions of economic topics and how they relate to current events.

Developmental Math

Worked developmental math examples from the Monterey Institute. These start pretty basic and would prepare a student for the Algebra I worked examples.

Differential Equations

Topics covered in a first year course in differential equations. Need to understand basic differentiation and integration from Calculus playlist before starting here.

Finance

Videos on finance and macroeconomics.

Geithner Plan

Videos on the Geithner Plan to solve the banking crisis.

Geometry

Videos on geometry. Basic understanding of Algebra I necessary. After this, you’ll be ready for Trigonometry.

History

The history of the world (eventually)!

Khan Academy-Related Talks and Interviews

Collection of interviews with and presentations by Salman Khan. Also a few other mentions of Khan Academy at other talks.

Linear Algebra

Matrices, vectors, vector spaces, transformations. Covers all topics in a first year college linear algebra course. This is an advanced course normally taken by science or engineering majors after taking at least two semesters of calculus (although calculus really isn’t a prereq) so don’t confuse this with regular high school algebra.

MA Tests for Education Licensure (MTEL) -Pre-Alg

Massachusetts Tests for Education Licensure (MTEL) General Curriculum (03) Practice Test explained by Sal. Good problems for deep understanding of pre-algebra concepts.

Organic Chemistry

Topics covered in college organic chemistry course. Basic understanding of basic high school or college chemistry assumed.

Paulson Bailout

Videos to help understand the bailout.

Physics

Projectile motion, mechanics and electricity and magnetism. Solid understanding of algebra and a basic understanding of trigonometry necessary.

Pre-algebra

Videos on pre-algebra. Should be ready for the “Algebra” playlist if you understand everything here.

Precalculus

Non-trigonometry pre-calculus topics. Solid understanding of all of the topics in the “Algebra” playlist should make this playlist pretty digestible.

Probability

Basic probability. Should have a reasonable grounding in basic algebra before watching.

Statistics

Introduction to statistics. Will eventually cover all of the major topics in a first-year statistics course (not there yet!).

Trigonometry

Videos on trigonometry. Watch the “Geometry” playlist first if you have trouble understanding the topics covered here.

Valuation and Investing

Building blocks and case studies on the financial analysis and valuation of public equities.

Venture Capital and Capital Markets

All of the sources of funding (capital) for a business.

ck12.org Algebra 1 Examples

Select problems from ck12.org’s Algebra 1 FlexBook (Open Source Textbook). This is a good playlist to review if you want to make sure you have a good understanding of all of the major topics in Algebra I.