What is the meaning of a world-class education? Is it an education system which does well by all children? Or is it a system which is able to make the most of every child’s potential, no matter what their background is? Both are essential to breaking the vicious cycle of generational disadvantage. World-class education is a system in which a child from a lower-income background can reach the same standard of academic achievement as one from a wealthy family.
Khan Academy’s mission statement
The Khan Academy is an educational website devoted to providing free world-class education to anyone. Its resources, which are available online and are free forever, are aimed at students and educators of all ages. The content includes interactive challenges, assessments, videos, and other educational materials that students, teachers, and coaches can use to track their progress. The website is also partnered with the California Academy of Sciences and NASA to create specialized content that enables students to master complex subjects.
Developed as a distance-learning platform, Khan Academy’s lessons are also appropriate for classroom use. They are organized for students to build their knowledge one concept at a time, and are presented as electronic blackboard talks. Khan Academy website users can track the progress of their students and keep records of their learning. In fact, some schools have implemented the ‘flipping classroom’ concept, in which students watch Khan Academy lectures while at home. They then have a virtual tutor to teach them.
Also Read: The Cluster of Education and Training
Ways to achieve a world-class education
The pursuit of a world-class education is a goal of many policymakers, and it is an imperative that all citizens have access to such resources. While free education resources are not replacing traditional schooling, their growing availability will revolutionize the way American students learn. One way to help achieve this goal is to offer credit-by-examination programs for anyone to complete their education online. These programs help motivated self-learners complete their education. Challenges to achieving a world-class education
Currently, there is much attention on the challenges of achieving a world-class education for everyone. This has implications for the implementation of major education reforms, notably those that aim to produce graduates who are prepared to contribute to global society and the economy. The growing emphasis on global education is evident in the variety of educational programs offered and the choices made. This, in turn, has led to a range of new challenges.
In upper-middle-income countries, the average standard of education is high, masking the massive disparity between students. One-fifth of 15-year-olds do not meet the minimum standards of maths, science, or reading. And pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds consistently lag behind their advantaged peers in learning, and are three years behind them in science. This is unsustainable. But there are several ways to improve educational quality, regardless of where you live.
