您將如何實現(xiàn)這一點呢,？
????現(xiàn)在，在四年制大學學習的第一要務就是勤學+備考,，然后在課余和暑假期間實習,。我認為應該反過來，把重點放在實習上,。30年前,，一份實習生工作可能只是在收發(fā)室里分發(fā)郵件,；而現(xiàn)在,，谷歌的實習生要對算法進行優(yōu)化，甚至連大學里的學者們至都沒有接觸過這樣工作,。今年暑假期間,，我們聘用的實習生所做的工作涉及到的理論要比他們的課程作業(yè)精確嚴謹得多。 因此,，我所說的實習生,，并不是給老板沖沖咖啡、收收郵件這么簡單,。
????很多大學,、尤其是公立大學，都在應對政府資金銳減帶來的沖擊,，同時還得做好準備,，應對未來進一步的經費削減。您認為這會對可汗學院帶來什么影響,？如果有人希望一滿18歲就參加工作,，幫助供養(yǎng)家庭，他們可以通過可汗學院或其他途徑,，按照自己的進度安排學習,，并借助相關測試，通過自己的努力獲得必要的學分,。他們也有可能必須到學校實驗室呆上一個學期,。我們這類學習機構就能滿足這樣的學習者。這種模式對所有人來說都是好事，也是我十分樂見的情景,。話說回來,，很多人最終從事的工作跟他們的學西成績沒有多大關系，而是跟他們在學校認識的人有關系,。
????我同意這一點,。我認為最有力的證明就是商學院。我覺得,，商學院有一點做得非常好,。他們很清楚自己的定位。但人們也明白,，商學院不是非上不可,。它是一個強大的工具，正如去念一所昂貴的預備學校,，比如安多弗（Andover）或者?？速愄兀‥xeter），這很好,。但是,，我們必須承認，并不是每個人都能有這種機會,。
您會一直堅持可汗學院的免費教育理念嗎,？
????是的。這是我們使命的核心,，可汗學院的學習課程將永遠免費,。我們多教一個學生的增量成本對我們來說是零或者近乎于零。所以我們不會為學習設置費用門檻,，這是我們的使命所在,。
????我分別思考過可汗學院作為盈利機構或者非盈利機構的最好結局。作為盈利機構的話,，可汗學院的最好結果是,，我們擁有一定數量的用戶，獲得豐厚收益,，可能會被收購或者找到出路,，進行首次公開募股。那么我就可能成為大富翁,。這當然不錯,。但作為非營利機構，我們希望成為新一代教育機構里的斯坦福（Stanford）或者麻省理工學院（MIT）,，但我們的品牌并不是完全建立在對生源的苛刻要求,。我們的品牌是建立在提供高質量課程資源的基礎之上,。我們希望未來的用戶數量能達到百萬、千萬,，甚至幾十億,，從而打造一個百年教育品牌。
????譯者：李玫曉 |
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How would you pull that off?
????Right now, the priority in a four-year institution is to learn things for exams and in your spare time and your summers you might be able to do an internship. I actually think that should be flipped around. I think the focus should be doing internships. An internship 30 years ago was working the mailroom. An internship today at Google is optimizing an algorithm that researchers at universities don't even have access to. I would say the interns that we had this past summer were doing far more rigorous theory than they would do in their coursework. So when I say internship, it's not getting coffee for the boss or stocking mail.
????Many universities, especially public ones, are dealing with painful cuts in government funding and bracing for the possibility of more to come. How do you think that affects what you are trying to do at Khan Academy?
????I'd like to see a reality where if someone wants to work when they turn 18 to help support their family and they learn at their own pace on something like the Khan Academy or other things, that they can just on their own get a bunch of the credits they need just by testing out of things. And maybe they have to show up on campus for a semester of labs or something. You're getting a person like that to the end point that they need to get to, in a way that's actually good for everybody.
????Then again, so many people land jobs in a way that has very little to do with academic merit. It has to do with the people that they meet while they were at school.
????I agree with that. I think the strongest argument there is business school. I think the one thing business school does very well is that they kind of understand that that's what they are about. But I think society has recognized that business school is an optional thing. What you are describing is a powerful tool, just as going to a fancy prep school -- going to Andover or Exeter -- is great. But that's not something that we necessarily have to say everyone has to have access to….
Is the idea to keep Khan Academy free going forward?
????Yes. It is core to our mission in that the learning part of Khan Academy will always be free. The incremental cost for us to teach an incremental student is zero or close to zero. So it's our mission that we shouldn't put a gate there.
????When I thought about the two home run outcomes as a for-profit or as a not-for-profit, as a for-profit, a home run outcome for Khan Academy is we reach a bunch of users, we capture a bunch of revenue, maybe we get acquired or we have some type of an exit, an IPO, and Sal will be rich. That's not bad, not a bad thing. But the home run as a not-for-profit institution is just maybe we can be this new breed of institution that is kind of like a Stanford or MIT, but the brand isn't built purely on its selectivity. The brand is based on its quality of what it's delivering and it can reach millions, or maybe one day billions, of students and maybe be around for hundreds of years. |
