nhp's comments

Many a times the main points in a Khan Academy criticism get totally eclipsed by such misconceptions.

The points made about the specific videos may be valid, but those points about specific videos and ideas, can be put across more effectively if the authors get these facts correct.

It seems to me that most of the unpleasantness in Khan Academy criticisms stem from the fact that, most of these comment concern other peoples' comments on Khan Academy. Revolutionary/Messiah v/s borg/wrath-of-khan/emperor-without-clothes and so on.

This is sad because the actual message, which is valid in some instances and informative in all instances, gets lost in the noise. This is more so, given that people at Khan Academy are responding positively to specific concerns on specific topics.

And unlike for-profit companies, all his work, from the most boring video to the best, are available to be criticized. We only see a few clippings from, most likely, the very best videos from for-profit companies.

I hope the real critics and the real skeptics, i.e., those who would like to make Khan Academy a success, will continue to bring their specific concerns to the table; and just not all the distracting noise.

(Now, it is strange that the authors while pointing out the exaggerated praise for Khan Academy, fail to point out the abuse that Khan had to endure. Even stranger is that some commentators dismiss the abuse as "satire".)