Though he had been studying for a while, sophomore Nate Gatter just could not wrap his heard around parametric functions. The idea of a third variable being involved in an equation was just unfathomable to him. Gatter was losing his mind.

With a couple of days till the unit exam, he had little time to master the subject. Frustrated with his math book, Gatter went online to find some resources. There he found Khan Academy and decided to check it out. After watching a few tutorials, Gatter was hooked.

This is the power of Khan Academy, an online educational resource that uses video tutorials to help viewers understand numerous subjects. Founder Salman Khan talks viewers through the subject matter in each of his 3000 videos, giving a simple perspective of advanced concepts. Khan does not show his face in any of the videos, but notes key terms and points on a black surface, which represents a blackboard.

Khan Academy was started by Khan in 2006. His original goal was to tutor his cousins, who needed help in math. But, it grew in popularity and didn’t stop. After receiving a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2010, Khan Academy got international acclaim. Its tutorials have accumulated more than 100 million viewers and for good reason: they are extremely helpful.

“I found parametrics really complicated and advanced. Yet, after I watched a tutorial on parametrics on Khan Academy, I finally got it. Watching one, 10 minute video helped me more than studying the book and doing homework,” Gatter said. “Ever since then, I have gone to Khan Academy whenever I felt confused by a topic. It’s great because Khan Academy isn’t limited to just math; there’s science, politics, world history, and there’s even a section for SAT/ACT preparation.”

“I don’t know how that guy does it.”

That is a question that lingers among both skeptics and believers of Khan Academy: how did Khan get the necessary information to make 3000 tutorials? In a lecture he gave for TED in 2010, Khan told listeners that as a student of MIT, math and science were his forte and that making tutorials on those subjects was relatively simple.

However, it was the tutorials that revolved around history, finance, medical science, etc… that required him to research endlessly. As the fan base of Khan Academy grew and making videos became more time-consuming, Khan quit his job at a hedge-fund firm to give his complete time to the site. Now, as a result, Khan has 300,000 subscribers to his site via Youtube.

Khan Academy has made a good impression on teachers as well. Paul Hoelscher, who teaches numerous history courses in CHS, was impressed with the tutorials he recently watched about art history.

“On the videos I watched, there was wonderful visual information and strong auditory explanations. I had never used Khan Academy before, but I’m going to be checking it out quite frequently from now on.”

“There are some schools that have begun to revolve their curriculum around Khan Academy. While I wouldn’t revolve an entire curriculum around an online program, I think schools should use Khan Academy as a way to introduce new topics to students and as a way to review them,” Hoelscher said.

Asked if he would recommend Khan Academy to his students, Hoelscher replied, “While I found the regular history lectures to be a bit bland, the art history videos are very cool and students interested in that area should certainly watch those videos. The math and science sections are great as well.”

Originally trying to help out his cousins, Khan has inadvertently transformed education. His baritone voice is not one of a mere tutor; it is the voice of a revolutionary, a symbol of modern education. The 100 million views of Khan’s videos comfortable surpass the open course programs of top-notch colleges including MIT and Stanford. Khan is on the top of the education field. Not bad for someone who doesn’t even have a degree in education.

Have you ever found yourself hyperventilating from the stress of an upcoming test? There’s an easy cure and it can be found at www.khanacademy.org