The Kahn Academy

About a month ago I discovered The Kahn Academy. Since then, I've found myself spending spare moments watching the video tutorials to refresh my memory on a number of topics including finance, banking, the credit crisis, statistics, linear algebra, and physics. Although short (~10 minutes), the tutorials are very well done and a great resource.

Evidently, the creator, Salman Kahn, started out making video tutorials for a geographically distant niece. Unexpectedly, other people around the world began watching the videos and sending positive feedback. This motivated Kahn to turn the effort into a non-profit venture dedicated to providing high-quality, free educational materials. An inspiring story.

Also impressive is Kahn's simple approach of drawing diagrams on a "black board" in real-time - very similar to back-of-the-napkin visual brainstorming. Like all good teachers, Kahn's deep understanding allows him to discuss complex topics in a readily understandable manner.

If you've got a spare moment, I encourage you to check out a video.

Dynabook reflections

I'm sure like many others, the recent iPad excitement has led me to think more about Alan Kay's Dynabook concept.

Some think the Dynabook is just a highly portable computer such as a conventional laptop or tablet computer. Kay, however, had a much grander vision - the Dynabook was to be an easy to use and program "instrument" that would allow "children of all ages" to learn experientially through simulation.

Kay and Goldberg's 1977 article, Personal Dynamic Media, briefly discusses the Dynabook as a learning device and their successful results from letting children use the "Interim Dynabook" - otherwise known as the Xerox PARC Alto. Kay explores this topic in greater depth in his talk Doing With Images Makes Symbols. Howard Rheingold discusses the Dynabook's history and potential as a "fantasy amplifier" in greater depth in Chapter 11 of his book Tools for Thought (a great book, available for free online here).

Kay conceived of the Dynabook in 1968 based on a number of influences including:

• Vannevar Bush's Memex
• Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad (video)
• Douglas Engelbart's Augmenting Human Intellect research and ground breaking NLS project (video of the famous demo)
• Seymour Papert's use of Logo to teach children mathematics (video)
• The learning theories of Jerome Bruner and Jean Piaget

In his talk at the Computer History Museum's 40th Anniversary of the Dynabook event, Kay does a great job of describing how these works influenced his thinking.

Kay's pursuit of the Dynabook produced many significant innovations like Object Oriented Programming and the overlapping window graphical user interface. It has also been the motivation behind his support of efforts like the One Laptop Per Child program, Squeak project, and EToys learning environment.

Modern technology now makes it possible to build portable computers that strongly resemble the Dynabook's physical form - the iPad is a great example. However, I think little progress has been made towards creating software that realizes the fantasy amplifier vision.

Kay is famous for saying that the computer revolution hasn't happened yet. I tend to agree - current computing seems almost primitive compared to the work cited above. I suspect the vast majority of computers are used today as mechanistic productivity enhancers (office apps), communicators of trivialities (tweets?), and sensory overloading distractions (games, video, etc).

The iPad will certainly be used for the same purposes - in fact Job's specifically profiled these use-cases in his keynote speech. However I think the iPad has the greatest potential in the education space. Transforming textbooks into eBooks is only the first step - the next is to add interactive learning aids like simulations for exploratory experimentation. If (when?) this happens, the Dynabook will finally have come to life.

Perhaps it's time to download the iPad SDK, watch Stanford's iPhone Development class on iTunes, and lend a hand in making the revolution happen.

Being a generalist

Although I have a degree of expertise in a handful of areas, on balance I'm a generalist with a wide range of interests. I'm also an avid reader which, together, has allowed me to become familiar with a variety of fields. While I find these varied interests intellectually  stimulating, I also find them quite useful.

For a long time I have been a strong believer of the Medici Effect, the combination of concepts from disparate fields to generate creative new solutions. As any fan of James Burke's "Connections" series knows, much of mankind's progress is due to seemingly haphazard interactions. 

In my own efforts to solve complicated problems, I often draw analogies between different subjects. In some cases,these analogies help me to better visualize or comprehend the system under study. In other cases, the analogies help identify potential solutions. In either case, I frequently find that already having a catalog of general knowledge greatly accelerates the process by avoiding the need for exhaustive research. Instead, once the connections are made I can usually proceed directly to reviewing or learning the technical details needed to refine and implement a solution. 

As alluded to above, I am not alone in my generalist approach.  One of my favorite quotes is Louis Pasteur's "fortune favors the prepared mind" which I think indicates that he felt the same way. More recently, Eric Drexler summarized the benefit of "understanding everything" as follows:

It takes far less knowledge to recognize a problem than to solve it, yet in key respects, that bit of knowledge is more important: With recognition, a problem may be avoided, or solved, or an idea abandoned. Without recognition, a hidden problem may invalidate the labor of an hour, or a lifetime. Lack of a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

Indeed, well said Eric.