Entrepreneurship is a fairly broad field, including several unique skills that are the same for each application, but the specifics of the profession differ from area to area. In addition, in the context of the rapid growth of technology and lifestyle changes, entrepreneurship is also dynamically changing depending on the emerging opportunities and threats. This paper analyzes the activities of the social entrepreneur Salmon Khan and his Khan Academy project, which contains many educational videos presented positively and used throughout the world for educational purposes (Khan, 2011). Social entrepreneurship is often associated with the third sector, confirmed by this example of this non-profit organization. As a non-profit organization, Khan Academy is funded through donations and tuition fees.
Khan Academy has been a breakthrough since its foundation as an educational project, open and accessible to everyone, built on advanced technologies. However, now the pace of innovation in education is gaining momentum. What then, in 2007, seemed innovative is now used almost everywhere – video lectures, quizzes, computerization of technologies, and educational mechanisms, finding support in the form of wealthy people such as Bill Gates or Reed Hastings, who gave impetus to new investments. Of course, at the start, the trend was positive. Still, even now, when distance education has become not an opportunity but a necessity due to the pandemic, the demand for such courses has increased several times (Daniel, 2020). Free access, and the fantastic charisma of Salmon Khan, who independently dubs more than 3000 videos, only contribute to the positive dynamics.
Certain factors quite explain the ease of exit and entry into social entrepreneurship. In the age of technology and information, almost everyone can create educational content; another question is that there is more of it every day. At the moment, there is a deepening of these materials, sharpened for specific companies, tasks, societies, and so on. Even non-profit organizations find it more challenging to enter, although, in a sense, the third sector is devoid of certain risks, unlike the first or the second. The way out in this case is easy if the company has existed for a long time and is afloat even in a pandemic.
In my opinion, knowledge in the field of education is entirely dependent on a person’s experience. The entrepreneur must be in the shoes of a student, have experience in private and group classes, and study metatheory in this area. The rapid development of technology naturally affects the education sector; therefore, even humanitarian teachers need to have a basic knowledge of handling technology, be it an interactive whiteboard or a projector.
I hope that an entrepreneur’s leadership qualities and effective communication skills will help me achieve success in this area. At the moment, I am in the learning process, and it is difficult for me, as a student, to assess my knowledge in general since being a teacher is a highly versatile profession. If I lack wisdom, I can gain it by critically evaluating video courses like this, where I can easily see the various techniques that have led to the success of Salmon Khan.
The video course market is currently overflowing with various offers that correspond to widespread demand. However, not all of them are as useful as Khan Academy. Information business marketing often promises more than it can deliver, giving people the wrong impression of learning outcomes. It is impossible to master programming in a month and go into a highly paid IT profession and learn a new language in five lessons. Consumers need honesty, skilled professionals, and flexibility: the ability to schedule classes themselves, ask a teacher a question, or create communication among students. Given the pandemic, it is necessary to consider the remote nature of these tasks, which can be easily solved using today’s technologies.
References
Daniel, J. (2020). Education and the COVID-19 pandemic. Prospects, 49(1), 91-96.
Khan, S. (2011). Salman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education. TED Talk. Web.