A former hedge-fund manager created a tutoring system almost entirely by accident when helping his cousins with their math lessons. The TED video below is a great summation of his work and its demonstrable effects tracked over time; it’s effective because the learning is done A) at the self-pace of the student and B) because there isn’t a penalty for failure, rather there is an emphasis on trial and error until mastery is achieved. The article from Wired.com below the video provides a more thoroughgoing look at how and why the teaching model he’s pioneered with video works so well. This is how I wished I’d been taught and how I believe we should be teaching our children in the future. In addition, I’ve posted the link the Khan Academy itself so that if you have children in school they can have access to the resource. It’s truly superb.