Pitt’s classes could have some competition — from a man who records videos… Pitt’s classes could have some competition — from a man who records videos in his closet. Sounds unbelievable, but it’s true. The Khan Academy — run by Massachusetts Institute of Technology-educated Salman Khan, a former financial analyst — offers a range of tutorial and educational videos on YouTube. Most run around 10 minutes and cover a variety of subjects with an emphasis on mathematics and natural sciences. Unless viewers decide to use YouTube’s 99-cent download feature, the videos are free.

So maybe Khan’s innovative system won’t run Pitt, or any colleges, out of business anytime soon, but his approach to education could be the start of something big. Khan started inauspiciously. His first tutoring gig was for a cousin struggling with unit conversion in her seventh grade math class. Upon her success, several other cousins came calling. Because live sessions were impractical, Khan posted material on YouTube and soon discovered that others had stumbled on his work, so he began expanding the offerings.

Several years later, Khan has more than a thousand videos online. He narrates all of them, though others have undertaken the task of translating them into other languages. Along with a variety of math subjects, ranging from the most basic of subjects — 1 + 1, literally — to differential equations and advanced calculus topics, Khan has videos on biology, chemistry and history. He’s recorded them in a converted closet in his house using basic equipment. The videos consist primarily of his writing and drawing, with his disembodied voice providing narration. Although Khan uses modern technology, the presentation is in some ways a throwback — no streaming video, fancy graphics or animated bills singing about becoming laws.

Some universities have undertaken initiatives to make course material available online, mostly through YouTube and iTunes. Several schools have posted entire lecture series from popular courses. Web users can, for instance, watch renowned MIT math professor Gilbert Strang lecture on linear algebra, or listen to Peter Millican lecture on philosophy.

Most of the videos preserve the characteristic of the traditional university class. The professor stands in front of a chalkboard and spends anywhere from half an hour to more than an hour on a given topic. Sometimes universities face the constraints of dealing with copyrighted materials that can be used in class but whose usage cannot be extended to the online versions, an issue that can reduce some lectures to patchwork. But except for the handy pause button, watching the videos aren’t always much different than attending class.

Khan initially kept videos to around 10 minutes out of necessity — the limit that YouTube imposes. But he has persisted with the format because of what he sees as the benefit of the shorter running time. It suits the audience’s shorter attention span. If you have trouble staying awake for a 50-minute lecture on integrals, Khan’s platform is a solution. Spend 10 minutes following a concentrated lecture and then go off and practice what you learned.

Khan will expand a feature on his home page that allows learners to try their hand at interactive math problems. Khan’s initiative is likely to supplement, rather than replace, traditional educational institutions in the United States, but it might have a more pronounced role in the developing world, where the educational infrastructure isn’t nearly as developed. Khan’s videos have already debuted in Ethiopia.

The potential benefit, in light of efforts to provide children in developing nations with low-cost laptops, could be massive in the coming years. The Khan Academy is an interesting step in a new direction, both in terms of Internet technology usage and educational philosophy. While many other YouTube users upload instructional material from guitar lessons to tips on languages, Khan’s videos will likely become the largest and most systematic attempt to use the popular video-sharing site to provide a full educational experience. There’s no for-charge product tie-in or tuition bill, either.

A free education tool that’s accessible and to-the-point sounds like a winning formula. But whether colleges would adopt a system that enhances — or replaces — the lecturing professor remains to be seen. We’ll have to keep watching.

E-mail Steve at [email protected].