The one thing the Khan academy and other such resources is the inspiration, personal engagement, guidance and other things that teachers and tutors do. Granted for some people these things have little bearing on their learning I think that for the majority of students they can make all the difference. No doubt people here have found their interest in a subject at school or college diminished due to a bad teacher or vice-versa
The Khan Academy is not seeking to replace teachers/coaches/tutors. The good ones will take advantage of what resources like the KA have to offer. On the other hand, a bad teacher has the ability to damage a student's ability and desire to learn for years.
There is a chance that the Khan Academy could make the world bad-teacher proof by giving students a resource with high quality guided instruction that includes mechanisms to keep them motivated, and I think that is nearly equally important.
