Given the difficulty getting tutors I am tempted to send students as well, but I really need to look over the relevant materials myself. The one video I watched recently seemed to be okay if a bit mechanical.

I've spoken with one algebra instructor who watched one or two videos (talk about anecdotal evidence) and she was very disappointed with what she saw. She mentioned a lack of theory (to support generalizing the example) and in the video she watched there was an error that presenter had to back up and correct. (Personally I don't know whether modeling error correction is good, or whether making mistakes confuses students. I lean in the direction of confusion...)

Based on this extremely limited sample I am guessing that Kahn materials supports rote learning pretty well, but doesn't help students understand why things work.

If properly utilized that could be a good thing. I am pretty happy to let someone else teach the mechanics of how to do things while I focus on the when and why would you do them.

But ultimately we need to see some quality studies that properly address the impact of these videos because right now there is a growing fascination with them among those who consider themselves to be leaders and innovators. People with money and influence who are bright, but lack expertise and so go with their intuitive theories of learning--which are rather hit-or-miss in their accuracy.

In support of Kahn I would mention that one of the promo videos I saw several months ago showed an elementary school teacher and her aide working with students who were working with the Kahn materials. This is important because so many of the political leaders see things like Kahn as an alternative to teachers when Kahn presents it as a supplement to teachers--who are further supplemented with an aide or two.

The argument is that rather than having the teacher present material targeting the middle of the class and hoping, material is presented at a customized pace for each student with the teacher providing an appropriate level of one-on-one mentoring.

Certainly seems like a good idea, but I've already seen the basic theme badly corrupted by administrators who don't actually understand the nature and intent of the self pacing---all they see is relatively cheap computers and online videos replacing expensive teachers.

I especially like your last line. So true.

There are free university courses being made available online by https://www.coursera.org/courses

Numerous universities in the states and Canada offer video courses, 8 to 10 weeks long, complete with quizzes and assignments. If you get 80%, you receive a certificate. I'm enrolled in two (but will have to drop one due to time constraints) and have another one starting in November. So far, I'm very impressed with the courses I've taken.

There are new ones starting all the time and last I checked the time-table was filled till May next year with other courses after that TBA. So there is likely something of interest for almost anyone in the courses.

Highly recommended for those wanting to keep brain rust at bay, learn something new, or just review a subject they're already familiar with. Plus it is fun. They even have discussion boards where you can chat with fellow students. As well, some courses have FB pages or separate links where they post other informative, educational sites related to that course.