Sal Khan, the "Brains" behind Khan Academy, started his website in a very organic way. Khan had a relative that was struggling in math and needed a tutor. Khan began tutoring his niece online, and news of the success quickly spread throughout the family. Before too long, Khan had requests to tutor so many people, that it was impossible to say yes to all. A friend suggested that Khan post his videos on YouTube in order to share them with a larger audience. And that was the beginning of 2400 videos covering a myriad of topics in mathematics and science.
The reviews of Khan Academy have been high. Several teachers have actually begun using the academy as a supplement to their curriculum. In fact one teacher, Kami Thordarson of Los Altos, California, has used it to begin "flipping" her classroom. The beauty of this is that students can watch the short 7-14 minute videos at home and then work on their math problems in class. This has freed up Thordarson to answer questions and circulate throughout the room with great success. If anyone doubts the quality of the instruction found on Khan Academy, here is the proof. Thordarson has actually seen the fail rate in her class drop from 13% to 3% over the last year.
There's an easy way to see what the fuss is about: the website allows anyone to sign up and start viewing tutorials and taking the interactive tests that are at the heart of the Academy's method. The concepts is simple: watch a video in which Khan explains the subject being learned and then take the online test that follows. Then, when satisfied that you have mastered the topic, it invites you to move on to a related topic.
There are many commentaries that discuss the success of Khan Academy. The Khan critics are mostly "Constructionists" who believe that it is better to let a student figure out the math on his own by trial and error in the subject. These critics believe that the system for learning math is too structured, which Khan vehemently denies.
Whether you are a supporter or not of the Khan Academy, there is not arguing the fact that students have answered more than 50 million questions on the site, which means there is an amazing amount of data that shows where students get stuck and need help when conquering math.
It is worth looking into; its self-driven learning could be very beneficial to those students who are forever on the quest to learn more.
References:
Adams, Richard. "Sal Khan: The Man Who Tutored His Cousin – and Started a Revolution."The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 23 Apr. 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Thompson, Clive. "How Khan Academy Is Changing the Rules of Education." Wired. Conde Nast, 15 July 2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
I love Khan Academy. I have suggested it to students who have struggled in math. I have suggested it to students who excel in math as a way to push forward. I have used it myself either as a means to hear the material explained by someone else, or to further understand material that I was not familiar with. Super useful stuff!
ReplyDeleteI have used Khan Academy videos with a lot of success also. The nice thing about this tool is that it can be paused and replayed, allowing students to move at the pace they need. Being available online means that the teacher is "always" available, and that can be helpful to the parent who may be trying to understand how he can help his struggling child. I like this as another tool in the arsenal!
ReplyDelete