This week I am going to showcase Khan Academy, which is being piloted by the Los Altos School District in California.First I will explain what Khan Academy is.Several years ago, Salman Khan, an MIT graduate, was tutoring his cousins who lived in New Orleans remotely from Boston.He started making YouTube videos to aide him with his lessons and says they were meant to be a, “ … kind of a nice to have.”His cousins really enjoyed the videos and actually preferred the videos to the in person remote lessons.Khan realized that this made a lot of sense; his cousins could now stop, rewind and repeat Khan on YouTube and work at their own pace on their own time.With the videos they could also review lessons from previous weeks.Khan was pleased with how his cousins responded to the videos.Because of the nature of these videos Khan never thought to make them private on YouTube, and other people started watching his videos and leaving feedback.Two comments about the original calculus videos are below.
“First time I smiled doing a derivative!”
“I actually got a natural high and a good move for the entire day since I remember seeing all of this matrix text in class, and here I am like, ‘I know kung foo.’”
So, Khan kept making videos and it dawned on him that, not only can his cousins use this now but also their kids and their grandkids could use these videos, because the content will never go old.He proceeds to say:
“If Isaac Newton had done YouTube videos on calculus, I wouldn’t have to.”
He never intended his videos to be incorporated into the school system but because of the positive feedback and nature of this educational format, it can be.These videos allow students to work at their own pace and they have to master a skill set before they can move on.Khan talks about the traditional education system and how the concepts that aren’t mastered are like Swiss cheese holes that just keep growing.If students don’t understand and haven’t mastered algebra 1 skills how are they expect them to master algebra 2 skills?
Khan has created over 2,400 videos in areas of math, science, economics and other school topics that start with the most rudimentary lessons and progress in concept difficulty so students or even adult learners do not have to be embarrassed to go back and learn concepts that they should have already mastered.Not only are the videos designed amazingly but on the website there are problems, exercises, tests and quizzes.There is also a resource for teachers so they can see every area and how each student is doing on each concept, whether they are struggling, getting it or have mastered it.A teacher can then intercede and help the struggling students or can chose a student who has mastered the concept and have them tutor the student who is struggling.
The Los Altos School District has integrated Khan academy into their 5th and 7th grade math classes and are doing a pilot, test run, to see how well it can be utilized in the classroom.Khan Academy is being utilized as a complement to the current math program.The philosophy of Khan Academy is to have the students go home and watch the lecture as homework and come to school and work on problems.Working problems is where students get stuck and need the assistance to help them think through the problem.So far it seems that the Los Altos School District is having great success with the Khan Academy program as teachers are constantly giving feedback and sharing their ideas to make it even better.
The future of Khan Academy looks bright as schools, teachers, and students are becoming more able to modify and adapt the program to their unique needs.I believe that this could be a great tool for teachers but I do not think it can take the place of a teacher; instead it should be a supplement used to help all students achieve mastery of topics.
I'm aware of Khan and his teachings on youtube, but hadn't heard the whole history of how it began. Amazing for us to think about, how the little things we do in life can be huge for others! Mostly, we're not made aware of the impact within our lifetime so keep plugging away, as one may never know ;)
"Mastery encouraged and inspected". The whole idea all along, but something that has been missed as teachers feel the need to continue along to the 'unicycle', even when the student hasn't mastered the 'bike'.
I love what has grown out of the Khan Academy in the idea of "flipping the classroom." I think it's brilliant for students to view these videos at home and then get hands on help from teachers in the classroom. I'm sure this is much more effective in a lot of ways, especially for students whose parents don't understand the material they are learning and can't help them at home. I loved the TED talk and I'm glad that you posted it. Now if only someone would make videos like this for Literature and English Grammar concepts (maybe someone has, I know Khan Academy sticks to maths and science). I really enjoyed this post, thanks Laura.
I had never heard of Khan before reading your post. This was really interesting. It amazes me how much the internet can be used as a school resource. When I was in high school the internet was not used at all, now it seems like it is used in some way by every student nearly every day.
Cool post. I am glad that you chose the Khan Academy as your example of tech in the classroom. I was looking for a link in your post to follow and learn more about it. I like how you embrace technology and consider all the opportunities we have as teachers to implement outside of the box. No doubt, you will be a great teacher. Khan is an example of the type of thinkers we need to continue to improve education. The ability for Khan's lessons to be viewed by all types of students is good. It is evident by his 2400 lessons, that he is passionate about what he is doing. Check out www.academicearth.org for a great collection of lectures and lessons from some of the top universities in America. This is just the beginning of great things we can do with education and web 2.0.
I will be anxious to see what the results are after a few years of using this in the classroom. I personnally would use this type of tool to help students. When I was doing field experience in a Calculus class I ran across this sight and took that information to school to share with the class. The school had another sight they used also.
The idea of being able to go back and watch parts you find difficult or you missed because you were distratcted has to be a great opportunity to improve learning and understanding.
Great idea. I was going to add this until I saw your post. One of our teachers showed us this website during the summer and it was amazing what you can find. I love so many aspects of it for the classroom. The videos have great information for the students and are long enough to be a good aide for the student but not enough to use to teach. These videos are such a great way to add different review activities for your students.
Before this post i had never heard of this academy. Along the lines of what every one else said, it is amazing what you can do online these days. My only concern is with all of this availablity on the web, we run into the losing certain social skills that are needed to be productive members of society
Laura,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the informative Post!
I'm aware of Khan and his teachings on youtube, but hadn't heard the whole history of how it began. Amazing for us to think about, how the little things we do in life can be huge for others! Mostly, we're not made aware of the impact within our lifetime so keep plugging away, as one may never know ;)
"Mastery encouraged and inspected". The whole idea all along, but something that has been missed as teachers feel the need to continue along to the 'unicycle', even when the student hasn't mastered the 'bike'.
Great topic!
ReplyDeleteI love what has grown out of the Khan Academy in the idea of "flipping the classroom." I think it's brilliant for students to view these videos at home and then get hands on help from teachers in the classroom. I'm sure this is much more effective in a lot of ways, especially for students whose parents don't understand the material they are learning and can't help them at home.
I loved the TED talk and I'm glad that you posted it. Now if only someone would make videos like this for Literature and English Grammar concepts (maybe someone has, I know Khan Academy sticks to maths and science). I really enjoyed this post, thanks Laura.
I had never heard of Khan before reading your post. This was really interesting. It amazes me how much the internet can be used as a school resource. When I was in high school the internet was not used at all, now it seems like it is used in some way by every student nearly every day.
ReplyDeleteCool post. I am glad that you chose the Khan Academy as your example of tech in the classroom. I was looking for a link in your post to follow and learn more about it. I like how you embrace technology and consider all the opportunities we have as teachers to implement outside of the box. No doubt, you will be a great teacher. Khan is an example of the type of thinkers we need to continue to improve education. The ability for Khan's lessons to be viewed by all types of students is good. It is evident by his 2400 lessons, that he is passionate about what he is doing. Check out www.academicearth.org for a great collection of lectures and lessons from some of the top universities in America. This is just the beginning of great things we can do with education and web 2.0.
ReplyDeleteI will be anxious to see what the results are after a few years of using this in the classroom. I personnally would use this type of tool to help students. When I was doing field experience in a Calculus class I ran across this sight and took that information to school to share with the class. The school had another sight they used also.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of being able to go back and watch parts you find difficult or you missed because you were distratcted has to be a great opportunity to improve learning and understanding.
Kathy McLaughlin EDUC 506
Great idea. I was going to add this until I saw your post. One of our teachers showed us this website during the summer and it was amazing what you can find. I love so many aspects of it for the classroom. The videos have great information for the students and are long enough to be a good aide for the student but not enough to use to teach. These videos are such a great way to add different review activities for your students.
ReplyDeleteBefore this post i had never heard of this academy. Along the lines of what every one else said, it is amazing what you can do online these days. My only concern is with all of this availablity on the web, we run into the losing certain social skills that are needed to be productive members of society
ReplyDelete