Khan We Use It?
By: Erin Reynolds
Background Information
Khan Academy is a non-profit educational organization created by Sal Khan. This website provides a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere as long as you have internet connection. The website mainly features tutorial videos in mathematics, but it also has videos in science, history, and technology. The tutorial videos are presented in a YouTube-esque way by Sal Khan himself. If anyone wants to check it out themselves the link is: khanacademy.org!
Research Question
Is Khan Academy and other related websites really beneficial to students, and should the use of these tools be encouraged by educators?
20% Blog Post Project
This research was conducted for a project for my EDIT 2000 class at the University of Georgia. To follow the journey I went on with this project, check out my blog at the website listed below!
Website: ereynoldsedit2000.weebly.com
Location: Athens, GA
Pros of Khan Academy
- Allows for a flipped classroom- the teacher can spend class time conducting activities/projects, while the student learns the material at home
- Can back up the traditional classroom- Khan Academy can serve as an aid to the traditional teacher
- It is free and accessible
- There are a wide variety of subjects and topics available
Cons of Khan Academy
- Sometimes the videos are not of good quality
- Teaches "memorize and regurgitate" method- the videos are not teaching students to really understand the concept
- Sal Khan has openly confessed to not being prepared for the videos. He has learned the material only minutes before recording the video
Final Verdict and Future Steps
Teachers should be aware of websites like these and always check it out before suggesting it to their students. Also, each classroom and each teacher are different...what may work for one, may not work for the other. Some teachers may be in favor of the flipped classroom, in which websites such as Khan Academy will be beneficial to the student. Finally, students are not always monitored by teachers, in fact, students are going to do whatever it takes to get the grades that they want. All in all, the final verdict is yes and no...it all depends on the teacher and the student.
To further this research, one could look into the following things:
- Most effective way for students and teachers to use these websites
- If a classroom chooses not to Khan Academy, how can a teacher make sure they are affective enough so that further assistance is not needed?