"Khan Academy founder re-thinks schools, teaching, learning... "

[nd5056]

Agree with him 100%

Watch the Video HERE:

Sal Khan Learns from Bill Gates

Former hedge fund analyst Sal Khan never intended to befriend Bill Gates nor flip the typical model of education upside down by posting tutoring videos on YouTube back in 2004.

Khan, living in Boston at the time, was remotely tutoring his cousins in New Orleans and began noticing the effectiveness of uploading lessons online.

Soon enough, he developed a following and Khan eventually quit his day-job to start Khan Academy in 2008, a non-profit with a mission to create a "free world-class education for anyone anywhere." The academy's website now has a library of over 3,400 videos covering K-12 math, biology, chemistry, physics in "digestible chunks" about ten minutes long.

In 2010, he received a $2 million grant from Google and a $1.5 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. When asked what has surprised him the most about working with Bill Gates, Khan said the Microsoft founder "deeply cares" about education and teachers.

"He says, yeah, this technology is nice, we can help, the tools are nice, the data is nice. But at the end of the day, it's all about having a great teacher," Khan said.

How teachers interact with students is where Khan Academy is a game-changer. In about five to ten years, Khan said lecture-based teaching will be a relic of the past only to be found in history books.

"It's going to become mainstream for people to say, 'Why are we giving lectures in classrooms?' 'Can't we use that time to do something more human, more interactive?'" Khan said.

Some teachers have told him his videos have reversed their classrooms, as they assign the online lectures as homework, and use classroom time for hands-on learning. Khan is no stranger to the classroom. He has three degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

A parent of two children in Mountain View, Calif., Khan said parents are making mistakes in two extremes.

"I think at one end of the spectrum, there's the mistake of putting it all on the teachers, putting it all on the school," he said. "I think parents should engage in the content, learn it themselves, engage with the students on it and help the teachers."

On the other end, Khan said parents are doing "too much" and over-scheduling their children."Let the students invent some stuff, create some stuff, because otherwise they're just going to create these students who are really good at performing but not that good at creating," he said.

 

[sam_gordon]

The link didn't work for me. It said "clip not found".

My first concern though is how much time does watching these videos take? Kids are in school for 6-7 hours a day, many have another hour or two have homework, then you add another hour or so (assuming the videos are only 10 minutes for each class) of watching videos? Doesn't that qualify as "over-scheduling"?

 

[palmbeachmom]

My son has used Khan academy website for a couple of years, whenever he needs further help on a particular concept in math. It has been incredibly helpful for him to go online while doing his homework, looking up a specific thing that he doesn't quite get, watch the quick video, and then apply it. sometimes he needs to watch it a couple of times and review some with his own notes from class, but it has been fantastic for him. He went from struggling somewhat in math because he tends to take a little longer, to really understanding things and getting A's.

It's a great resource to supplement school, but he would never just sit down every day and watch the lessons as a rule. Highly recommend it

 

[Pigeon]

The guy's not a teacher and doesn't need to deal with the reality of getting kids who don't give a damn about learning to pass the state exams. I really don't think his opinion about this sort of thing matters.

He makes videos. Some kids really find them helpful. I have a nephew who used to watch them all the time and credits them with getting through high school.

My high schooler has watched his videos, too. She finds them pretty much completely unhelpful. It is rare that there is a video that directly corresponds to what she needs to learn at the moment, and identifying the videos that might cover the right topics is time consuming. We used to really encourage her to watch Khan based on my nephew's experience. But I've watched them with her and can see the basis of her opinion.

Dh is a high school teacher. The idea that most parents are going to learn high school math and science sufficiently to teach it to their own students is frankly laughable. There are a whole lot of parents out there who can't be bothered to read to their pre-schoolers, for goodness sake. I doubt they're going to be brushing up on trig and physics any time soon.

 

[nd5056]

The link didn't work for me. It said "clip not found".

Link works fine for me. Google it if it doesn't work for you.

I agree on what's in BOLD in my post, not saying TV should overtake teachers and parents' job.


.

 

[sam_gordon]

nevermind

 

[robinb]

We have found the Khan Academy to be quite helpful in Algebra. The subjects correspond well to my DD's text book. She usually watches the videos as test prep or when she has problems with her homework. They can be hard to navigate. I wish that I could save favorite videos so I could review the videos in advance and then point her to the ones that she needs to watch.

 

[Wishing on a star]

I am seriously going to consider trying this with my son.
Any resource that might be valid/effective at all sounds good to me!

PS: In this piece, one of the first things mentioned is how Khan is impressed with Bill Gates, due to his respect and admiration for teachers. There are classroom teachers who are using this as a tool/technique. Guess the poster above must have really missed that.... Clear and unadulterated parent-bashing. No question.

 

[sam_gordon]

I am seriously going to consider trying this with my son.
Any resource that might be valid/effective at all sounds good to me!

PS: In this piece, one of the first things mentioned is how Khan is impressed with Bill Gates, due to his respect and admiration for teachers. There are classroom teachers who are using this as a tool/technique. Guess the poster above must have really missed that.... Clear and unadulterated parent-bashing. No question.

Question... where?

 

[dhcoffey]

Both my daughters, college and high school, have used these videos to help them when they're having problems with homework. We really like them here. I cannot do math AT ALL, lol, so it helps to have it for them.

 

[BrerMom]

My criticism with the videos is that they always seem to focus on a math skill. Problem-solving, word problems, and understanding WHY something works is not something easily taught in a video and not usually addressed. Word problems involving multiple steps comprise almost all of the questions on the new state testing.

To me, it's very similar to the students (and parents) who seem to assume that because they can answer five multiple-choice review questions correctly, they should also earn 100% on non-multiple-choice class quiz over the same material.

 

[Northstar]

My criticism with the videos is that they always seem to focus on a math skill. Problem-solving, word problems, and understanding WHY something works is not something easily taught in a video and not usually addressed. Word problems involving multiple steps comprise almost all of the questions on the new state testing.

To me, it's very similar to the students (and parents) who seem to assume that because they can answer five multiple-choice review questions correctly, they should also earn 100% on non-multiple-choice class quiz over the same material.

I think that's the point Sal Khan is making when he says that we have to re-think what happens in actual class meetings. The point of lectures, or videos, is that they're a good starting point for learning the material, but now, in 2013, there's no reason why students and teachers need to come together in a room at the same time for this type of learning. Students can interact with videos and lectures the way they always interacted with textbooks... on their own time, at their own pace. In their pajamas with a big plate of nachos if they like!

That means that class meetings can be for problem-solving, discussion, exploring implications, analysis, skill-building based on the material that was covered in the lecture/video. Things where the students interact with each other, with the professor, and with the concepts.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Love this website. It has helped my daughter in many areas, not just math. I also have her reviewing videos on here to help with SAT prep. And the website it highly touted by all of her teachers, from regular level classes, right up through AP. I like the fact that she can learn a concept at her own pace. If she doesn't "get it" in school, she can then supplement that with the videos where it's broken down step by step.

And I believe the website is run strictly on donations.

 

[Pigeon]

I think that's the point Sal Khan is making when he says that we have to re-think what happens in actual class meetings. The point of lectures, or videos, is that they're a good starting point for learning the material, but now, in 2013, there's no reason why students and teachers need to come together in a room at the same time for this type of learning. Students can interact with videos and lectures the way they always interacted with textbooks... on their own time, at their own pace. In their pajamas with a big plate of nachos if they like!

That means that class meetings can be for problem-solving, discussion, exploring implications, analysis, skill-building based on the material that was covered in the lecture/video. Things where the students interact with each other, with the professor, and with the concepts.

That's nice in theory. For a certain number of highly motivated students, it might work. For the vast majority, the problem is that "Students can interact with videos and lectures the way they always interacted with textbooks..."

 

[Northstar]

That's nice in theory. For a certain number of highly motivated students, it might work. For the vast majority, the problem is that "Students can interact with videos and lectures the way they always interacted with textbooks..."

Sure, everyone (except the folks who administer that NCLB monster you've got down there in the U.S., apparently!) knows that you can't force someone to learn if they don't put in the effort.

I don't think Sal Khan is saying he's got a magic bullet that will cure the woes of the education system. Just a tool, and an idea about how technology may change how we use class time and teachers' time.

 

[DarthMama]

We love Khan Academy -- my 3rd grader is doing 6th (and in some areas, 7th and 8th) grade math from working on the exercises there. He loves doing math and is just bored with the pace that it is taught in school, so it's a good supplement for him.

 

[JessB320]

I love this website, it saved my bacon in a organic chem class last year. I would have failed without it, my prof. Had a horrible lecturing style, the entire class was lost. A group of us started using the website and we got the highest grades in the class. I think it's a great resource

 

[WDWJDS]

It's a great resource to supplement school Highly recommend it

I agree.

 

[Bungle]

Kahn academy is a great resource. A supplement. But I have to say that making videos doesn't make you a teacher or expert on how students learn. Does our educational system need a lot of work? Absolutely. Do I think it will come in the way of a video based learning system? No.

 

[Robbi]

Our daughter used Khan Academy as a resource while doing her online high school, edoptions Academy. Both were excellent. edoptions is accredited and our daughter was accepted at all the schools she chose.
Just because Khan isn't a teacher doesn't mean he did not find a better way to get information across to students. I agree that more and more students will be home schooled or that traditional schools will introduce more internet based teaching.
This is not against teachers. The education system is failing a large portion of children. He's offering an alternative. Online education may not be right for every child but then traditional brick and mortar schools are not either. In our daughter's case, she has ADD. The meds she was taking made her eat almost nothing. She was getting sick and losing too much weight. Online schooling allowed her to work on her classes, take breaks, and then get back to work without medication. She finished school with a 3.75 average and that was after having struggled through her Freshman year in a traditional school. She has lots of friends and did not miss any high school activities because her friends always invited her to games, dances, etc.
It may not be the best type of school for many students but it was the best thing for her.