Khan Academy and a new model for education
Khan Academy is a website dedicated to providing educational videos to anyone in the world for free. They have a goal of changing the face of education by letting people educate themselves on many different topics. Creating an account on the website is simple and takes almost no time at all. The user account will keep track of the videos you watch, the practice problems completed, and your overall progress, as well as give you access to "coaches" who can help you if you are having difficulties with a particular topic.
What is truly amazing about the site is the diversity of the topics covered. You can pick videos from the categories of science, math, computer science, economics, and the humanities (art, history, etc). Many of the videos are 10 minutes or shorter. The videos are well laid out and have the purpose of helping the viewer learn the material in a quick and easy manner.
I feel the most revolutionary aspect of Khan Academy is the fact that anyone with an internet connection can access the site and all of its videos and get help on the subjects they are learning about. If done correctly, this could change the very way we educate students in this country or even the world.
Khan academy has been attracting all sorts of attention from the media both good and bad. While I am not here to argue against or for Khan Academy I will say that I believe the website can be extremely useful in addition to a normal class or just as a standalone educational tool. Much of the arguments against Khan seem to take the form that only human contact will allow for a student to learn effectively. I personally have taken some online classes in my college years so far, there is no human contact there and I aced those classes, so I feel that human contact is not a necessary requirement for learning.
Next, some point out the errors that occur in some of the videos on the website. When pointed out these mistakes are usually corrected. I would be curious on who actually believes there is any teacher, professor, or person who is never wrong. I can assure all of you that every professor I have ever had has made some mistakes in the course of my education. This argument to me seems to be baseless as they seem to be suggesting the perfection of "real" educators and that is simply not possible.
The key is practice. With practice and the right references we can learn, I think that Khan Academy is and will continue to be a great resource for everyone who would like some help on a topic that is confusing to them or just a quick pickup of some new facts about the world we all inhabit.
If you are curious in reading some of the articles for and against Khan Academy I have linked some articles below.
For Khan Academy:
TED Talk
Common Sense Media - more of a review
Khan Academy: the man who wants to teach the world - hits close to home for me (I was not placed on the fast track as is discussed in this article, thankfully I beat those odds)
Against Khan Academy:
Not totally against - Khan Academy: Good, Bad, or Ugly?
Khan Academy: The Hype the Reality
The Wrath Against Khan
Happy reading
What is truly amazing about the site is the diversity of the topics covered. You can pick videos from the categories of science, math, computer science, economics, and the humanities (art, history, etc). Many of the videos are 10 minutes or shorter. The videos are well laid out and have the purpose of helping the viewer learn the material in a quick and easy manner.
I feel the most revolutionary aspect of Khan Academy is the fact that anyone with an internet connection can access the site and all of its videos and get help on the subjects they are learning about. If done correctly, this could change the very way we educate students in this country or even the world.
Khan academy has been attracting all sorts of attention from the media both good and bad. While I am not here to argue against or for Khan Academy I will say that I believe the website can be extremely useful in addition to a normal class or just as a standalone educational tool. Much of the arguments against Khan seem to take the form that only human contact will allow for a student to learn effectively. I personally have taken some online classes in my college years so far, there is no human contact there and I aced those classes, so I feel that human contact is not a necessary requirement for learning.
Next, some point out the errors that occur in some of the videos on the website. When pointed out these mistakes are usually corrected. I would be curious on who actually believes there is any teacher, professor, or person who is never wrong. I can assure all of you that every professor I have ever had has made some mistakes in the course of my education. This argument to me seems to be baseless as they seem to be suggesting the perfection of "real" educators and that is simply not possible.
The key is practice. With practice and the right references we can learn, I think that Khan Academy is and will continue to be a great resource for everyone who would like some help on a topic that is confusing to them or just a quick pickup of some new facts about the world we all inhabit.
If you are curious in reading some of the articles for and against Khan Academy I have linked some articles below.
For Khan Academy:
TED Talk
Common Sense Media - more of a review
Khan Academy: the man who wants to teach the world - hits close to home for me (I was not placed on the fast track as is discussed in this article, thankfully I beat those odds)
Against Khan Academy:
Not totally against - Khan Academy: Good, Bad, or Ugly?
Khan Academy: The Hype the Reality
The Wrath Against Khan
Happy reading
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