Khan Academy
- Jun 26, 2016
- 2 min read
Khan Academy, a 501(c)(3) organization, can be used as a FREE personalized one-stop to help meet the needs of an individual interested in learning or desiring to know more about a particular subject. Learners are able to study subjects such as: math, history, economics, and from a community college's perspective be used as a tool to help student's study for college course placement exams (i.e.: Texas Success Initiative, GRE, and SAT prep materials).
If you have been reading my previous blogs, Khan Academy can be aligned with "flipped classrooms" for teachers. For example: As a math teacher for a developmental class in college, an instructor may notice that the students are struggling with linear equation based questions. These students are characterized as being nontraditional introverts who do not like asking questions in class but understand technology enough to communicate via email and complete online assignments. The teacher could assign outside of the classroom assignments using the knowledge map as a plan of action to help ensure that students are able to navigate through the material at their own pace deviating from any tangents they may encounter attempting to create a path alone. To me, having the ability to track your own or a student's progress and the teacher toolkit is an important aspect of Khan Academy.
The Teacher's Toolkit
The teacher's toolkit appears to serve as a course management system similar to Google classroom and Edmodo by providing a dashboard which allows teachers to "setup a classroom" (manage students), embed videos for interactive learning, and monitor progress via reports; in addition to blog capabilities. Teachers are able to enroll students through the use of email addresses or providing a code for self-enrollment. The activity tracker on the dashboard informs teachers of the number of hours a student spends working on an assignment/activity during and after school hours. There is also a real-time tracker on the dashboard but I do not see how capturing this information would be of assistance to an instructor based on its current capabilities: knowing in real-time how long it is taking a student to complete a question.
Now, I know that many of you are probably wondering if everything offered through Khan Academy is FREE, how can I get started? What are the terms & conditions for using this site? Well, because I have done a little research to answer these kinds of questions, you are in luck today! At the end of this blog, below, you will find an overview of Khan Academy video I found on YouTube. In order to be eligible for an account a student must be at least 13 years of age or have a parent/legal guardian approve the account. Because of the large number of people on social media sites, Khan Academy provides integrated services that allow individuals to register through third party sites such as Facebook. Technology advances allow faculty multiple ways to connect with their students. Overall, if I were faculty I would definitely incorporate Khan Academy into my classroom. But since I am not, I will continue referring students desiring to enroll in postsecondary education to Khan Academy to be used as a refresher course prior to taking the college placement exam.
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