Overview
Curator: Debbie Watson
Description of Resource: Khan Academy is free online resource for math, science, computer programming, history, art history, economics, among other topics. They offer free video lessons, practice, and a dashboard for members to use outside the classroom.
Technical & Cost considerations: Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organization that runs on donations. They offer all of their resources for students, parents, and teacher free of charge. Users will need access to the internet, and videos must be allowed to play in order to deliver parts of the instruction.
Evaluation
1. Learning Activity Types
- LA-Practice - Each standard and video has practice problems that are meant to help students practice the skill they have learned.
- LA-Present - The Khan Academy videos can be used to introduce new material to students that they are meant to learn on their own.
- LA-Present-Demo - Within the content of each video is a demonstration of the type of problem that the students are meant to be learning about
- LA-Present-Explain - Along with that demonstration is an explanation of why the students are using a particular skill
- LA-Explore - Users can explore a variety of topics in several different subject areas on this website
- LA-Apply - Students are able to apply the content from the videos to the practice problems provided on Khan Academy as well as in the classroom with the teacher and their classmates.
2. What mathematics is being learned?
Standards
Khan Academy has a library of lessons that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards for Math. You can search and browse their library by the Common Core Standard of your choice.
Proficiency Strands
- conceptual understanding - Khan Academy can help students to practice the concepts in the videos and practice problems
- procedural fluency - Khan Academy provides videos meant to help students learn a topic and then practice problems to help them practice the procedures of solving those problems.
- adaptive reasoning - Many of the practice problems are aligned to the rigor of the common core, and students are meant to use logical thought processes and apply what they have learned conceptually to more difficult questions and tasks
3. How is the mathematics represented?
Khan Academy has lesson videos that are typically done with a blank screen that has the text information on it that includes the problems, someone doing a voiceover to instruct through the problems, and they are able to write on the work space to give a visual of what you would normally see in a classroom. The problems are provided in a mode that is appropriate for the standard being covered in the video whether that be symbolic, numerical, graphical, or using a table. The practice problems that I have encountered are answered by selecting from choices that are provided. They also have a calculator available from the website that can be used if necessary, if the user does not have their own.
4. What role does technology play?
Advantages: Khan Academy is already aligned to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, and the lessons and practice assignments are all linked to the appropriate standards. Students can use the videos to learn or review the material, and the practice questions allow them to apply what they have learned. If they choose an incorrect answer, the lesson does not let them continue, but tells them to try again or to watch another video to help them obtain the correct solution.
Disadvantages: When students answer a question incorrectly, they are not told where their thinking may have been incorrect. The application simply tells them to reattempt the problem or watch a video to help them obtain the correct solution, and this does not tell students if their original thought processes are correct or incorrect, or if they are heading in the right direction.
Affordances of Technology for Supporting Learning
- Computing & Automating - Khan Academy has taken lessons that a teacher would teach in a classroom, and turned them into short videos that include dialogue explanation and a demonstration of the skill that they are learning.
- Representing Ideas & Thinking - The videos on Khan Academy take the normal curriculum that is taught in the classroom, and represents them on a forum that students today find more enjoyable than a teacher lecturing
- Accessing Information - Students are able to access a variety of content areas and standards within those content areas for videos and practice problems
5. How does the technology fit or interact with the social context of learning?
The computers in this case would most likely be used individually, but they could be used in partners or small groups if students are working together or sharing a computer. This activity supports more individual work where students are attempting to learn the material on their own or complete extra practice of different skills. Students could be assigned to work together through a lesson or activity and collaborate on the practice exercises.
6. Additional Comments
Khan Academy video lessons and practice can be a great resource in a flipped classroom situation. Students would still be receiving instruction through the video, but it can be done at home, which allows time for more connections and practice to be done during class.