Design Experiment 3: Khan Academy

DIY(Do-It-Yourself) Online Learning Resource

For educators desiring to "Flip" their classrooms there are several resources for obtaining a variety of online content that is ready to be delivered. One of the resources is Khan Academy is a non-profit organization which provides online practice and video tutorials in math, science and engineering, arts and humanity, computing, economics and finance, and test preparation.  Khan Academy has a large range of  lessons designed for Kindergarten through college.

Terms of Use:  Khan Academy's number one affordance, in my opinion, is that it is 100% completely free to use.  A user does not have to register for an account, but there are some features that cannot be fully accessed without an account.  A child account is for users 13 or younger with parental approval; and a parent account is for users 18 and older.  Upon registering you are granted use of the resources on the site, but prohibited from downloading, selling or modifying the contents.  Detailed terms can be read at: https://www.khanacademy.org/about/tos.

Khan Academy was first introduced to me through my district during a math training.  At the time, I did not use the resource in class, but rather referred the parents of my students to Khan Academy for assistance with homework.  I later became more acquainted with Khan Academy when my son had difficulty with long division.  Once he watched the video, then complete one of the practice exercises, he was able to finish his assignment on his own with much more confidence and understanding. Now that I am learning more about how to create online learning opportunities for students in class, I see how powerful using Khan Academy can be.

I currently teach 2nd grade math and science, so I began my exploration with Math for K - 8, which included lessons for counting, place value, addition/subtraction, measurement and data and geometry. If you do not have an account, you are prompted to personalize your learning by signing up for one. Registered users have the option to access content through two tabs: "Explore" or "Missions".  The Missions lessons allow the user to track their progress. Science topics included: physics, chemistry, organic chemistry, biology, health and medicine and electrical engineering.  Computer topics included: programming, computer science, Hour of Code, and animation.  A complete list of content lessons can be found at:  https://www.khanacademy.org/.  The "Subject" tab has a pull-down menu with the list of lessons that are hyperlinked to the practice and videos.

The basic format for the content is that once a lesson is selected the user will watch one or two videos, marked by a triangle, to learn/review the concepts.  After the video(s) the user is given one or more practice sessions, marked by a star.  Users have the option to get a hint if they are not able to complete the practice question on their own.  Immediate feedback, another affordance, is provided for each question as the use selects the "Check answer" button.

If you register as a "Teacher", you have the ability to create a class.  The dashboard gives instant feedback on the progress of students.  The data can then be used to group students and work on areas of weakness or enrich for areas of strength.  Students can use the lessons to help them become more accountable for their own learning.

Other affordances of using Khan Academy include the commercial free, user-friendly platform; availability anytime and anywhere there is internet access; available on iPad and Android devices.