Why Khan Academy Is The Wrong Answer

[proud2BlibKansan]

Excellent piece about the importance of interaction in the classroom.

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What do all these all have in common? They are one-way content delivery systems and large corporations stand to make a lot of money from them.

However, the weak link in our current learning paradigm isn’t content delivery. Traditional textbooks deliver content efficiently and effectively, and access to content is cheaper and easier than at any other time in history thanks to the internet. It’s only with the guidance of a skilled teacher and interaction with other learners that content becomes relevant and engaging. That’s what makes good teaching important. Future education is better served by investing in and developing tools that support discussion and interaction, not improving content delivery.

New uses of the internet (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) are social. Web 2.0 is about users interacting and collaborating. The power of YouTube is that users create, share and discuss their own videos. That’s what makes it unique. Using it to show lectures so students can watch their homework while playing World of Warcraft turns it into a TV channel, nothing more.

Promoting interaction and discussion is the most effective way to use technology to support learning. Social media promotes and extends discussion, which is far more effective and transformative than putting lectures on YouTube or textbooks on tablets will ever be.

more . . . http://acampbell99.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/why-kahn-academy-is-the-wrong-answer/

[Panasonic]

1. Now I got a sudden urge to post this.

Sorry

[naaman fletcher]

2. khan is the right answer for content

And ill bet someone is already working on what to do with that content per the suggestions from the author of the article

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. The answer is a good mix of media, technology and teacher led instruction.

You can't depend on just one structure. You should also triple check the media you want to use before the lesson. Many of these online videos have content errors. That's why it's so important to go over them before you show them to kids.

[naaman fletcher]

6. Of course,

but what is going on is innovation. Right now Khan et. all have pioneered the free courses. I guarantee others are now figuring out how to take that content and bring the more complete experience that you seek. It will probably even evolve to a pay model where real instructor lead courses revolve around the content.

[HiPointDem]

8. such a 'model' already exists at the college level, and it's assembly-line education.

fine for some things, not good for others.

what is this 'innovation' you see? i don't see anything new about it except the computer.

'free' would be an innovation, but it won't stay 'free'.

[naaman fletcher]

10. what is the innovation?

You dont see massive free educational material as an innovation?

[HiPointDem]

11. there's always been massive free educational material for anyone with a library card.

Last edited Mon Nov 26, 2012, 04:44 AM - Edit history (1)

gad.

& as i said, it won't stay free. it's the trojan horse for online, for-profit, assembly-line education, increased privatization and increased concentration of power. Ironically, believing it's increased freedom.

[naaman fletcher]

12. I think you are just an education luddite.

But, there is no way to prove this one way or the other, it is all just speculation.

[HiPointDem]

16. and i think you don't know anything about actually existing education.

Last edited Thu Jan 17, 2013, 07:06 AM - Edit history (1)

http://schoolecosystem.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-power-of-edtech-idolatry-and.html

[duffyduff]

17. There is plenty of proof. Technology has to be limited in education.

Online "learning" is a freaking disaster for K-12. It cannot be allowed except under limited circumstances and under the authority of school districts.

Same is true with this junk curriculum called the "Khan Academy." It should be spelled "con."

There is no way to monitor for honesty, it stunts kids' social skills, much of the time the curriculum is bad, and it flies in the face of everything we know about child development.

Unlike you and Bill Gates, technology is not the be-all, end-all of everything.

[duffyduff]

18. Khan isn't even qualified to step in a classroom. n/t

[IAMTHEFISH]

13. Khan is amazing, but not the sollution.

America's struggling to educate, properly, the students of public schools. The root of the problem is mis-directed motivation. What is the motivation? To get a better grade: and what does a better grade get you- $200,000 in debt and a Harvard diploma. What the real motivation should be is EDUCATION. Students should be looking for ways to become smarter, well informed, and become enlightened individuals. They should be the ones taking initiative; if an American student truly wanted to compete with the rest of the world, I believe they have the potential to do so. Khan Academy is amazing, and is expanding this very potential; anyone can go and learn various subjects online (FOR FREE). They have access to thousands of databases, research papers, studies etc. Students who want to get ahead of the game CAN. This is definitely true, and I feel lack of funding is not all to blame. Education is a right, and is taken for granted: If only everyone knew how much of a privilege it truly is.

[jody]

3. Khan Academy and similar offerings pose a simple question regarding the efficacy of distance

learning versus traditional class room courses.

For some students and courses distance learning is superior, cheaper, and more convenient.

The students I've talked with, prefer traditional class room methods for STEM courses and distance learning for others.

They are a non random sample of upper tier students.

[xchrom]

4. du rec. nt

[Igel]

7. The kids get interaction and discussion.

They do it poorly, and when you impose novel content they do it no less poorly. Until they've learned the content.

In fact, they take interaction and discussion to be dangerous since they're also eager to dismiss each other's views and insult them.

The only ones that could do it well are those who don't like to. They're the ones that are done a disservice by all the extroverts' insistence that the only right way to do things is by being extroverted.

[HiPointDem]

9. they do it poorly when the teacher doesn't know how to manage the class. interaction &

discussion doesn't equal locker-room bullshit/insult session. nor does it preclude participation from introverts.

[mbperrin]

15. Thank you.

Well-managed classes definitely include participation from everyone and in an appropriate manner.

I always explain wait time to my high schoolers as well.