How Khan Academy Is Changing The Rules Of Education

Wired:

"This," says Matthew Carpenter, "is my favorite exercise." I peer over his shoulder at his laptop screen to see the math problem the fifth grader is pondering. It's an inverse trigonometric function: cos-1(1) = ?

Carpenter, a serious-faced 10-year-old wearing a gray T-shirt and an impressive black digital watch, pauses for a second, fidgets, then clicks on "0 degrees." Presto: The computer tells him that he's correct. The software then generates another problem, followed by another, and yet another, until he's nailed 10 in a row in just a few minutes. All told, he's done an insane 642 inverse trig problems. "It took a while for me to get it," he admits sheepishly.

Carpenter, who attends Santa Rita Elementary, a public school in Los Altos, California, shouldn't be doing work anywhere near this advanced. In fact, when I visited his class this spring--in a sun-drenched room festooned with a papercraft X-wing fighter and student paintings of trees--the kids were supposed to be learning basic fractions, decimals, and percentages. As his teacher, Kami Thordarson, explains, students don't normally tackle inverse trig until high school, and sometimes not even then.

Read the whole story: Wired

Comments

[elblanc0]

09:49 AM on 07/21/2011

This news deserves more attention, extreme makeup? Maybe a little less.

[spotatochips]

09:54 PM on 07/18/2011

Sal Khan is responsible for me passing organic chemistry. He explains it better than any of my professors.

[Luke Green]

08:46 PM on 07/18/2011

This is awesome!

[timbeaux]

05:39 PM on 07/18/2011

This is great - my nephew used it to get himself through 8th-grade math -- he's a smart kid, but math just baffled him. One thing I love about this is that it's not getting screwed up by the educational theorists who have so diminished the public-school curriculum. It's basics. Remember basics>

[VA Jill]

11:22 AM on 07/18/2011

"Critics argue that Khan’s videos and software encourage uncreative, repetitive drilling"

And homework as currently constructed, or even as it was in my day, DOESN'T? The critics need to get a grip. That is how math in particular is learned!

[eric14]

06:28 PM on 07/18/2011

Uncreative, repetitive drilling is very useful as it allows internalisation of basic procedures and processes which can then be used without application of intellect. The criticism that these methods are not creative is misplaced. They are not meant to be creative. They are constructive. Creativity should form only part of the curriculum. One given over entirely to the creative tends to become unfocussed. It also becomes very difficult for both teacher and student to check to see that all minor aspects of rule-based system (we are always teaching rules in process teaching) have been covered adequately.

[Ayla87]

10:52 AM on 07/18/2011

I learned more from the Khan Academy Trig playlist than I did when I took the Trig in college.

[sawyer0413]

09:59 AM on 07/18/2011

Khan Academy is about students being able to learn at their pace at a time of their choosing. I devoured books in the library because it allowed me to learn independently of my teacher's pace. This is just that same library expressed in an online manner with differing methods. It is why they call libraries, media centers, in most schools. The Khan Academy is an excellent learning tool.

[realitytrumpsbull]

08:27 AM on 07/18/2011

I like the idea of online-centric education. Brick-and-mortar still has a role to play, but  the future is going to be all about the internet resources. Though I'm not yet fully familiar with Khan, it seemed like there was some good stuff going on, on that website. The future is now...

[spoonbill1963]

11:02 AM on 07/18/2011

Just think of the $$$ that will be saved.

[quiviran]

07:53 AM on 07/19/2011

Students still need a safe, focused place to learn. Many do not have that situation at home. 6-8 hours of unsupervised time on the computer does not replace time in a learning environment. I don't see how we can avoid having something that looks like a school in the mix, given that most families have no adults at home during the day.

[Hlynn]

12:56 AM on 07/18/2011

Khan Academy is fascinating and the quality is excellent. It's fun to peruse all the different subjects that are offered and watch the videos. There is something there for everyone and it's a great way to spend time in a waiting room. The time really flies and you'll learn something interesting.

[sydneymoon]

05:52 AM on 07/18/2011

I just read this article and went to the site. I wish I had known about it earlier.

[rrickarr]

04:39 PM on 07/17/2011

What "rule" might this be changing? This approach is good for what it is good for, that is all! However, education must deal with enitre systems: a nation, a state, a city board or a district--depending how educational jurisdiction is defined. And while this can work with certain situations, trying to mandate it into an entire system is completely something else--so let's not get ahead of ourselves. It is a resource that is there and is helpful to a lot of people---but this should not be mandated into a system; mandating is what causes all the problems.

[Naithom]

03:28 PM on 07/17/2011

My son discovered Khan Academy last year and on his own taught himself geometry, algebra II and is working through trig. He was able to test out of his freshman and sophomore high school math classes. (He starts his freshman year in Aug.) His school has already prepared for him to take college math courses for credit!

I'd love to see them expand the curriculum.

[sydneymoon]

05:53 AM on 07/18/2011

Awesome

[spoonbill1963]

11:17 AM on 07/18/2011

Khan will knock traditional education on its ear.

[quiviran]

08:10 AM on 07/19/2011

I agree. Many students are held back by the pace of the traditional classroom. Ms Thordarson has the right idea, let the students work on the basic concepts on line with the Kahn Academy material, then work problem sets at school with the teacher and other students.

There needs to be a process of vetting the on-line material and using only sources that have been approved. Sort of like the "nihil obstat" and "imprimatur" process they used in my old parochial school text books. These need to be national approvals, hopefully at that level we can keep the separation of beliefs and facts properly aligned.

But then, traditional education is going to be knocked on its ear when the masses of first graders start showing up with five years of iPad-based learning under their belts on day one of school.

Of course all of this presumes ubiquitous computer ownership and internet access. Time to realize that internet access is an element of infrastructure, like a road, and not a profit center, like a bank.

[elblanc0]

03:01 PM on 07/17/2011

Salman Khan is a superhero. This is the educational model of the future - free, open source learning for anyone, anywhere. Now, we just need to get cheap laptops or tablets into the hands of anyone who wants to learn.

[grammasher]

05:55 PM on 07/17/2011

I agree that this can be a tool in the educational arsenal, but I couldn't help but wonder about those that don't have access to technology. My husband, at one time, was responsible for disconnecting the power of people who couldn't afford to pay their electric bills. When children from these families get to school, they'll be even further behind. That's not saying we should hold the others back; it's just pointing out a fact of life.

There are limitations to all of these new technologies. Teachers will be responsible for bridging the gaps between those who have the advantages and those who don't. That is not an easy task.

[Steve Sedlis]

12:21 PM on 07/17/2011

OK - what does the headline have to do with the story?

[sawyer0413]

10:03 AM on 07/18/2011

I interpret the headline, "How Khan Academy Is Changing The Rules Of Education" as follows. Rule One: Learning primarily comes from the teacher at a school during a specific period of time over a limited calendar. Khan Academy breaks all of those. Rule Two: Learning comes from a prescribed sequence at a prescribed time. Nope, not at all with Khan Academy. Rule Three: Learning comes at the same pace for everyone in the class, and everyone will move along at the same pace. These are just a few examples that I would consider. I thought the headline was pretty appropriate.