Khan Academy: The hype and the reality

[Starry Messenger]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/khan-academy-the-hype-and-the-reality/2012/07/23/gJQAuw4J3W_blog.html

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When asked why so many teachers have such adverse reactions to Khan Academy, Khan suggests it’s because they’re jealous. “It’d piss me off, too, if I had been teaching for 30 years and suddenly this ex-hedge-fund guy is hailed as the world’s teacher.”

Of course, teachers aren’t “pissed off” because Sal Khan is the world’s teacher. They’re concerned that he’s a bad teacher who people think is great; that the guy who’s delivered over 170 million lessons to students around the world openly brags about being unprepared and considers the precise explanation of mathematical concepts to be mere “nitpicking.” Experienced educators are concerned that when bad teaching happens in the classroom, it’s a crisis; but that when it happens on YouTube, it’s a “revolution.”

Because the truth is that there’s nothing revolutionary about Khan Academy at all. In fact, Khan’s style of instruction is identical to what students have seen for generations: a do this then do this approach to teaching that presents mathematics as a meaningless series of steps. Khan himself says that “math is not just random things to memorize and regurgitate,” yet that’s exactly how his videos present it.

<snip>

Unfortunately, the media hype surrounding Khan Academy has created a level of expectation far beyond what it – indeed, what any person or website – could ever reasonably deliver. Reporters have confused journalism with sycophantism, and the entire narrative has become a head-scratching example of the suspension of common sense.

The author goes on to make the larger point that "silver bullets" in education are answers to the wrong question. Interesting op-ed. The author also covers the errors in math that the videos perpetuate.

[Warpy]

1. I have a few quibbles with their history programs, as well.

but it's still a resource for those of us who still like learning something but who have left formal education far behind.

[WCGreen]

2. I've been working on my math since I graduated from college 30 years ago..

In that sense, it's like a refresher for me...

[Sienna86]

3. I use it and like it

For some reason, my kids don't learn what they need to from their math teachers. it's a wonderful, free resource for me and my kids. I love math and always did quite well in that subject. Khan Academy is a great refresher for me.

The bigger question is: Why aren't students learning math in the classroom? I think we need to look at teachers and the administration.

[Starry Messenger]

4. There's a bit further up about the problems with the math.

<snip>

Take Khan’s explanation of slope, which he defines as “rise over run.” An effective math teacher will point out that “rise over run” isn’t the definition of slope at all but merely a way to calculate it. In fact, slope is a rate that describes how two variables change in relation to one another: how a car’s distance changes over time (miles per additional hour); how the price of an iPod changes as you buy more memory (dollars per additional gigabyte).

To the lay person this may seem like a trivial distinction, but slope is one of the most fundamental concepts in secondary math. If students don’t understand slope at the conceptual level, they won’t understand functions. If they don’t understand functions, they won’t understand Algebra. And if they don’t understand Algebra, they can’t understand Calculus. It’s that simple.

Or rather, it’s not. Because effective teaching is incredibly complex. It requires planning. It requires reflection. And it certainly requires more than just “two minutes of research on Google,” which is how Khan describes his own pre-lesson routine.

As a result, experienced educators have begun to push back against what they see as fundamental problems with Khan’s approach to teaching. In June, two professors from Grand Valley State University created their own video in which they pointed out errors in Khan’s lesson on negative numbers: not things they disagreed with, but things he got plain wrong. To his credit, Khan did replace the video. However, instead of using this as an opportunity to engage educators and improve his teaching, he dismissed the criticism.

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[LWolf]

5. I watched some of the lessons

during an interminable "staff development" meeting held in the computer lab. While the principal gave a long, rambling and useless lecture on motivating students at the front of the lab, I sat in the back and surveyed the khan academy, since our students were encouraged to use it during their lab (my prep) time. I was not impressed; simplistic lecture style with little thinking, little authentic application, nothing to make sure a kid watching/listening actually understood.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. +1

That's a problem. Checking for understanding is a pretty important part of instruction.

[LWolf]

7. Ya think?

I think its another facet of the push to do away with teaching as a profession, and turn it into a matter of present/test that can be done by clerks or machines.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. I'm in training this week

On lunch break now. Guess what the topic is? Effective instruction.

So I asked earlier - when videos came up - how do we check for understanding when we use videos like Khan's. And the presenter who is a nationally recognized expert on instruction and lesson design said "You can't. And that's MY problem with this video trend."

So we aren't alone in this.