SlINGBiT

Khan Academy (KA) is an online learning platform that supports math and science instruction by offering video lessons, interactive notes and assessment activities. I began using Khan Academy (KA) back in 2008 as a way to offer students supplementary instruction on challenging topics. Today, I use KA to facilitate a blended learning environment in my classroom.  Using KA, I assign skills for my student to complete and notice a high level of student engagement. I use the real time progress report to see where students are struggling and provide just-in-time instruction as required. When using KA, I notice students are more inclined to collaborate with each other and take greater ownership over their learning by following easy to reach educational videos and hints.  

While KA has an enormous advantages over traditional math textbooks, it does present some limitations with regards to its flexibility. To begin with, KA does not allow teachers, referred to as coaches, to modify the level of difficulty of individual skills to best meet the rigor of the curricula. Many learning activities often only draw upon very specific skills and fail to assess a student's full use of their numeracy tool belt.  While coaches can assign individual skills to their class, coaches cannot easily create their own course that is scalable from year to year and between classes. Likewise, coaches cannot share courses previously created to a larger coaching community. Finally, the adaptive nature of KA is fairly rudimentary and does not suggest additional instruction or skills based on the quality and type of response made by the student. While the progress reports highlight which skills students struggle with, it fails to suggest what specific misconception the student may be holding on to. That all said, it should be noted that KA provides an absolutely amazing free resource that has helped millions of students around the world become independent learners and more comfortable exploring math concepts.