Community reviews for Khan Academy

Wonderful resource for a first year teacher.

Overall, this is a great tool for teachers to use in the classroom to allow students to work at their own pace and to connect to parents at home. I loved how easy it was to connect to Google Classroom and streamline assignments. I think having a couple different videos on the content being taught would be nice for learners who need to hear information several times, in many different formats. Having a choice between two different games to earn badges can give reluctant learners a bit more autonomy and control to encourage engagement.

I would like to say something here about how Khan Academy applies gamification to math learning. Any website with the sheer quantity of instructional and practice materials provided by Khan Academy would be a valuable resource. Sal’s natural talent for making abstract concepts understandable is unique. The leveling algorithms are as well-executed as anything out there. But the real genius of Khan Academy is the way everything works so well: no drama, minimal distraction in terms of animation and sound effects, simple, elegant graphic design all blend to produce an experience that makes math fun. When I was in school, I hated math. Math was difficult and frustrating, and my level of engagement ranged from compliant to apathetic. Many years later, as an educator and a parent of students, I appreciate the logical beauty of math, and understand it better than before - but it will never be on my list of favorite things. Yet somehow, when I am doing math in Khan Academy, it is difficult to stop. This is not fun in any normal sense of the word. There are no games here, nothing entertaining. The fun comes from an induced state of flow, an involuntary absorption in the process of learning concepts and solving problems. You have to experience this to understand, as it goes beneath the conscious mind deep down into the limbic system - the “reptile brain” - at the level of instinctual reflex. This is gamification at its best: game elements have been integrated into the instructional context so as to leverage brain neurochemistry, all for the purpose of effective math learning.

I think it is a beneficial resource for students to practice their math. I think they could improve user friendliness when in comes to navigating concepts.

As a teacher, I find this tool very useful where I can find resources for my classes including videos, articles and tutorials.

I really believe that Khan Academy is a great resource for students regardless if they are in an independent learning plan or in a teacher led course. Teachers can select these videos and practice exercises as supplementary material in their teacher led courses. Yes, it takes time, but it is helpful to have these available for students who maybe miss a class day or are someone who needs another way to learn the material and most importantly have the opportunity to apply the material to practice exercises or assessments. The teacher has the opportunity to select what each individual student may need support in. My students who completed the ILP class with the support study material from Khan enjoyed that they were able to go at their own pace. They liked that they could connect with me when they were stuck on material outside of the classroom, but they also said they went back to watch the videos when they were really stuck. Their performances on the the SBA retake were much better, all achieving a higher score than last Spring. I believe using Khan has been extremely helpful for my students. For those Independent Learning Plan students in Algebra through Calculus, I have selected videos and practice from Khan Academy for those students and made a class for each subject. Students will have the opportunity then to quickly select those videos based on the topic/concept/procedure that they made needed additional clarification. As a coach I can see what students are investigating on their own and connect with them regarding those topics when we are in class again together. In my end of course reflection 88% of my students reference that they have used Khan Academy as a support material during their time in math. I encourage students to utilize the support material I have found for them and to share with me any material they find on Khan they find to be helpful for themselves. I am then able to add those materials to my Khan Academy Course and Schoology Resources. It is not a perfect system and does take a bit to find what works best for you. I had some struggles at first when creating the course adding students in an efficient manner. I believe it just takes more than a short period of time to really get into this as an option for your students, but after finding out what works for you, it becomes a breeze to operate. Students seem to catch on to this option quickly as well, they sometimes teach me a thing or two regarding Khan Academy.

Like many others, I’m also a hug fan of Khan Academy. I think the videos are very helpful to revisit topics that I haven’t touched on for a while. I also watch the videos to look for new ways to present the material to my students. When parents ask for resources or ways to help their students at home, Kahn Academy is one of the online programs I recommend. The program is simple to use. You can easily search for and find the concepts you are looking for, watch the very informational videos, followed by some practice to see if you understand the concept. I like that you can ask questions about the topics presented in the videos, and also read other questions that have been posted and answered. It's also helpful to read the tips posted with the videos.

I am a huge fan of Khan Academy. I have used Khan Academy's videos to refresh myself on topics and to find new ways to present information to my students. I also recommend Khan Academy to parents who ask me where to find additional resources. I am a big proponent of the Mappers program, as I have seen the targeted, responsive playlists help my students grow. I feel there could be more practice problems in each set, as 4 or 5 is nice to demonstrate mastery, but sometimes students need additional practice and more time on task.

I like the way it gives exercises and it is best to give home-work to students. Students can use it better by advance learning too. It was very basic and descriptive course so teacher intervention is also not required.

I really love Khan Academy as a teaching tool. It serves as a supplemental material that will give students as well as teachers additional resources for a topic or subject area. I love that students can be self-directed in their learning. For example in math it guides student well and it uses different colors to explain each step so students can know how they arrive at that point. As teachers, it is a good tool to re-teach a concept and may give us a better way to explain or present a concept in the classroom.