Photo by Elizaliv. Retrieved from https://www.dreamstime.com/elizaliv_info
Our team examined educational video and audio, choosing to focus our critical inquiry on the Khan Academy video learning platform. Khan Academy is a free US-based site that offers instructional content on an assortment of topics. The content is mainly delivered in video, using narration, animation, storytelling and interviewing formats to express information for a variety of age groups, from children to adults. The site also uses text-based content and in some instances, a mixture of both formats to best convey content. The mission of Khan Academy is “to provide free, world‑class education for anyone, anywhere” (Khan Academy, 2018a, para. 2). The Academy has structured their content around the core standards of K-12 schooling in the United States (Khan Academy, n.d.-b) so that the content can be effective in its integration in school classrooms across the country, as well as having considerations for content applicability more broadly in other global educational systems.
Khan Academy represents an evolution of video learning content, hailed as revolutionary by some (Thompson, 2011), and criticized as insufficient by others (Bhaskar, 2015; Bates, 2012; Schwartz, 2013). Compared to other video platforms, it has an intuitive interface and a visually appealing style of presenting content. It has helped millions of students around the world to study and understand concepts through approachable video lessons (Khan Academy, 2018). If this free and widely available platform is helping students to learn, what is the controversy? (Technovation, 2012; Thomas, 2012). There are several points of criticism that educators have pinned on Khan Academy and platforms like it. One of the salient criticisms raised is that video lessons represent content—albeit presented in a colourful package—and that educators and researchers have been arguing for years that learning is more than just content (Schwartz, 2013). Thomas (2012) also argues that platforms that portray themselves as replacing the need for teachers and classroom education are disregarding valuable educational research and learning theories.
Through the process of critical inquiry, our team began to unravel the larger socio-cultural issues of video learning platforms such as Khan Academy. As we read blogs and researched this topic, we aimed to look beyond questions of effectiveness and focus instead on “state-of-the-actual” questions (Selwyn, 2010, p. 70). This process led us to the following lines of inquiry, which we invite our cohort members to consider and respond with their perspectives:
- Do video platforms like Khan Academy support digital equity? Although Khan Academy is successful in providing a free educational tool, widely accessible for many, how can it address those who may still experience exclusion on or from this platform and others like it?
- What impact will free video platforms, such as Khan Academy, have on the funding and creation of truly open platforms? Will educators come to see free as “good enough” and lose out on the benefits of OER and open content?
- If learning is a cultural activity and constructing knowledge is a social process, do educational videos from Khan academy assist diverse learners in constructing new knowledge and participate in meaning-making?
- Khan Academy videos are not good at promoting social constructivist learning (contextualizing and meaning-making) because they aren’t able to provide the interactions necessary to promote reflection and personalization of knowledge. How can videos be used in a setting that promotes the interactions necessary to support reflection and personalization of knowledge?
Team 2: Caroline, Sandra, Sanjay, and Sharon
References
Bates, T. (2012, March 14). A short critique of the Khan Academy [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.tonybates.ca/2012/03/14/a-short-critique-of-the-khan-academy/
Bhaskar, S. (2015, May 6). Thoughts on Khan Academy [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://higheredrevolution.com/thoughts-on-khan-academy-354898a13c92
Kennedy, C. P. (2012). Indigenizing Student-Centred Learning: A Western Approach In An Indigenous Educational Institution. Journal of International Education Research (JIER), 9(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.19030/jier.v9i1.7494
Khan Academy. (2018a). Khan Academy Annual Report 2018 [Website]. Retrieved from https://khanacademyannualreport.org
Khan Academy. (n.d.-b). An uncommon approach to the common core. Retrieved from
https://www.khanacademy.org/commoncore/
Schwartz, M. (2013). Khan Academy: The illusion of understanding. Online Learning Journal, 17(4). Retrieved April 15, 2020 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/183760/
Selwyn, N. (2010). Looking beyond learning: Notes towards the critical study of educational technology. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(1), 65–73. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2009.00338.x
Technovation. (2012, September 14). The Khan Academy controversy [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://iridescentlearning.org/2012/09/the-khan-academy-controversy/
Thomas, P. L. (2012, July 26). Schools matter: Why all the Khan-troversy? [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2012/07/why-all-khan-troversy.html
Thompson, C. (2011, July 15). Wired: How Khan Academy is changing the rules of education [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/2011/07/ff_khan/
Hey Team 2,
An interesting topic to say the least. Moreover, a topic that appears to be quite controversial within the learning technology theatre. I could comment and state my opinion on a few things, but I may reiterate some points and expand a little on some criticisms on the Kahn Academy. Bates (2012) elaborate in his blog post that one of the biggest concerns with the Kahn Academy is simply that it lacks effective instruction and/or support – In terms of management of learning, teacher/instructional support direct to students, and arguably effective learning. Those are some big criticisms – I would agree with most of them, how can people think otherwise? But then I read the other side, Thompson (2011) gives one rationale: students who excel may benefit from the extra content. This makes sense to me, since a motivated student who wants to learn a particular topic on their own, doesn’t necessarily need a hands-on instructor to help or guide them; they do it on their own as extra work, assuming it is not impeding their main studies. Whatever the case is, I think the only advice I can give you is simple: Do not overwhelm yourselves in generalized discussion and thought and keep it cogently refined and logically flowing. What I mean is, your topic has almost endless possibilities, make sure you as a team are able to define what it is you want to specifically tackle in this topic of plethoric arguments. I look forward to what your team wants to hone in on for a topic. I’ll bring some popcorn for the presentation! Cheers, Mark
Reference
Bates, T. (2012, March 14). A short critique of the Khan Academy [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.tonybates.ca/2012/03/14/a-short-critique-of-the-khan-academy/
Thompson, C. (2011, July 15). Wired: How Khan Academy is changing the rules of education [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/2011/07/ff_khan/