Day: 14 September 2019

image source: https://www.khanacademy.org/about/blog/post/176235043470/have-you-seen-our-new-look

Salman “Sal” Khan, the founder and chief executive officer of Khan Academy, has played a prominent role in promoting the use of video in education and has a bold vision for the future of education that is learner-centered and learner-directed.

Founded in 2007, Khan Academy is a not-for-profit online learning platform.  It offers “practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard” (Khan Academy, 2019a, para.1) which teachers can use to supplement in-class material and students can use independently to reinforce their comprehension.  It currently includes more than 6500 videos and has over 74 million registered students and over 700,000 registered teachers across 190 countries (Khan Academy, 2019b, video, 0:33).

Weller (2018) listed video as the most significant education technology of 2005 (p. 39), the year YouTube was founded, claiming that “the realization that anyone could make a video and share it easily . . . broadcast democratization” (p. 39).  Unfortunately, video in education is often restricted to passive, lecture-style broadcasting, but it has enormous potential that has yet to be fulfilled (p. 39).  Khan Academy’s videos are currently restricted to broadcasting, however, the platform includes interactive exercises and networking opportunities, including discussion areas and study groups.

Khan’s vision has considerable merit, despite criticism as an unrealistic utopia (Morrison, 2013, para. 3).  He posits self-paced, personalized learning with combined age groups and tutor-teachers and a focus on mastery of content.  The future of education needs creative solutions and visionaries to create positive change.  Watters (2014) proposes that the future of education technology should be “more progressive and less programmed” (p. 93), encouraging more student-centered, peer learning through networks and less traditional content delivery.  Perhaps Khan Academy, and Khan’s bold vision, will have a role in making this a reality. 

Relevant Links:

1) https://www.khanacademy.org/

2) https://khanlabschool.org/

3) https://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education

4) https://www.businessinsider.com/khan-lab-school-tour-inside-sal-khans-newest-school-2017-10#just-a-couple-miles-away-from-where-the-worlds-biggest-tech-companies-are-reinventing-consumer-products-khan-lab-school-could-be-doing-the-same-for-education-10

5) https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-07-16-sal-khan-test-prep-is-the-last-thing-we-want-to-be

6) https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/docview/2264120250/fulltextPDF/318F7B384DF94592PQ/1?accountid=8056

Resources

Khan Academy. (2019a). Khan Academy. Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/about

Khan Academy. (2019b). Celebrate 10 years of Khan Academy. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gn5Q1efT4g

Khan Lab School (n.d.). Khan Lab School. Retrieved from https://khanlabschool.org/

Morrison, D. (2013). Can we transform education with Sal Khan’s One World Schoolhouse? Online Learning Insights. Retrieved from https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/can-we-transform-education-with-sal-khans-one-world-schoolhouse/

Watters, A. (2014). The future of education: Programmed or programmable. Chapter 10. In The Monsters of Education Technology. Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/audreywatters/the-monsters-of-education-technology.pdf

Weller, M. (2018). Twenty years of EdTech. EDUCAUSE Review, 53(4). Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2018/7/twenty-years-of-edtech

Meaningful Lesson from the History of Education Technology

Weller (2018) lists learning management systems (LMSes) as 2004’s most significant education technology (often referred to as edtech).  He defines an LMS as a “collection of the most popular tools” which can be “implemented more quickly [than previous technologies] across an entire institution” (p. 39).  For almost two decades, I have taught in various schools around the world.  During that time, I have used several LMSes, including D2L Brightspace, Schoology, Edmodo, Blackboard, Quizlet, and Moodle.  I appreciate the convenience of having all course materials and assessment tools in one location which is easily accessible by both teachers and learners.

Problematic Lesson from the History of Education Technology

Despite the usefulness and convenience of an LMS, I do agree with Weller’s (2018) claim that LMSes are “the only route for delivering e-learning in many institutions, with a consequent loss of expertise and innovation” (p. 39).  An LMS alone is quite limited.  Though it may contain all of the course content, students need diverse contexts to engage with the material, including opportunities to network, formally and informally, with teachers and classmates.  Beyond the LMS, an experienced teacher can gauge students’ cognitive load and engagement level, take advantage of teachable moments, comprehend the nuances of students’ body language, and instantly adjust and personalize the learning environment to increase relevance and engagement. 

Therefore, despite the importance of an LMS in my work and its overall success as an edtech tool, it does have significant limitations which, if solely or overly relied upon, would severely limit students’ learning opportunities.

Reference

Weller, M. (2018). Twenty years of EdTech. EDUCAUSE Review, 53(4). Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2018/7/twenty-years-of-edtech