The theory and application of mastery learning has long been a professional interest. The origins go back to the 60s and some crude variants to even earlier models of instruction/learning. I have also presented some of these ideas in my educ psychology classes for years as an alternative way to understand learner aptitude (time to learn). In recent years I have added a component focused on the Kahn Academy. My students find Keller and Bloom to be what they call “theoretical” (even though there were clearly applications of each), but they are intrigued by Kahn. One student wanted the link today because he wanted to try the modules on biochemistry.
I have watched with interest the evolution of the Kahn Academy. By evolution, I mean the earliest version did not promote the flipped classroom (a different use of class time) and mastery learning (very similar in my thinking to Keller’s PSI). I wonder about this evolution. Is what we see now closer to the original “grand plan” or have those developing this system found that what was being developed were great ways to implement existing “big ideas”?
I do discover something new each time I prep for my presentations and visit the site to review the features. This time I discovered the separate content on programming. Educators (e.g., Maker movement) have been rediscovering programming and the Academy offers an interactive experience based in Javascript.
