The Kahn Academy - Video Tutorials and The Management of Individualized Instruction
The story of Salman Khan seems similar to the stories of others who previously achieved fame and fortune as Internet pioneers. These individuals, often imagined as first working in a garage or their bedrooms, take an innovative concept and using the power and reach of the Internet catch the attention of millions of online users. Kahn’s story differs in some interesting ways - his Internet-facilitated innovation has an educational focus and he has turned his ideas into a non-profit corporation rather than a company making millionaires out of early employees.
Khan, a hedge fund analyst at the time, began creating short YouTube videos as a way of tutoring young relatives on math concepts. Others happened across these resources, found the videos to be quite helpful, and encouraged Khan in his endeavor. Kahn did continue and has now created several thousand video clips on a wide range of topics. Along the way, he picked up support from major donors, quits his day job, and focuses his attention on the development of the Khan Academy. Before we continue our exploration of these videos and the system of activities and resources within which these videos can not be used, we encourage you to take the time to visit the site and watch several videos. Pick a topic familiar to you and an area that you may have avoided in high school and see what you think. You may find resources that would still be quite helpful to you as a college student.
The techniques used in these tutorials are not overly sophisticated. Khan uses what we would describe as screen casting; he typically records the computer screen as he draws and writes using a tablet input device. The experience is very much like watching what you might see during a class presentation on an old fashion chalk board - you see the board and what is written on the board, and hear, but do not see, the teacher. Depending on the content area, Kahn works problems and gives mini lectures.
What makes this experience different from what many students experience in their classrooms? Perhaps very little. All students in many classrooms watch as their teacher demonstrates how to work problems and offers short explanations. Some instructors are likely better at this than others. More effective presenters have a knack for pacing, explain things in a way that are easier to understand, use more interesting examples, and are just more engaging. Still, the general components of presentation are similar.
Video and the Internet do change some things. The experience would not have to occur in the classroom and the experience would not have to be a simultaneously shared experience. The implications, which are not always obvious, can be significant. Consider Khan’s concept of “flip the classroom” which seems to translate as watch the lecture at home and do homework in the classroom. This is not a unique concept. The variant proposed by college professors may be read your textbook before you come to class and we will spend class time discussing what you have learned and addressing your questions. You might interpret this using the first two components of the Alessi and Trollip (2001) design model (see Primer for details) which suggests the need for a) an information input and b) initial guidance as the student struggles to understand the input. One simplistic interpretation of the “flip the classroom” approach might be that it is preferable to use valuable class time for interaction and assume that information input can efficiently be accomplished elsewhere. The assumption, of course, is that students are sufficiently motivated to read, watch and listen, or whatever else is required to complete the initial exposure to information. We use the term information here in a general sense to refer to a wide range of experiences that are potentially informative.
Pacing is another potential advantage of video and online instruction. Rather than hour long presentations, the videos offered by the Kahn Academy are short - bite-sized you might say. We have noticed a similar approach in several services we use to develop our own technology skills (e.g., lynda.com; atomiclearning.com). So, for example, if we are using one of the services to learn how to use new video editing software, the services might provide 15-20, 3-4 minute clips exploring specific topics for one version of one software product rather than hour-long “classes”. Why? First, whether learning biology or how to edit video, most of us have some things we already know. We can simply skip some of the video clips. Second, some explanations will not make sense the first time. We will want to watch the demonstration or consider the explanation a second time. The common challenge associated with these two different issues is that individuals will differ in what they know and what they will find difficult to understand. Offering individuals direct control over what they skip and what they review may offer efficiencies at the level of the group. By this we mean, when individuals within a group are given an opportunity to make individual decisions there is an overall benefit to the group. How does a classroom teacher make decisions about pacing when faced with students with many different needs? The teacher likely takes a “middle of the road” approach offering one “option” to all probably going too slow for some and far too fast for others. Any given approach will likely bore some and leave others bewildered. Of course, placing control in the hands of individuals assumes both motivation and effective metacognition (see Chapter 2).
The resources available from the Kahn Academy have evolved into a more complete system for both learning and instruction. The development of the total system is advancing more quickly in some content areas than others, but the components and the relationships among the components in the complete system are worth considering. The resources now include a hierarchical structure (knowledge map) proposing an organization of content within a field. In mathematics, this knowledge map begins with basic addition and builds through basic calculus. The knowledge map offers a model of what might be described as prerequisite knowledge; what topics and skills are necessary to understand and use what topics and skills. This map proposes a logical order by which instruction and learning might proceed.
In addition to the video lessons, the resources also now include exercises and worked examples. Performance on the exercises provides the basis for the recommendation to progress to another node of the knowledge map and the worked examples offer a quick way to review the solution path for problems. These components now feed detailed data to a management system that organizes information on time spent and performance accomplishments for the student, teacher and parent. Teachers can use the data management system to track the individual progress of many students. The idea here is that all parties can use these data to determine progress and those serving as mentors might identify times when intervention would be helpful. The system even offers opportunities to volunteer as a coach or a lesson translator (the system is available in many countries).
So, you should be able to use our description and hopefully your personal exploration of the Kahn Academy site to consider whether or not you feel it incorporates the four stages of instruction identified by Alessi and Trollip (2001). A tutorial is by nature a form of direct instruction. You can see this here in the inclusion of the knowledge map and the assumption of hierarchical knowledge and skills. Even the incorporation of worked examples demonstrates a commitment to the value of efficiency in helping students learn (Kirschner, Sweller & Clark, 2006). The general idea is to advance each student in a logial way that supports the student’s learning and does not push the student to the point that new information or skills are bewildering and frustrating.
As we noted in Chapter two, some educational theorists find fault with this regimented approach of direct instruction and the Kahn Academy has been criticized by supporters of a more constructivist model of learning (example blog post). The contrasting positions on this one program offers an interesting case study in the difference in perspective taken by those supporting direct instruction and a more constructivist approach.
Resources The Kahn Academy
The Kahn Academy site provides an excellent “about” page that explains the components and how the components fit togetherAs one might expect, the about page incorporates a video summary of what the Kahn Academy makes available.
A 2011 TED talk (Technology, Education, Design) by Salman Kahn explaining the Kahn Academy.
The Kahn Academy has been attacked by critics as taking a simple, instructivist approach to teaching and learning. The "vision" of Salman Kahn suggests a much more sophisticated perspective. Here is a video from the Academy site in which Kahn explains his vision. If this perspective interests you, we would also recommend the book "The One World Schoolhouse" by Salman Kahn.