What students do (and don’t do) in Khan Academy By: Dan Meyer
This article
discusses the dos and don’ts of what students do in Khan Academy, which seems
to be an online site with exercises (math) that are supposed to line up with
common core standards. Dan Myer completed the Khan Academy 8th grade year and
discovered what type of exercises/ work they are doing and how it’s produced.
In his analysis Dan explains that, “This brief analysis has revealed that Khan
Academy students are doing two primary kinds of work (analysis and calculating)
and they’re expressing that work in two primary ways (as multiple-choice
responses and as numbers). Meanwhile, the SBAC assessment of the CCSS
emphasizes a different set of work and asks for more diverse expression of that
work.”
I really like
how he explains the short comings of his results and how limited technology
really is in terms of a child’s learning, and its missing key aspects that is
better attained from a teacher. Though with time this type of technology,
things can only get better. However it may be, the Khan academy’s limitations make
sense but still with no exceptions; students need a well-rounded education that
allows for more critical thinking, problem/ equation solving, etc. through
other options than just multiple choice and fill in the blank. Dan makes an
excellent point how students should enjoy learning, be flexible thinkers, and
have a healthy understanding of themselves as learners. Though I see nothing
wrong with multiple choice/ fill the blank answers, I do agree that there needs
more to learning math. I feel as these two options limit a student’s thinking
ability. With more calculating/ solving/ arguing types of questions it can
allow for further and true understanding of the material given. Whereas the
other two option give a higher chance of guessing without fully understanding
the math material given.
I’m not quite
sure what ISTE student standards would connect with this article, I guess it
could be related to #6 (Technology operations and concepts). As students learn
to work with this online academy, understanding how its tools work, how to
access the different exercises, and how to maneuver themselves through the
site.
Great job on the post! I have had a problem with certain online math sites in particular. There is no way to check the work easily. On paper you can really see where a student might have miscalculated an answer, or used a different method to get the correct one. Teachers can catch these errors where computers never will. Also with online learning centers that offer multiple choice answers, there really is no way to tell if they actually KNEW the answer, as opposed to just guessing it.
ReplyDeleteYou should be able to connect the article to ISTE Standard #5 as well! There would be a use of digital citizenship, and students need to take care of their online accounts as well as accept responsibility for their actions (cheating and such...) with their accounts as well.