This week,, my challenge was to visit open education sites and critique them. The first one I chose was Khan Academy found at https://www.khanacademy.org.. First of all, it struck my interest because it includes courses for K-College. This means that I can touch up on my Algebra II and maybe work on some Trig over the summer since I enjoy math.
It is a fun site that includes videos of teaching about the subject. The math modules included hints. At the end of the lesson, the student earns points, new avatars, and badges. There are plenty of rewards to keep the students' interest. So far I have earned 500 points and have mastered 4 skills. I also earned a badge and a new avatar just for completing the assessment short quiz.
There are lots of subjects to choose from. I even had my 10th grade son interested in the history of art lessons.
Teachers become the coaches for the students working through the lessons. Lessons are 5-20 minutes long which help to keep students engaged. The videos are conversational style instead of lectures. The site seems to protect the privacy of students. Teachers can add their whole class to the program.
This open education site would be helpful to fill in the gaps in school for subjects not offered in the school system. It can be used to "flip the classroom" when teachers assign a video for homework and students work on the problems during class time. The program is self-paced, individualized, and mastery-based. It would be a good program to use with Elementary students.
The only con that I have found so far is using my netbook, I cannot always see the buttons to close pop-ups or pages. Otherwise it has been very user friendly.
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