Building Curious Learners: Learning can be a complex process when the information is not presented to the learner in the correct manner. Learners have different learning habits, strategies, different levels of knowledge or skill, different levels of motivation, and different personality traits (Gurpinar, Kulac, Tetik, Akdogan & Mamakli, 2013). Since each learner is unique, it is imperative that they are appropriately equipped with the tools to succeed. The platform Khan Academy (KA) is an excellent tool used by my educators across the globe to teach students mathematics. Khan Academy has gained such traction because of its ability to build curiosity within its users. Khan Academy provides thousands of videos on math topics varying from primary to high-level math; it also provides modules and practice problems for each of these topics. Furthermore, it allows the learner to take initiative in their own learning by skipping through familiar topics and spending more time on topics that they struggle with. KA motivates, differentiates, and individualizes the learning process for users to gain curiosity in their educational journey.
Goal Oriented: Goal Setting involves the establishment of an aim or desire that increases action to achieve that aim or desire (Lock & Latham, 2006). In addition, setting goals has been shown to increase self-determination skills, improve mental health, and decrease anxiety, depression, and stress among adolescents (S. Lee, 2009). Goal setting is an imperative step students must take during the learning process. Setting goals provides the learner with a clear path on what objectives need to be completed in order to achieve that goal. Without goals, learners are often lost, confused, or have little drive towards success. KA allows the learner to set their own goals and focus on their individual needs. When students are forced to work on tasks they have already mastered, they lose interest and motivation. Khan Academy allows the user to handpick the lessons and modules they want to work on to ensure that their work and efforts are relevant and assist them in achieving their learning goal. Lastly, while practicing these topics, the user can earn awards and badges, which serve as recognition to motivate the learner further and keep them enticed along their journey.
I Think I Can, I Think I Can: Khan Academy does an excellent job of building the user's confidence. Confidence is one of the most essential attributes of being a successful learner. When people do not have positive expectancies for success or when they have been unable to avoid failures and catastrophes over which they have no control, they can develop feelings of helplessness (Keller & Markus, p. 81). KA’s strengths are its unique ability to provide individualized self-paced instruction and feedback to the learners (Cargile & Harkness, 2015). The feedback and individualized instruction allow the user to build confidence while practicing. Furthermore, the practice modules have proper checks and balances to assist users in their needs. For example, you can click a “hint” button while working through problems that will break the question down step by step with a detailed explanation. Users can then use the example that was solved to assist in solving additional practice problems on their own once they have gained the confidence to do so.
References:
Cargile, L., & Harkness, S. (2015). Flip or flop: Are math teachers using Khan Academy as
envisioned by Sal Khan? TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning,
59(6), 21–28. https://doi-org.oclc.fullsail.edu/10.1007/s11528-015-0900-8
Gurpinar, E., Kulac, E., Tetik, C., Akdogan, I., & Mamakli, S. (2013). Do learning
approaches of medical students affect their satisfaction with problem-based
learning? Advances in Physiology Education, 37(1), 85-88.
Lee, S., Palmer, S.B., & Wehmeyer, M.L (2009). Goal setting and self-monitoring for
students with disabilities: Practical tips and teachers. Intervention in School and
Clinic, 44(3)139-145. http://doi.org/10.1177/1053451208326053.
Locke, E. A., Lathman, G. P. (2006). New directions in goal-setting theory. Current
Directions in Psychological Sciences, 15(5), 265-268.
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.ed/viewdoc/downloaddoi=10.1.1.553.1396&rep=rep1&type=pdf
I really enjoyed reading this blog post about Khan Academy and how it can motivate learners in a positive way. Within the three sections, “Building Curious Learners,” “Goal Oriented,” and “I think I can, I think I can,” there were three of Reiser and Dempsey’s learning engagement principles,
Motivation to learn is promoted when a learner’s curiosity is aroused due to a perceived gap in current knowledge.
Khan academy is great for providing a plethora of knowledge on various subjects. I’ve seen strong engagement in my own daughter when she was just 2 years old through using Khan Academy. She has learned about many topics that I would have never guessed she would be interested in because…
Gaps in knowledge
The Khan Academy website has a section devoted to the efficacy of the service as a learning platform. The first reason listed (under “personalized learning”), states that students begin their use of the platform by filling their current gaps in knowledge before accelerating their learning. By setting the expectation that there’s always more to learn and providing a large library of content for all levels of study, the team behind Khan Academy has created a platform that promotes learning for all users. The idea that users of the platform will be motivated to learn by first addressing their gaps in knowledge takes the idea that students are “motivated to learn when they perceive a gap in their…
Meaningful
Khan Academy is a large and popular open educational resource (Kelly & Rutherford, 2017) that is being used across the nation. In my classroom, it is used as a supplemental resource. Khan Academy allows students to control where they start and stop a lesson. Relevance is a key concept to Reiser’s (2018) second learning engagement principle. It states that relevance can be achieved by creating meaningful challenges, in this case, it would mean allowing the students to have a measure of control over their goals and steps to accomplish them (Reiser & Dempsey, 2018). Khan Academy has a lot of features that appeal to goal-oriented children. This website is not like a regular online course where the…
I'm a big fan of Sal Khan. I'm currently reading his book The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined. I think Khan Academy is a great website and so helpful for all learners. He has amazing insight on educational practices despite not being a formally trained educator at all!
Learning Gaps
Khan Academy is THE site to go to when you need to learn something quickly. This blog claims that Khan Academy builds curious learners which is directly in line with Dempsey's and Reiser's idea that "curiosity is aroused due to a perceived gap in current knowledge" (p. 80). Khan Academy successful takes advantage of people's "epistemic curiosity" as described by Dempsey and Reiser. Khan Academy provides videos on topics people…
Khan Academy: Make Math A Little Less Terrible
Finding Gains Again
Khan Academy has been a go-to program for math interventionist for many years. In high school, we use Khan Academy for supplemental instruction and grade recovery. Khan Academy has a way of breaking down curriculum in a more understandable way but also provides problems to assess their understanding of the lesson before moving to the next core standard lesson. Being a Special Education Interventionist, we see that students lack confidence, motivation, and the ability to understand the general education curriculum being presented to them, but what program can help bridge that gap – Khan Academy.
The Pandemic Can’t Stop Us
During the pandemic, Khan Academy helped bring learning back…