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A review of the Khan Academy website. Watch short videos that cover many subjects, that explain concepts in a great and easy to understand conversational manner.

Khan academy

(External Link)

  • A not-for-profit organisation with the mission of providing a world-class education to anyone, anywhere
  • The Khan Academy is all about using video to explain the world, with the work focussed on creating a good experience for students
  • They place deep understanding of content above anything else
  • Videos cover chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, maths, biology, history, economics

What the website offers:

  • Over 1800 videos, it is easily the most exhaustive collection of instruction on the internet
  • Learners can fill in almost any of their "gaps" from class with the content on this site
  • The content is in 10-20 minute videos especially made for viewing on the computer
  • Great conversational style of the videos – not what people expect when receiving maths and science instruction
  • You can access exercises by logging in – if you have a Gmail or Facebook account you simply sign in with these when prompted after clicking on“do exercises” at the top of the page. You can watch the relevant video and then attempt to complete the exercise, and submit your answer online

Classroom use

  • The videos do not follow a curriculum
  • The author believes that someone who truly understands the core concepts will thrive academically regardless of the curricularcontext
  • Because of the granular nature of the 10 minute videos, the content can be mapped to almost any state's or nation's standards
  • Khan Academy videos can be downloaded and saved to a flashdrive

Teacher and user comments

  • I think resources like the Khan Academy have a lot more potential in higher ed than things like lecture capture systems. I’d much ratherhave my students watch a few of these videos before class, then work through more problems and questions with me during class... I would imagine that many ofmy students would get more out of these videos than they would reading the textbook. I can’t see these kinds of videos replacing classroom instruction, butfor giving students first exposure to topics and for providing them with reinforcement after class – yeah, they’ve got lots of potential. (External Link)
  • I saw the piece on this wonderful teacher on PBS. Most of us strive to create an environment where the learner can be exposed to a variety ofexplanations about the phenomena we study. These certainly would be part of that mix as long as we fully credit the importance of the author's/teacher's work toour students. One day, we will hopefully teach ourselves out of our jobs (External Link)
  • I am now in college and learning more than I ever have in my life. But an inadequate math background has been holding me back. I found theKahn Academy in June of 2009, right after I completed Math 141 ( a college algebra course). I have spent the entire summer on your youtube page. And I justwanted to thank you for everything you are doing. You are a Godsend. Last week I tested for a math placement exam and I am now in Honors Math 200. No questionwas answered incorrectly. My placement test holder was so impressed by the breadth of my knowledge of math that he said I should be in Linear algebra. Mr.Khan, I can say without any doubt that you have changed my life and the lives of everyone in my family. I wish you and the Khan Academy the best of luck. (External Link)

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Source:  OpenStax, Physics - open resources and tools. OpenStax CNX. Jun 02, 2011 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11308/1.3
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