What Do We Know about Khan Academy? A Review ...

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Khan Academy is a behemoth in educational technology. It is a target (perhaps rightfully so) of critics and educators alike. Sal Khan has been hoisted to the top ...
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What Do We Know about Khan Academy? A Review of the Literature and Justification for Further Study Daniel P. Kelly North Carolina State University

Author Note Daniel P. Kelly, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Department, North Carolina State University. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Daniel Kelly, 510G Poe Hall, Campus Box 7801, Raleigh, NC 27695-7801. Contact: [email protected]. Phone: 919.229.9167

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What Do We Know about Khan Academy? A Review of the Literature and Justification for Further Study Introduction Since its inception in 2006, Khan Academy has been touted as a paradigm shift in education. In his book, The One World Schoolhouse (2012), Khan Academy founder Salman Khan wrote, “the old classroom model simply doesn’t fit our changing needs” (p. 1). This move toward a new model of instruction is buoyed by the increased access of low-cost, Internet capable devices in the hands of school-aged children and the availability of free educational resources like Khan Academy. Khan Academy is one such free resource that has its roots in mathematics instruction but has expanded to cover topics such as science, history, and economics. The math lessons provide video-based lecture and problems that coincide with those videos. Participants are rewarded with points and badges that serve to provide positive reinforcement and encouragement as they work through each lesson. The academy has a stated goal of delivering “a free world-class education for anyone, anywhere” ("Khan Academy," 2014). Khan Academy is frequently mentioned in discussions of “flipping” the classroom, where lectures are recorded and played at home leaving class time for activities and discussion. The teacher is then free to facilitate learning rather than give lecture-based presentation of the content and be less of the “sage on the stage” and more the “guide on the side” (King, 1993). The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature regarding Khan Academy, both popular and scholarly, and compare what is being written and reported to what has been empirically researched. As Khan Academy grows and gains more users and regard, it is imperative that educators understand how it is being studied and used effectively.

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The Next Frontier in Learning Khan Academy is viewed by many as an incredible platform where children and adults can go to learn about a plethora of subjects and topics at their own pace. Much of the literature holds Khan Academy in high esteem, pointing to its use of technology to individualize learning and take the fear out of answering math questions in front of an entire classroom of peers. Khan Academy offers its services free of charge and with a variety of data tracking and reporting so that students and assigned “coaches” can identify areas of deficiency and mastery-based assessment to further target instruction. Khan Academy continually adds content and changes the platform in ways that promote a better user experience. The interface is generally intuitive and middle- and high-school-aged students seem to easily acclimate to the digital environment provided by the Academy. Whether these environmental changes impact the learning that occurs is an open question and a main focus of this paper. What is clear is the perception of Khan Academy in educational circles from K-12 to higher education, and home-schooling parents to tutoring services. It is perceived as a potential paradigm shift (or at a minimum–part of one) and a leader in the move toward online learning. An article in Forbes, One Man, One Computer, 10 Million Students: How Khan Academy Is Reinventing Education (Noer, 2012), tells the history of Khan Academy and the intentions of the website’s founder, Salman Khan. The article compares Khan to other computer and technology pioneers and situates Khan Academy in league with major technological milestones such as the computer and radio. A Wired Digital article, How Khan Academy Is Changing the Rules of Education, states in the title the academy has had impact on education in a way the appears to promote its use, and with the exception of a few paragraphs stating the opinions of a

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few critics, places Khan Academy on a pedestal as a transformative educational tool and the paragon of the “flipped” classroom movement (Thompson, 2011). Fareed Zakaria of CNN calls Khan Academy “a new way of thinking about education” and points to a pilot study of Khan Academy’s implementation in a Los Altos, California school as showing “huge leaps in students skills (Zakaria, 2011). These articles point to Khan Academy as addressing a need in education that has apparently been lacking, individualized instruction, teacher facilitation of instruction rather than lecture, and data driven instruction. There is little in the way of argument among teachers that these principles are desired qualities in a classroom environment, and Khan Academy certainly seems to check all the boxes. But while numerous articles point to Khan Academy as a leader in the educational opportunities that are presented as a result of the digital revolution, the question remains, is Khan Academy effective in increasing student knowledge and achievement, or is the novelty of online math lessons and content just a rehash of the same methodologies used for years? Is Khan Academy effective or just old pedagogies wrapped in shiny new packaging for the Millennial generation? Khan Academy Is Not without Its Critics Robert Frost wrote, “Nothing gold can stay.” Often, in education, we embrace new ideas that have the appearance to revolutionize instruction, or ways to engage students in new, exciting, and innovative ways. Frost was referring to the newness and innocence of youth and the analogy works for educational technologies as well. Teachers have a documented cycle of attempt, attack, and abandon (Knight, 2009) that seems to be playing out for Khan Academy. In stark contrast to the praises levied upon Khan Academy by seemingly heady voices in education, not all in the profession share the same optimistic appraisal. Karim Kai Ani, a math

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technology developer and former teacher, stated in a 2013 article, “The narrative surrounding Khan Academy has gotten out of hand” (p. 23). Ani goes on to detail a few pedagogical issues with Salman Khan’s video lessons from both a mathematical and teaching perspective. In a commentary on the merits of Khan Academy and “flipped” classrooms (2012), Graham Parslow stated, “By all measures the Khan Academy offers substandard math instruction. It focuses exclusively on basic skills and has no pedagogical underpinnings” (p. 337). Pedagogy (or lack thereof) is a common thread among the critics of Khan Academy. Los Altos School District Much ado has been focused on the implementation in the Los Altos School District (LASD) in California. In 2010, Khan Academy was the basis of a pilot program used in some math classes and expanded to all math classes in grades five through six and some seventh- and eighth-grade classes. The LASD weblog reports a success in implementing Khan Academy as an instructional tool and refer to the 2010-2011 pilot program as successful (Gallagher & Cadwell, 2012). In light of these claims, a Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) request was submitted to the Los Altos School District in February 2014 asking for data relating to the use of Khan Academy in the classroom. A phone call from Los Altos Superintendent Jeff Baier was received in response to the FoIA request. Baier stated during that conversation that there was no data regarding the effectiveness of using Khan Academy in the classroom. Both the Khan Academy and LASD websites pointed to a two-year study by SRI International, but the results were not available when the statements on the websites were made. The report, released in March 2014, focused on the implementation of Khan Academy in the classrooms rather than on student learning and achievement (Murphy, Gallagher, Krumm, Mislevy, & Hafter, 2014). SRI also released the survey they gave to teachers and question 34

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asks, “When Khan Academy indicates a student has attained mastery on a given concept, how does your assessment of the student's mastery typically compare?” SRI did not include these results in its report (Meyer, 2014), which begs the question, does Khan Academy contribute to student achievement and if it does, where is the data showing this? Alternatively, if Khan Academy doesn’t positively impact student achievement, where is the data to show that? The Need for Research Khan Academy, and Salman Khan, has undeniably done one thing: engage large numbers of people in discourse about the effectiveness of teaching methodologies. Whether that is positive or negative remains to be seen, but the conversation is being had nonetheless. Khan Academy may very well be the epitome of educational technology; it may be just plain bad pedagogy. Until comprehensive testing and research into best practices and student achievement data are conducted, many of the discussions will continue in popular magazines and blogs. There is little in the way of empirical data showing the effectiveness of Khan Academy or levels of student engagement or achievement. The SRI report shows conflicting data. A controlled trial of computer-based mathematics instruction in South Africa that included Khan Academy showed statistically significant results (Böhmer, Burns, & Crowley, 2014), and a 2013 study of Khan Academy’s use in Chilean schools showed an increase in student engagement (Light & Pierson, 2014). These articles represent the research that has been on Khan Academy. More needs to be done to ensure that the use of Khan Academy in schools is implemented to benefit the students. Khan Academy offers a near infinite supply of questions and includes videos to help those students struggling with the concepts (although the efficacy of those videos has been called into question). It is imperative that the educational research community and

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classroom teachers determine best practices of programs like Khan Academy and find the most effective ways to achieve the best possible results for students. Attempt, Attack, and Abandon As noted earlier, there is a cycle of attempt, attack, and abandon in education (Knight, 2009). A recent email from Khan Academy boasted that the 3 billionth question was about to be answered. It is a staggering number, but if so many have used it, why is there a growing number of detractors and critics of Khan Academy? The answer is that we are firmly in the attack part of the cycle. Khan Academy and accompanying tools and videos are by no means a perfect platform or solution to well-documented deficiencies in math skills on a global scale. Concerns have been raised regarding the accuracy of his videos and a general lack of pedagogical skills on the part of their creator (Ani, 2013) and effective ways of using Khan Academy on a large scale have been either elusive or untested. Does this mean we should throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater? In a word, no. Khan Academy is only nine years old, an infant in educational methodologies and tools. We need more data and testing in actual classrooms to determine how to use this platform in the most meaningful ways. Conclusion Khan Academy is a behemoth in educational technology. It is a target (perhaps rightfully so) of critics and educators alike. Sal Khan has been hoisted to the top of the industry, although a modicum of self-promotion is involved, and Khan Academy has a veritable army working to = keep it at the top. Perhaps not innovative in its individual parts, as a complete package Khan Academy seems to be a well-developed platform meant only to improve education. We simply do not have enough data to be able to say whether it should be raised up on a pedestal, torn asunder, or is just another tool for teachers to use as they educate a new generation of digital

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT KHAN ACADEMY? natives. The research and teaching communities should determine whether Khan Academy is good for students using empirical data and analysis, not just whether we think it is good or bad.

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References Ani, K. (2013). Khan Academy: The hype and the reality. Education Digest, 78(6), 23-25. Böhmer, B., Burns, J., & Crowley, L. (2014). Testing Numeric: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial of a computer based mathematics intervention in Cape Town High Schools. Paper presented at the African Education Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Gallagher, A., & Cadwell, C. (2012). Los Altos School District & Khan Academy. Retrieved from http://lasdilearn.blogspot.com/2012/09/los-altos-school-district-khan-academy.html Khan Academy. (2014). Retrieved December 22, 2014, from http://www.khanacademy.org/ Khan, S. (2012). The one world schoolhouse: Education reimagined. New York, NY: Twelve. King, A. (1993). From sage on the stage to guide on the side. College Teaching, 41(1), 30-35. doi: 10.2307/27558571 Knight, J. (2009). What can we do about teacher resistance? Phi Delta Kappan, 90(7), 508-513. Light, D., & Pierson, E. (2014). The use of Khan Academy in Chilean classrooms: Study of an Intel funded pilot program in Chile. Paper presented at the Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT), 2014 IEEE 14th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, Athens, Greece. Meyer, D. (2014). The SRI report on Khan Academy: Helpful, not transformational. dy/dan:less helpful. Retrieved December 20, 2014, from blog.mrmeyer.com/2014/the-sri-report-onkhan-academy-helpful-not-transformational/ Murphy, R., Gallagher, L., Krumm, A., Mislevy, J., & Hafter, A. (2014). Research on the use of Khan Academy in schools. Menlo Park, CA: SRI Education. Noer, M. (2012). One man, one computer, 10 million students: How Khan Academy is reinventing education. Forbes, 398-407.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT KHAN ACADEMY? 10 Parslow, G. R. (2012). Commentary: The Khan Academy and the day-night flipped classroom. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 40(5), 337-338. Thompson, C. (2011). How Khan Academy is changing the rules of education. Wired Magazine, 126. Zakaria, F. (2011). When will we learn? Time Magazine. Retrieved December 23, 2014, from fareedzakaria.com/2011/11/28/when-will-we-learn/