Sunday, May 11, 2014

Khan Academy

Khan Academy

Bibliographic Information
Khan Academy. Khan Academy: Our Mission. 2014. 9 May 2014.

Description
Khan Academy is a non-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing free, online, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. All of the site's resources are available to anyone. Khan Academy's materials and resources are completely free of charge. Their library of videos covers math from early math through calculus, science topics such as biology, chemistry, physics, the arts and humanities, economics and finance, computing, and test prep. Khan Academy also provides instruction through partners such as The Museum of Modern Art and The Stanford School of Medicine.

If users choose to sign up for a free account, they can track their personal progress, earn badges and become a coach. Coaches can add students and track their progress and activity. There is also an option for Common Core Math. Users can select the grade level and they will be provided with quizzes that are grade appropriate. Each problem is randomly generated, so there is always new practice material. If users need a hint, every single problem can be broken down, step-by-step, with one click. If users need more help, they can always watch a related video.

Khan Academy students earn points and badges.

We've heard of students spending hour after hour watching physics videos and 5th graders relentlessly tackling college-level math to earn Khan Academy badges. Some of the smaller badges are very easy, but the most legendary badges might require years of work.” (Khan Academy)

Quantitative Reading Level
Because of the wide range of levels of the videos, it would be impossible to assign a single quantitative reading level to the hundreds of videos on the website. For the Quantitative Reading levels below I used the text from the ‘Our Mission’ page.
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 9.2 
Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease: 59.1
ATOS Level: 8.9

Qualitative Reading Level- Website Navigation

Purpose: Low. The purpose is explicitly stated.  

Structure: Middle Low. The organization is simple, there are explicit connections between ideas and conforms to the conventions of the genre.  Graphics and text features are simple and support navigation throughout the website.

Language: Low. The language used is contemporary and conversational. It is clear and explicit and easy-to-understand. 

Knowledge Demands: Middle Low.  Everyday practical knowledge is largely necessary, discipline-specific knowledge is helpful, but not necessary.

Content Area
All Subject Areas

Subject Area Tag
Media Item

Content Area Standard
Khan Academy covers such a wide range of subjects that it addresses numerous content area standards. 

Curriculum Suggestions
  • Use videos to Flip the classroom and have students watch the videos for homework and work on the homework problems in class.
  • Sign up as a Coach so that you can track students’ progress
  • Use as supplement to classroom instruction

Links to Supporting Digital Content
Khan Academy app: iTunes

Optional:

I love, love, love this website. Until this project, I didn’t know that there were videos for early math. I’ll be staring those with my kids asap!

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