<p>A new article </p>
<p>How</a> Khan Academy Is Changing the Rules of Education | Magazine </p>
<p>describes some of the upsetting discoveries being made as Khan Academy videos and online exercises are used in some public school classes. It's food for thought on what constitutes a good education. The article quotes Bill Gates as saying, "Math is the killer. . . . If you ask people, 'Hey, there are these open nursing jobs, why dont you go and get one?' math is often the reason they give for not applying. 'Why didnt you pass the police exam?' Math."</p>
<p>i think this man is fantastic, as are his videos. I’ve passed him onto so many kids and they all find him useful. I think its absurd that someone would question his technique…the point of his short video is to teach the concept, clearly and simply. THEN applying it, thinking creatively, divergently, is available to students. </p>
<p>I thought it was quite interesting the idea of having kids watch the videos at home and THEN work with the teacher in the class to apply it. Brilliant.</p>
<p>I actually find his style quite effective and mesmerizing. I’ve learned things myself, just for fun. And I’ve been trying to dissect what he does to be more effective as a professor when it comes to communicating challenging concepts. </p>
<p>As but one example, I realize he does a very very good job for example of not assuming any knowledge on the part of the listener…he explains every detail (such as notation) that many of us teaching would take for granted. And while it may be the case that 90% of the class already knows that little detail, he doesn’t miss that 10% who might be thrown because of some unaddressed confusion…the 90% who know it already don’t get bored but have a slight cognitive breathing room and feel efficacious, until he moves on to the main point).</p>
<p>I watched the lattice multiplication video. It’s very interesting.</p>
<p>TA:</p>
<p>welcome back. I have missed your posts.</p>
<p>I’ll point out PatrickJMT, who makes math videos (but no drills). I have not seen too many of his videos, but the ones I have seen are good.</p>
<p>The teacher in the article is so lazy that she had to flip flop her class… Now her kids receive lectures from a stranger online, and do their homework quietly in class while she surfs the internet.</p>
<p>^ And you know this how?</p>
<p>I’m very impressed with this article.</p>
<p>I think he’s stumbled on something fantastic. The same thing that motivates people to play Call of Duty (rewards) can motivate kids to learn math and excel according to what they’re capable of. It handles both gifted students and those that need more attention.</p>
<p>It is rote, and it does lecture/drill, but I think the critics cited in the article have poor arguments. It isn’t the same as what has been tried because it has a unique approach to getting kids to master stuff, and Khan is right: if kids are more willing to do their homework at home, then class time is freed up to do the interactive, creative stuff that his critics insist upon. It isn’t perfect, but I’m glad he has produced a strong educational aid.</p>
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<p>This sounds crazy - that’s like more inverse trig problems than I’ve done in my life, and I’m a math major.</p>
<p>If someone wants to have a really good foundation in math, I would recommend <a href=“http://www.artofproblemsolving.com%5B/url%5D”>www.artofproblemsolving.com</a></p>
<p>The biggest problem I see with this in a school setting is the presumption that every child’s home has internet connection, a computer, and a family that is willing to have the child’s homework be the use priority for that computer. Around here I would not bet on all three for a class of elementary students.</p>
<p>It’s good to see you back at CC Tokenadult!</p>
<p>Thanks for the kind words from old friends here. </p>
<p>I agree with the recommendation of the Art of Problem Solving website. One good feature of the programs offered through that website is that they serve up many more “problems” (challenging because the learner may not even know how to begin, at first) rather than merely exercises. I have a rather long FAQ about the distinction between problems and exercises, if anyone would like to see that. </p>
<p>A previously founded online course that I use a lot with my four children is ALEKS. </p>
<p>[ALEKS</a> – Assessment and Learning, K-12, Higher Education, Automated Tutor, Math](<a href=“ALEKS – Adaptive Learning & Assessment for Math, Chemistry, Statistics & More”>http://www.aleks.com/) </p>
<p>The ALEKS program is comprehensive for first grade through precalculus mathematics, and has some related courses in chemistry, statistics, and accounting. Its knowledge spaces theory base </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.aleks.com/about_aleks/Science_Behind_ALEKS.pdf[/url]”>http://www.aleks.com/about_aleks/Science_Behind_ALEKS.pdf</a> </p>
<p>means that ALEKS focuses relentlessly on what a student is ready to learn next, with no more than enough repetition to ensure that a student has clinched each new topic, and a topic progression that does the best possible job of avoiding gaps in knowledge. I only wish it covered calculus and higher levels of mathematics. I can’t say that any of my children have actively enjoyed ALEKS, but they all put up with it and work through it, and my less-mathy children (my oldest son, now grown up, was very math-liking) have learned a lot of their mathematics from ALEKS.</p>
<p>My oldest enjoys the Khan Academy videos very much.</p>
<p>My middle son, with some math learning disabilities, is actually enjoying Art of Problem Solving materials. It’s extremely difficult and time consuming for him but he’s learning and retaining so much. I am sold on both of these resources.</p>
<p>We haven’t tried ALEKS yet.</p>