Self paced learning proves a hit at Los Altos school

[txlibdem]

http://www.lasdschools.org/District/Department/26-Academics/3671-Khan-Academy.html
Blended Learning in Math with Khan Academy

Piloted at Santa Rita and Covington Schools (grade 5), as well as Egan Junior High (grade 7) last year, the Khan Academy is an online tool that helps teacher provide individualized instruction in mathematics through the use of their instructional videos and assessment exercises. For the past year, we have been working in partnership with Khan Academy to integrate its online curriculum into traditional math classes to create a blended learning environment. The results of the pilot were very positive with teachers stating that using Khan Academy has helped them to differentiate math instruction to meet specific instructional needs of each student.

Based on the success of the pilot, we will be expanding the use of Khan Academy to all Grade 5-6 students and some Grade 7 students. Los Altos Educational Foundation has generously agreed to support this larger rollout by providing funding for professional development and a part-time Math Coach.

For more information on Khan Academy, go to www.khanacademy.org.

==============================================================
http://lasdandkhanacademy.edublogs.org/about-our-pilot/

In Los Altos School District, we are constantly striving to improve instruction to meet the needs of all learners and prepare all K-8 students to thrive in our rapidly changing global community. In the continual quest to improve instruction, we are investigating new instructional delivery models and are currently piloting the use of Khan Academy as a hybrid-learning model in a few math classes across the district (two 5th grade classes, and two 7th grade pre-algebra readiness classes). In our pilot, Khan Academy is being utilized as a complement to our current math program.

The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit with the mission of providing a world-class education to anyone, anywhere. It currently consists of over 1800 videos covering content in math and science one concept at a time. Concepts are arranged on a “Knowledge Map” which builds from the most basic mathematical concept to more complex concepts covered in high school calculus. Each concept is presented in digestible 10-15 minute video segments followed by practice exercises and tutorials. The software suggests next steps for students and provides teachers with a wealth of individualized student data on both concepts mastered and areas of struggle. With the use of Khan Academy as a hybrid-learning model, students are able to work through new material at their own pace during a portion of every math class. Teachers are able to use the data generated through Khan Academy to group students according to their instructional need and provide targeted math instruction.

Piloting Khan Academy provides us a unique opportunity to explore 21st century learning with our students by leveraging technology to differentiate instruction to meet the individualized learning needs of all students. We are fortunate to have formed a phenomenal partnership with Khan Academy and are excited by the potential differentiated learning opportunities for students that will develop as a result of this partnership.
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http://broadsideonline.com/2011/04/04/buzzwords-can-say-a-lot-but-actual-results-say-a-lot-more-3254/
Buzzwords can say a lot, but actual results say a lot more
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http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula-news/ci_19454417
Learning math the Khan Academy way is a big hit at Los Altos schools
By Kristen Marschall
Daily News Staff Writer
Posted: 12/01/2011 10:52:56 PM PST

...
The platform Los Altos School District students use today takes that a step further, with exercises they can complete individually or in groups, at home or in class.

Teachers can also track their students' progress easily through the website, allowing for more individual attention. Last school year, five teachers were using the program; this year, more than 45 are.

The number of students with proficient and advanced math skills increased by 18 percent between 2010 and 2011.

"We realized anecdotally that we were onto something really big," said Alyssa Gallagher, the district's assistant superintendent for curriculum.
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The results are in: the teachers *love it* because they get to spend more one-on-one time with the students, the students love it because they get to go at their own pace. The teacher can see each student's progress on her iPad and give extra help or motivation where needed. This is how education should be.

Oh, did I forget to mention... it's 100% FREE: no cost to the school, no cost to the students.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Khan Academy isn't as great as it seems

He makes too many errors to be trusted as a reputable source. I loved this site when I first found it but no longer use the videos in my classroom because of this error pattern. It also reminds me of why textbooks are so thoroughly reviewed.

http://www.nas.org/polArticles.cfm?Doc_Id=2029

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=468066

Aside from issues of how students best learn, there are just too many mistakes in the physics and chemistry videos to make them useful. Words like molecules and distance are used incorrectly, units on variables are not always correct (Joule was given as the unit for momentum). In addition, the approach to physics leans heavily on algebraic mehtods and does not give students multiple tools for thinking about problems (see the Modeling Physics Website for more on this approach to physics). The physics exercises in kinematics reflect this approach, and do not provide the real world context for a problem.
The chemistry and physics content needs a review by someone who know chemistrys and physics well. Mr. Khan has drive and abundance, but he cannot be an expert in everything.

http://www.schoolsthatcan.org/index.php/2011/03/14/extensive-math-science-tutorials-at-the-khan-academy-online-free/

[txlibdem]

2. Funny how 4 different school districts tried it and liked it

It seems odd... especially with all the errors you claim.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. So did mine

They are now telling us to fact check every video before using it. And they took the link in our curriculum down. That's how I know about the errors - from my district curriculum dept.

[EFerrari]

5. Khan Academy: Great Idea- With One Glaring Hole

snip

The Khan App

Now- Salman Khan has taken his 2000 math videos and tied them to an online curriculum of sorts: http://khanexercises.appspot.com/ I’ve been playing with this all day. I’m stumped. Basically, the App asks you to input answers to math questions. If you know the answer, you get another, then another, then another, then another- until you get ten in a row. Then you are considered proficient when you get 10 in a row. If you have trouble, you can watch one of his videos. Something is missing here. Well a couple things. First of all, I’m reminded of Carl Sagan’s quote:

The simplest thought like the concept of the number one has an elaborate logical underpinning.

The Khan Academy is not teaching concepts and ideas. Khan Academy teaches answers. 1 + 1 = 2 . The concepts and the ideas are really what we want our students to understand, not the rote knowledge. We need a good teacher to facilitate the discussion of what the concept of numbers can be. Algorithms can represent video games, computers, life, and millions of other concepts, yet the Khan App teaches math like it’s a brain game. Get the answer, and move on. In Dan Pink’s book, Drive, we learn that rewards for deeds often backfire, and so I’m suspect about the Khan App’s “badge” reward system as well. I like the idea of data tracking on the backend that allows teachers to see the progress of their students. That’s neat, but it’s disingenuous for me to like that if I don’t like the math practice interactive.

But one glaring hole has yet to be undertaken: context. I’ve had my kids watch math videos, and, in fact, YouTube is full of them. However, when my students go home to engage in math learning, they need one huge thing that Khan Academy doesn’t have- their own teacher’s style, their own teacher’s examples as they relate to prior discussions in class, their own teacher’s process as they think through a problem, they need to see their own teacher mastering technology, mastering online publishing, and just plain being a master. Khan Academy is a symptom of a teaching profession where too many teachers are too shy or too old-school to jump into the publishing world. We need that to happen faster.

A student in my district sees their math teacher in middle school for 90 minutes per day. Khan Academy cannot give my students the context they need to make most of the connections they need to fully engage in these videos, I believe. Context is key. Ever wonder why so many of those math videos are boring? You’re missing the context by which they occur in.

http://edreach.us/2011/03/15/khan-academy-great-idea-with-one-glaring-hole/

It's pretty obvious that this kind of tech is being used to erode faculty. I was in the first college math lab in Silicon Valley. It was enormously freeing to be able to sit at those machines and make all kinds of mistakes until I got the concept without being penalized for trying. The thing is, my two math teachers were in the room at all times. Mr. Barker and Mr. Avery could attend to us. That math lab cost no jobs, it just gave students more of an opportunity for focussed practice. This Khan Academy isn't doing that plus, there is no oversight.

ETA: And whenever I see Bill Gates praising a hedge fund analyst, there is this big red flag that goes up.

[txlibdem]

12. You're using it wrong and you don't understand it & the benefits it gives to teachers

Students watch the videos FIRST, then they use the entire math class period HELPING EACH OTHER with the problems... and the teacher is there to help where needed.

Teachers love "Khan" because they get much more one-on-one time with the students who need it and can track everyone's progress from a computer or an iPad so they can see who's lagging behind and needs more help... or who is already ahead and needs more advanced material.

Your post makes it clear that you don't even read the linked articles.

The old days of teacher controlling the pace of 30 students' learning, forcing them all to row to the same drum beat and never get out of time (or they'll get the lash) are soon to be over. I can't wait for that day.

[txlibdem]

11. Yeah, yeah. I've heard this song before. Nothing can ever change in your world or you'll fight it

Your school probably did not use it right. Had they done so the students would be watching the videos at night and spending the entire class period HELPING EACH OTHER, and getting help from the teacher when needed. That is how it is implemented in Los Altos.

No video or computer program is going to make up for poor implementation, poor execution of an idea to improve student progress.

The numbers in the links I included in the OP are clear: it works... unless certain people DON'T WANT IT TO WORK.

Frankly, your credibility is suspect in my opinion. Four schools have vetted it and some are using it in ALL 5th through 7th grade math classes. Face it, you're wrong and you just don't want to admit it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. OK, I'll tell our assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction

that an anonymous person on the internet who hates teachers thinks she is wrong to ask us to review videos for accuracy before showing them to our students. And even if they contain incorrect information, we should show them anyway because you think they're great.

She has a PhD. Can I share your qualifications with her?

[EFerrari]

4. There really is no such thing as a free lunch.

And Los Altos is a white, mostly upper middle class district.

52% White
0% Black
8% Hispanic
28% Asian
12% Other

[msongs]

6. 52% is barely above an even split lol nt

[EFerrari]

7. Well, not really.

I grew up a foot away from this district and it's no accident that 0% black students attend there. It was pretty much notorious for its redlining and the community itself was hostile to minority businesses as well.

[txlibdem]

10. You are painting an entire community as racists, a community of mostly Democrats by the way

Frankly, your post is itself racist: "it's a white area so they're all racists." I don't buy that for a minute. I grew up in a community much like you describe and 99% of the people got along very well regardless of race - our Valedictorian was African American in a majority white school, our prom queen was mixed race... what you slyly refer to as "other" in your earlier post. Don't count the evil 1% as the majority or the controlling authority.

[EFerrari]

15. LOL

The category "other" is from the school district's own website.

[txlibdem]

16. Median income for blacks is HIGHER than whites there

How are you going to spin your fantasy now?

http://www.city-data.com/housing/houses-Los-Altos-California.html
Median household income in 2009 for:
* White non-Hispanic householders: $157,860
* Black householders: $158,282
* American Indian and Alaska Native householders: $92,587
* Asian householders: $205,863
* Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander householders: $129,117
* Some other race householders: $114,701
* Two or more races householders: $163,973
* Hispanic or Latino race householders: $126,343
Read more: http://www.city-data.com/housing/houses-Los-Altos-California.html#ixzz1ixdFq51B

[EFerrari]

18. What does that tell you, exactly?

Sorry. My mom was a realtor in that area for nearly 50 years. According to the local board of realtors, she wasn't supposed to even show minority buyers those properties.

Redlining is a community decision so, fail.

[EFerrari]

17. On further research, looks like the school district isn't being up front re demographics on its site

These are the correct numbers per the Census

The 2010 United States Census[4] reported that Los Altos had a population of 28,976. The population density was 4466.8 people per square mile (1724.6/km2). The racial makeup of Los Altos was 20,459 (70.6%) White, 148 (0.5%) African American, 48 (0.2%) Native American, 6,815 (23.5%) Asian, 59 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 195 (0.7%) from other races, and 1,252 (4.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,132 persons (3.9%).

and

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 27,693 people, 10,462 households, and 8,024 families residing in the city. The population density was 4269 people per square mile (1648.3/km2). There were 10,727 housing units at an average density of 1653.6 per square mile (638.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 80.35% White, 15.42% Asian, 0.47% African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 0.66% from other races, and 2.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race constituted 3.76% of the population.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Altos,_California

[txlibdem]

19. And this relates to self-paced learning how, exactly???

[EFerrari]

20. It relates to the Khan Academy because you used Los Altos as some kind of model.

And in Los Altos, they are not trying to improve learning for EVERYBODY as Khan claims but only for children whose families made it through the redlining, i.e., upper middle class white famiies.

Get it?

Now I'm curious and will look into the other communities Khan is highlighting.

[txlibdem]

24. The Khan Academy helps ALL students, regardless of race

Stop trying to smear this OP with blatant race bating.

[EFerrari]

25. The Los Altos example doesn't show that, nope.

[FrenchieCat]

32. Los Altos is part of Silicon Valley, no?

Right close to Stanford University, and is a county that is predominently White and
Asian......

Seems like the homes there go for quite a penny as well; a home that would be valued at $650,000 in the Berkeley hills might go more for like 1.2 million in Los Altos, and without a Bay view!

[EFerrari]

22. Oh, and btw, txlibdem, it isn't racism to point out racism.

That's usually the argument used by Republican assholes like Pat Buchanan when people start calling them on their bullshit. It's a tactic used to shut down the conversation. Of course, if you have been dealing with racism your entire life as I have, you don't fall for it and you certainly don't use it.

I will assume you are unaware of that.

When my mom was a residential realtor in the Los Altos area, she was told outright not to show property to people of color south of the 101 freeway. Which is a joke because the whole area is south of the 101 Bayshore freeway. I didn't see a black or brown face in my high school until the mid- 70s when they closed down the unofficial minority high school north of the freeway. That same year, our high school put a fence around our school and brought in armed security guards because God knows, those five Latino and 2 black students we gained as a result needed to be watched.

It's nice to hear about the massive integration in your own area. Los Altos is still not integrated even today and their exclusive student population can't be used as a model of anything except white upper middle class privilege.

[Upton]

26. Yeah well, I grew up in Los Altos..

and while true it's mostly white and mid to upper middle class..I resent your implication that it's full of racists. It sure hasn't been my experience.

[EFerrari]

27. The point I'm making is that you can't claim to be trying to help everyone

when you are talking about upper middle class white kids.

And, sorry, but area realtors were told not to sell to people of color south of #101. That wasn't an individual decision but a community decision.

[XemaSab]

21. Asian=honorary white

[EFerrari]

23. Turns out, the Los Altos school district was lying about their demographics.

Gee, what a surprise. See #17.

[DeathToTheOil]

8. K'd & R'd

That is great!

[txlibdem]

14. Thank you

The negative nitpickers seem to outnumber the people who actually care about America's kids' education.

Thanks for the rec.

[Starry Messenger]

9. "You Khan’t Ignore How Students Learn"

http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/tag/khan-academy/

This physics teacher has several blog entries of his criticisms of Khan video system:

"A video lecture is not interactive engagement.

“…maybe you explain once and you reemphasize that this goes against misconception A, B, C, or D.”

Khan (along with most of the general public, in my opinion) has this naive notion that teaching is really just explaining. And that the way to be a better teacher is to improve your explanations. Not so! Teaching is really about creating experiences that allow students to construct meaning.

“And I think frankly, the best way to do it is you put stuff out there and you see how people react to it…”

This is flawed. People’s reactions are not indicators of effectiveness. Pre/post testing is needed to indicate effectiveness. Ah, but perhaps there is a relationship between people’s reaction and effectiveness? The research indicates otherwise. In the very research study that Khan says is valid (and then dismisses), student actually did better after watching the videos they described as confusing, and made no gains after watching the videos they described as easy to understand. Additional research indicates that when an instructor switches over to IE methods, course evaluations from students tend to be more negative than the previous year, despite gains from students going up. (Don’t worry, a few years after the switch to IE, the evaluations go back to pre-IE levels.)

“You see, the comments they put, they’ll ask questions based on… Every time I put a YouTube video up, I look at the comments — at least the first 20, 30, 40 comments that go up — and I can normally see a theme: that look, a lot of people kind of got the wrong idea here. Or maybe some people did, and then I’ll usually make another video saying “Hey, look after the last video, I read some the comments and a lot of y’all are saying this is not what we’re talking about it’s completely different.” So that means I am attacking the misconceptions.”

Again, it’s not about crafting better explanations. It’s about helping students wrestle with their conceptions and guiding them."

[txlibdem]

13. One guy hates it but 4 separate districts vetted it and found it helps students learn better

Well, I guess you've proved your point then.

[Robb]

28. 19th Century teachers tend to despise 21st Century learning.

I find this stuff fascinating, thanks for posting it.

[txlibdem]

29. :-) Thanks

[MadHound]

31. The Khan system is nothing more than an updated version of the levels system they used to teach math

Back in the '70's. Yeah, it's got a few new bells and whistles, the language is a bit different, but the essential teaching strategies are the same.

And guess what, if the Khan system catches on, we're going to have another significant portion of a generation of students who find themselves unprepared for higher level math in high school, college and beyond.

[txlibdem]

34. You mean worse than we have now? Students aren't being prepared for college now.

So what's your opposition to Khan Academy?

[MadHound]

36. Because as I stated in my earlier post,

It is nothing but an updated version of the levels system used during the '70's. I watched as most of classmates nosedived on math, and I would hate to see that happen again. I've also read a number of post mortems on the the levels system that thoroughly documented why it didn't work, and are a word of caution against why the Khan system won't work. The only reason I survived and excelled at math was because my parents quickly saw my decline in math and were able to afford a tutor.

I suggest that if you want to find what does and doesn't work, you either go to a university book store and pick up a couple of books on ed. psych and math education, or audit a couple of courses in those subjects.

[txlibdem]

37. Another empty excuse for the status quo

[great white snark]

33. Interesting. K&R.

Thanks for posting this txlibdem.

[txlibdem]

35. I believe strongly that self-paced learning is the only viable way to improve our education system

Thanks for your comments.

[great white snark]

38. The more I educate myself on this issue the more I agree with you.

As you state above, the status quo won't cut it anymore.

Thanks again for posting.

[txlibdem]

39. The number of students proficient and advanced math skills increased by 18% between 2010 & 2011

The numbers don't lie. The Los Altos school has increased from 5 teachers using the system to 45 teachers. I think that speaks volumes.