Truth and Khan-sequences: Does Khan Academy Help Students Learn?

Alex Lemon

Khan Academy is a web-based educational platform created by MIT graduate,

Salman Khan. Originating out of a series of free YouTube videos created to help Khans
niece learn about math, it has ballooned into a system that includes over three thousand
educational videos, interactive questions, videogame-like rewards as well as a platform
for tracking student progress. Bursting onto the educational scene as a possible gamechanger, Khan Academy has since come under intense scrutiny from proponents of
constructivism (Watters, 2011) the concept that meaningful learning occurs when
students are allowed to create their own understanding. I will argue that when used as a
tool to support individualized and engaging education, Khan Academy is a powerful tool
to develop student mastery of specific subject areas.
Much of the criticism of Khan Academy has been focused on the underlying
pedagogy. Martinez maintains that Khan Academy promotes rote learning and will not
meet the needs of all learners regardless of how many times they watch the videos
(Watters, 2011). For constructivists Martinez and Stager, Khan Academy is little more
than another medium that exposes students to lecture and drill (Thompson, 2011). While
it is possible to individualize the pace at which activities are completed, it is not possible
to differentiate the form in which instruction takes. The same videos are used for each
student, regardless of their individual learning needs. As a result there will always be
students that cannot learn from the current videos and activities.
Bloom (1984) concluded that students learn more effectively one-to-one than they
do in classes of thirty students. Cost effectiveness, however, has meant this research has
had little impact on class size. As a result of the diversity of learning needs in a
classroom of thirty, individual learning needs can go unmet. Khan Academy attempts to
meet the need for individualization by allowing users to pause, restart and review
instructional videos as often as needed in order to obtain mastery. Teachers use Khan
Academy to access real-time feedback on student progress to target their support during
class time. Teachers can also free up valuable class time for Blooms one-to-one support
by flipping the classroom and encouraging students to use Khan Academy for
homework. (Kronholz, 2012, p. 18).
Sharan (2008) describes three levels of engagement that significantly impact
learning: behavioural, emotional and cognitive. This engagement translates to
involvement in the learning process, attitudes towards learning and motivation to
continue learning (2008). Students using Khan Academy participate in their learning as
they can choose to watch the videos until they feel comfortable with the topic. Then
students can answer questions related to that topic and track their results to help decide
the next appropriate course of action. The use of multimedia and aspects of game-culture
imbedded in Khan Academy help to produce ongoing positive attitudes towards the
program. Motivation for continuing with the program results from the immediate
feedback and rewards provided. Anecdotal evidence from remedial math students
involved in trials of Khan Academy suggested that students began to look at math as
something they enjoyed as opposed to something they loathed (Sparks, 2011).
Free Khan Academy educational videos have been viewed around the world
millions of times. Learning is individualized and highly engaging for many learners. It
is easily accessible, providing incentives for learners and progress monitoring for
teachers. Students that require a different pace of learning can control the speed at which
they move through the materials. Despite relying on outdated pedagogy, Khan Academy

is still in its infancy. It has the chance to evolve and improve as innovations in
technology and educational practice become available.
Bloom, B. (1984). The 2 Sigma Problem: The Search for Methods of Group Instruction
as Effective as One-to-One Tutoring. Educational Researcher. 13(6), 4-16.
Kronholz, J. (2012). Can Khan Move the Bell Curve to the Right? Education Next, 12(2),
16-22.
Sharan, S. & Tan, I. (2008) Organizing Schools for Productive Learning. Netherlands:
Springer Science + Business Media.
Sparks, S. D. (2011). Schools Flip for Lesson Model Promoted by Khan Academy.
Education Week, 31(05), 1-14.
Thompson, C. (2011, July). How Khan Academy is Changing the Rules of Education.
Retrieved October 2, 2012, from:
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/ff_khan/
Watters, A. (2011, July). The Wrath Against Khan. Retrieved October 1, 2012, from:
http://www.hackeducation.com/2011/07/19/the-wrath-against-khan-why-someeducators-are-questioning-khan-academy/