Salman
Khan discusses the effects of using YouTube to tutor his cousins, which led to
the idea of using online resources to expand learning beyond the classroom. These events led to the creation of Khan
Academy, a non-profit education resource that is free to any learner at any
level. The birth and evolution of Khan
Academy has led some teachers to flip their classrooms allowing students to
work at their own pace on concepts at home. Teachers then analyze data to identify those
students who are mastering concepts and moving forward. More importantly, this flipped classroom
allows teachers to identify those students who need more help or more time to
master the same concepts. Teachers can
see exactly which concepts students have mastered and with which concepts they
continue to struggle.
From
a common sense standpoint, this just makes sense. Why waste limited classroom time on a
one-size-fits-all lecture and then give students homework they may not understand?
Think also of the lag time in
identifying at risk students using the traditional pedagogical model of
education. It may be days before the
teacher realizes the students have not mastered the course concepts and yet
they must still move on to the next section, leaving some students behind and leaving
others with gaps in their knowledge and skills. Educators can focus their efforts on helping
students master concepts by giving them the video lectures and practice
problems at home, thus freeing classroom time for helping students who did not
master the concepts. Students who did
master the concepts are free to advance to the next section and help tutor
their classmates.
I
can see this working well for adult learners returning to college or entering
college for the first time as they can refresh their math and writing skills
and seek additional help through online sources. For college students an online format means
using class time to focus only on those concepts they did not master online
instead of sitting through a lecture and hoping the instructor will have time
to address your question. We live in an
information age and students have access to more knowledge than ever before. I say it is time we move all levels of
education into the 21st Century.
What do you think?
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