Expert Guide to using Khan Academy Playlists.
1. Describe the innovation that you developed or implemented.
This implementation is focused on utilising existing, free online resources to assist
students in developing core mathematics skills. It involves using Khan Academy
resources:
(i) to create playlists which support students in building core mathematical
competencies, and
(ii) as an assessment for learning tool.
Diagnostic Testing is widely used in 3rd level institutions with a view to identifying
gaps in student’s core mathematical competencies. However there is not always
sufficient space within early undergraduate mathematics modules to address such
deficiency in pre-requisite skills. We developed a Khan Academy Playlist to support
students in addressing their individual mathematical weaknesses.
This Playlist was designed to guide students to relevant videos and quizzes which will
assist them in building competence and confidence on problem topics. Playlist topics
were derived from student & lecturer survey feedback and include equations,
transposition of formulae, logs and exponentials, functions and graphs.
Fig. 1: Khan Academy Playlist in Moodle
This Playlist was provided to students through a special Maths Support Module in
Moodle and can be made available on request, as a possible starting point in developing
your own Playlist.
Why Khan Academy?
Khan Academy is a free, adaptive learning platform with functionality which can be
utilised to assist both teachers & learners in assessing the proficiency on given tasks.
• Its personalised learning platform allows students to work independently and at
their own pace filling in gaps in their mathematics knowledge,
building confidence or gaining mastery in entire subject areas. (I KHAN)
•
The monitoring functionality within Khan Academy provides lecturers with the
facility to assess student engagement with targeted materials, monitor student
progress and identify specific problem tasks which may need to be addressed
directly in class or through a Maths Support Service. (WE KHAN)
•
Figure 2: Khan Academy class/ coach monitoring functionality
The Khan Academy Recommendations feature also facilitates the tailoring of
content to target module learning outcomes or meet individual student needs
and may be of benefit in a Maths Support Environment, where students need
guidance as they struggle with problem topics.
Figure 3(a),(b) Creating & Monitoring progress on Khan Academy Recommendations
Employing these facilities within Khan Academy it is very easy to create a tailored
assessment for learning quiz based tool, without the need to build your own quizzes.
Quizzes also include links to supporting materials including Khan Academy videos
and worked examples.
2. What are the benefits of using this technology from a lecturer’s point of view?
Blended-Learning using Khan Academy.
The array of mathematics videos & quizzes together with the class/coach set-up
within Khan Academy facilitate the creation of a more active, student-driven
approach to learning. Khan Academy allows you to create a class group
(https://khanacademy.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/204850690-Create-a-class),
set the group a pre-defined mission or, through the use of Recommendations and/or
Playlists, create your own class mission
(https://www.khanacademy.org/resources/k-12-teachers-1/missions-and-coachtools/a/overview-coach-recommendations).
The monitoring of student progress through tasks and the timely identification of
troublesome tasks is also possible using Khan Academy. While Khan Masteries and
Badges can incentives students by allowing them to assess their own progress and
build confidence, students may be further rewarded by incorporating appropriate
Khan Masteries into the Continuous Assessment component of a module.
3. What are the benefits of using this technology from the students point of view?
Khan Academy is a free, online resource that contains thousands of mathematics
videos and quizzes which can be accessed at anytime to support independent
learning and the testing of knowledge.
It will allow students to work independently and at their own pace to:
• fill in any gaps in their mathematics knowledge from fractions & percentages,
to logs & powers, equations and functions. (Diagnostic Test level)
• gain mastery in new subject areas such as Calculus.
• build competence on new material encountered on early university
mathematics modules – it can also provide a useful self-testing and revision
tool in the run up to examinations. (Module Playlists/ Recommendations)
4. What advice would you give to lecturers who want to use this technology?
Two crucial elements in successfully using Khan Academy resources within a
module are:
•
•
providing support to students in the set-up phase on a module, helping them
navigate the Khan Academy site, locate recommendations and Mastery
Challenges; and
providing incentives for students to use the resources, such as incorporating
target Masteries as a Continuous Assessment component. Once familiar with
the Khan Academy resources many students will themselves use the videos to
help understand new concepts and the quizzes as a testing/revision tool.