The man and his team have been a enormous help to me, guiding me through the concepts that my teachers cannot explain to well, and helping me get back on track in various courses where I have fallen behind. However, I see my teachers, especially in Math, constantly hating with a number of rants in class about how it is “killing education” and not teaching concepts properly although KA has hundreds of practice exercises in its courses. I just don’t see the reason for the hate because everyone I know personally loves it… any reason?
Professional jealousy
I personally don’t use it, but I will say that many of my friends are grateful for the existence of Khan Academy.
As for your teacher(s), it could be because they don’t know how useful it is. Maybe they’ve never tried it? Or, as GMTplus7 says, it could be professional jealousy.
After all, if a website can teach better than you can, what’s to keep you in the job?
From what I’ve used of it, it’s somewhat hit-and-miss. I do recall a couple of occasions where KA lessons fell far short of the same thing in a classroom (with a decent teacher), and I’ve yet to see a video there that can surpass a lecture from a good teacher.
Additionally, much of KA is, as with any online curriculum of that sort, about memorization. KA practice feels like online math homework (which of course it is, essentially); I’ve never had it come close to what a math test is like (the kind where much of the credit comes from doing it right, in addition to getting the right answer).
I agree with above. I’ve had a lesson that wasn’t that great, but many that have been. Regardless, I think it is a great tool even now more so with the new SAT prep.
Before I answer, I personally believe talking to your actual teacher is better than using Khan Academy because they know how you learn and can be better at explaining or helping you.
But I think Khan Ac. is great! I’ve used it when I was at home and couldn’t get extra help from a teacher. I’ve actually had a math teacher tell me to use Khan Academy to prepare for a college placement test
@QuantumPython I think your opinion resonates with those of many people, and I agree myself. It provides incredible lessons that will give great background in any subject, but it’s not “that” thorough. But I also believe that its quality now is astounding. Go through the Algebra 2 course and see how good its become if you haven’t been on there for a while. In my opinion, it’s just as good as a teacher with the exception that the teacher’s job is to help you in that subject specifically. In total, I’ll refer back to the purpose of the thread, which is the reason why some teachers dislike it; I believe it’s because of both jealousy and more of incredulity that someone can teach something that the teachers can’t. I think KA makes teachers feel like they aren’t doing their job.
I personally think KA is kind of a mixed bag. There are times when it has been an enormous help for me, but I’ve personally had instances where they describe certain things unclearly or in a way more complicated than my teachers have described it. Like, I’ve watched a video, said, “I was supposed to understand that?”, went back into my course text, and figured it out myself. There have also been instances where it’s the exact opposite, where KA describes things in a way that is much more easy for me to understand.
I think that Khan Academy can be viewed as kind of a soulless approach to teaching. You can’t raise your hand in the middle of the video and ask a question. (And yeah, they have that comment section, but you usually have to wait a while to get an answer.) You can’t really interact with the video and develop a relationship with it. It’s a one-way way of learning. I think it’s completely viable as a learning resource, but I can definitely understand why some people may be turned off by it.
I like it. It teaches the same information every time and they know what to cover. Whereas with teachers, they might not say the same thing between every class period. So another class during 3rd period might have gotten some small piece of information that is really beneficial, but the other classes might not have gotten it.
KA has been a huge for me and I haven’t looked back. I’ve been taking their online courses and I found that their curriculum is pretty spot on with what my school offers. I’ve been taking the Alg 2 course online in order to prepare for the school year and it has definitely taught me a lot, it works for me but I do get bored really quick watching the videos.
I like to speed it up to 1.25 or 1.5 so it’s less boring haha… normal speed is SO SLOW
I think teachers are generally wary when it comes to the Internet, and that’s not baseless – students rely on Wikipedia and SparkNotes over and over. Khan Academy is something entirely new, though, and I hope teachers grow to embrace it and encourage students to use it.
I feel like Khan Academy is a supplement to your learning, like little review of concept you’ve got lost on in class. Your teachers most likely haven’t experienced the site and might be just hating.
I personally think the videos are too boring and slow. If I’m struggling with a concept, the last thing I want to be doing is staring at a “blackboard” trying to force myself to listen to a stranger’s monotonous voice. I wish they would just redo all of their videos and include some decent animations or real life connections. I also feel like they need a text page for every math topic, so students can quickly refer to a specific step they are having trouble with. My attention tends to drift off pretty fast, especially if I don’t like or understand the material. Khan Academy is pretty much a last resort for me. I have never had a a teacher speak negatively about it though. In fact, many of my former teachers encouraged Khan Academy for homework help because it was free.
Considering that the tutorals are offered for FREE, and that the organization subsists on charitable donations so you’re not visually assaulted by blinky tacky ads, it’s unseemly to be bashing Khan Academy.
If you don’t like the tutoring pace, then feel free to hire $30/hr private tutor.
@Hamlon Same. I’ve never found it particularly useful for myself (though I’m thinking of using it for SAT Prep), though I’ve never had teachers bash it. In fact, many of them recommend it as a method for studying.
It’s in the same boat as Crash Course for me: everyone likes it and views it to be effective for studying, but I’ve personally never found it to be helpful.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of Khan Academy.
I find the videos to be very dry, for one thing.
But, more than that, I think that sometimes they miss the shortcuts, and make the material harder than it has to be. For example, we’re using them in my SAT prep class. A good 50% of the time, we’ll watch the video, and then I’ll stop it, focus on the problem, and either show the shortcut or translate what was said in the video to something phrased in a way that’s easier to understand.
I don’t bash KA-- I think it’s a great resource for some kids in some situations. If you’re one of those kids, wonderful. And any resource that helps anyone to understand the material is a valuable resource, particularly one that’s free.
And right now, they’re the go-to source for the new SAT.
But I do think there are sometimes-- frequently??-- better videos to be found on youtube, teachertube, educreations, and teacher websites. They may be a bit harder to track down, but they tend to explain things the way I would in class, or in a way more likely to arrive in an “AHA!” moment for a struggling student.