At Khan Academy we’re focused on creating high-quality, comprehensive educational resources that individuals of any age can use to learn at their own pace and that schools like Summit can deploy to support student-driven classroom experiences. Khan Academy started out as a way for an eccentric former engineer to tutor his cousin remotely. Since those early days we’ve evolved into a free educational site featuring conversational videos across diverse topics—from math and science to art history and finance. We offer math problems with immediate feedback and step-by-step hints, and a computer-science platform that encourages experimentation and creativity. Although the site’s offerings have changed considerably since the early days, our mission remains the same: to provide a free world-class education for anyone, anywhere. It is a lofty goal, but one that seems uniquely possible at this moment in history, as the costs of distributing content at scale continue to decrease. We’re also excited to work alongside innovative organizations like Summit Public Schools to rethink in-person learning. Many students tend to accept the basic tenets of the education system, assuming that any problems they face are due to their personal learning limitations, not the system itself. To deliver a different experience, we must challenge the usual assumptions we make about education. In the traditional model of education, we assign students grades to indicate what percentage of the material they have mastered. If a student earns a B, we say “good job” and begin introducing the next concept to her, even though she may be still shaky at best on 20 percent of the content. Over time, this leads to “Swiss cheese” knowledge gaps. Each class moves at a fixed pace and, as a result, we force students to build on rickety foundations instead of giving them the opportunity to master concepts at their own pace. If contractors constructed multistory buildings this way—completing only 80 percent of one level before moving on to the next floor—the upper floors would obviously be unreliable. - See more at: voices.mckinseyonsociety/turning-school-upside-down/#sthash.h6G3v8sN.dpuf
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:49:59 +0000
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