Of Interest: Let’s use video to reinvent education

“In a traditional classroom, you have homework, lecture, homework, lecture, and then you have a snapshot exam. And that exam, whether you get a 70 percent, an 80 percent, a 90 percent or a 95 percent, the class moves on to the next topic. And even that 95 percent student — what was the five percent they didn’t know? Maybe they didn’t know what happens when you raise something to the zeroth power. Then you build on that in the next concept. That’s analogous to — imagine learning to ride a bicycle. Maybe I give you a lecture ahead of time, and I give you a bicycle for two weeks, then I come back after two weeks, and say, ‘Well, let’s see. You’re having trouble taking left turns. You can’t quite stop. You’re an 80 percent bicyclist.’ So I put a big ‘C’ stamp on your forehead — and then I say, ‘Here’s a unicycle.’ As ridiculous as that sounds, that’s exactly what’s happening in our classrooms right now.”

– Sal Khan, Founder and CEO of Khan Academy

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While you may have never heard of him, Sal Khan is revolutionizing education. The former hedge fund analyst began his unlikely path in education when he started tutoring his cousin in mathematics using the internet. By 2006, Khan had shifted his tutoring strategy to the creation of videos which he publicly posted to YouTube. The videos became a hit with an audience that spanned well beyond Sal’s friends and family, leading Khan to quit his job in 2009 in order to found the “Khan Academy”.

Today, the on-line Khan Academy is a global leader in free education. Over 15 million users visit the site each month in order to access over 100,000 videos, articles, and exercises. Learners can use the site in order to practice everything from the most basic mathematics skills all the way to preparing for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

During a 2011 TED talk, Khan addressed how video can change the future of education. He noted that video allows students to pause and rewind so that students can ensure a full understanding of the material. Videos also allow learners to refresh on topics that they might have forgotten and are too embarrassed to ask an instructor about. And students can complete lecture material at times and locations that allow flexibility with the other demands they are facing outside of the classroom.

The concept of educational “Mastery” was also discussed, with Khan noting that video allows students and instructors to move out of the “one size fits all” education model currently used, to a system where students can tackle material at their own pace and instructors can humanize the classroom by spending their time interacting with learners.

He also points to the gamification of education, where technology allows students to be repeatedly challenged with questions about the course material until they are able to demonstrate mastery of materials. Only when mastery of current materials is demonstrated can students move to the next level of their education.

Khan does admit that video is not the end all be all in education. Instead, he looks at the technology as being a solution to freeing up time in the classroom to allow instructors the ability to actively engage and interact with learners.  As such, he advocates for a “flipped” model approach to learning with students being assigned pre-recorded lecture materials in advance of class, with an expectation that student come to class ready to actively practice their skills.