I was in a car the other day with friends who dont pay much attention to

education issues, and one asked me, Who is this guy who figured out how to
teach math to everyone? He said he read about him in Time magazine. Thus is a
myth created.
I am not a reliable critic of math methods, its not my field so I have not assayed
a view of Khan and his videos.
But today I read a devastating critique. The bottom line: the videos arent very
good and neither is the math.
I have a tendency to want to see educational ideas developed in a sober and
careful way, because I know of US educations tendency to jump on bandwagons
and adopt the latest fad and new thing. Teachers tend to be skeptical of quick
fixes and properly so.
It is not that they are resistant to innovation, but they are resistant to hype, and
properly so.
The author, Karim Kai Ani, writes as follows:
The real problem with Khan Academy is not the low-quality videos or the absence
of any pedagogical intentionality. Its just one resource among many, after all.
Rather, the danger is that we believe the promise of silver bullets of simple
solutions to complex problems and in so doing become deaf to what really
needs to be done.
As Arne Duncan said, we need to invest in professional development, and provide
teachers with the support and resources they need to be successful. We need to
give them time to collaborate, and create relevant content that engages students
and develops not just rote skills but also conceptual understanding. We have to
help new teachers figure out classroom management to reach the student who
shows up late to class every day and never brings a pencil and free up veteran
teachers to mentor younger colleagues.
I recently attended the inaugural #TwitterMathCamp, a collection of teachers
who traveled from around the country (plus two Canucks!)during their
vacationand paid out of pocketto discuss how best to introduce proportions
and whether slope always requires units.
We need to stop focusing on the teachers who are doing it wrong and instead
recognize the ones who are doing it right: the Frank Noscheses and the Kate
Nowaks; the Sadie Estrellas and the Sam Shaws; the ones who spend their time
trying to become better to make someone elses kids smarter.
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CategoriesTeachers and Teaching
76 CommentsComments are closed.
Older Comments

1.

buggaboy

October 8, 2013 at 2:39 pm

I think other teachers that quickly bash Khans Academy are jealous and possibly
inept. I am a teacher studying to be a nurse. Khan carried me through chemistry.
I had to work at it, but I dont think I would have gotten an A without his videos.
While I probably would have been able to get an A without his videos, they
provided initial clarity, which gave me the confidence and motivation to push
myself. If someone can impact a student to that degree teaching Biochemistry
concepts, then he or she has to have some talent. I think the man is amazing. He
pulled me out of the fire of my own self-doubt and ignorance and I actually
learned something. Isnt that what teachers are supposed to do? (Many teachers I
know are actually not smart enough to grasp some the concepts he explains as if
hes describing 2 plus 2.) The man is brilliant and I will be forever grateful for him
for making me believe in my ability to tackle complex science subjects.

Michael Paul Goldenberg

October 8, 2013 at 4:51 pm

How lovely for you, buggaboy. But you really dont know what youre talking
about as far as people who are serious mathematics teachers critiquing Khans
pedagogy, preparation, and factual knowledge of mathematics. Hes not brilliant,
though he is likely not stupid, and hes as boring a speaker as I have heard doing
video math explanations. Theres no enthusiasm, theres no insight, its just a
bright student speaking procedures in (mostly) elementary mathematics without

any logical sequence or well-thought out examples. Sals no teacher, let alone a
great one.

ellis

October 22, 2013 at 6:06 pm

you have got to be kidding me right? SAT scores from 1500 to a 1800 thanks to
Sal.. your an idiot

Michael Paul Goldenberg

October 22, 2013 at 11:56 pm

@Ellis: thanks for your opinion. It doesnt change mine because nothing I said
precludes the possibility of someone watching Khan videos and scoring well on
an exam.
What you need to show is causality, not simply correlation. Thats hard to do with
a sample size n = 1, and absolutely no controlling for other factors, to name but
two weaknesses.
Also, arent there three areas scored on the SAT: Critical Reading, Math, and
Writing, each scored on a scale of 200 800, meaning that a perfect score would
be 2400? Are you reporting on all three and claiming a rise from 1500 (average of
500) to 1800 (average of 600)? Certainly impressive, but did you use KA videos to
work on the writing and the critical reading sections as well as math? And if so,
did you use nothing else for all three areas?
Finally, stating your [sic] an idiot is childish and a little embarrassing for you. I
have reasons for the things I stated with which you disagree. Shall I claim that
you are an idiot because we disagree? Sorry, Im not in the mood for mudslinging
just now, and I hope that if you reply again that you raise the level of your game
above personal epithets. I can believe (and do) that Khan is not the great teacher
some feel he is and make an argument to support that viewpoint. Ive done so,
more than once. Doesnt make me right, but at least my reasons are offered
honestly and openly. And without calling those who see things differently
schoolyard insults.

psandeep

August 6, 2014 at 12:08 pm

As of July 21, 2014, the Khan Academy channel on YouTube attracted 2,089,353
subscribers and the Khan Academy videos have been viewed over 458 million
times

source:Wikipedia
There is factual evidence indicating that his videos are actually helping a lot of
people learn.Anybody who can relate to so many people and guide them through
their education i would argue is probably brilliant.i would say the reason his
videos are so helpful is beacuse he employs a conversational and informal style
and by no means is he unprepared,most people are attracted to his enthusiasm
and passion.And anyway hes probably done a lot more than most people

dianeravitch

August 6, 2014 at 3:24 pm

Psandeep, with nearly 500 million views, why are critics still writing articles that
Americans stink at math? Does that refer only to whoever has not seen his
videos (me)?

Michael Paul Goldenberg

August 6, 2014 at 4:43 pm

I think its important to keep in mind that different people have very different
ideas about what it means to learn, teach, know, or do mathematics. For the
majority of Americans, who are woefully ignorant of the essence of mathematics,
Khan Academy may get the job done (but even there its not the right tool for
everyone). But for deeper understanding of what math is about, it simply is a
slicker version of typical classroom instruction in school mathematics. People
would be vastly better off going to James Tantons YouTube channels. He has a
couple of free video courses on his GDayMath.com website, and lots of videos via
jamestanton.com, all of which can also be found on YouTube. His books are
fabulous, too. There are other fine sources: numberphile.com and their YouTube
channel; the Art of Problem solving; James Grime (aka the Singing Banana) have
videos on YouTube and on their websites.
The down side of the things I recommend: they might require some thought.
But thats because real mathematics does. Khan Academy videos often seem to
try to take the thought out of things, just like most traditional math teaching
does. As a way to learn to think mathematically, I think such things are a wasted
effort. If all you care about is memorizing steps and procedures that you dont
really understand, I suppose they are okay, though I find Sal Khans voice deadly
dull and very annoying, and I dont think he gives informed thought to the
examples he uses or the internal order in which lessons proceed. And I think
thats because Sal isnt a mathematics teacher by trade, and so he thinks that
just doing what countless math teachers have done live with doubtful results will
be more effective if done on video, with the badges and other bells and whistles
that the KA website offers. Probably good for training lab rats, but not so great for
promoting mathematical thought.

2.

Robert McFarlane