Maths update: Khan Academy

Every once in a while I like to write a post on what we are doing with our maths.  It is useful to keep a record of where we are at, at specific moments in time.  And who knows, it may be helpful for the one or two readers who happen upon this blog.

Both Mulan and Miya signed up at the online Khan Academy just over a year ago.  We played with it at the time, and for several months afterwards they did the odd day dotted here and there.  But just over three months ago, in mid-June, we started working on it more seriously, using it daily as our primary maths resource.

What follows is our experience of Khan Academy, used as a main maths resource for two primary-aged children.

For those who are unfamiliar with Khan Academy, it is a free online educational resource with several different subjects, but primarily focused on maths.

The maths at Khan can either be approached by subject (ie topic) or by US grade.  Each subject or grade level contains dozens of different skills (grouped together by type), with questions for each skill.  Skills are Practiced (by answering correctly a few questions specific to that skill) and then eventually Mastered (by answering correctly questions for that skill when presented together with questions from several other skills).  Progress is made by completing a combination of Practices and Masteries.  Once all skills for a particular subject or grade have been Mastered, then that subject or grade is completed.

Most skills are also linked to a short video lesson, of a few to several minutes, which teaches that skill.

Incentives are given in at least five different ways: (a) daily login acknowledgement and a count of the daily "streak", (b) points awarded for questions answered, (c) leveled mastery progress for each skill, (d) percentage progress for each section, and (e) "badges" awarded for achievements.

Mulan (9 1/2 years old):
When we first started on Khan, we headed for the subject section rather than the US grade section because, well, we are not in the US and have no special attachment to their schooling system.  The "Arithmetic" subject section looked interesting, so we tackled that first.

We got into a routine of logging in every day and working on it for maybe about 45 minutes or so.  Almost always, I sit beside Mulan as she works on the questions.  If she has any problems, I step through them with her, discussing and explaining as needed.

Occasionally (maybe once every week or two), we watch a video lesson.  Typically, we will watch a video if either (a) we are not completely sure of the question meaning or terminologies, or (b) we want a second opinion on how to solve a problem.  As we watch the video we typically stop and start as needed to discuss together what is being presented.

In our opinion, the videos are clear and teach the points well.  They are definitely a useful, though minor, supplement to our in-person teaching, and they give us confidence that we are on the right track with what we are doing.  Occasionally, however, we feel that the way they have taught things in certain videos is not the easiest way of solving some problem.  So, while we watch and understand their approach, we sometimes choose to solve problems differently.

At about two thirds of the way through the "Arithmetic" section, Mulan got to the point where the going was getting too tough.  It had reached her limit.  So, since we were still enjoying Khan, we looked around the website and decided to give the US grade sections a go.

We figured at the time that if Mulan was in the US, she would probably be coming to the end of 3rd Grade, so we turned to that section.  After having been struggling with the Arithmetic section, Mulan found the 3rd Grade extremely easy, and completed it all within a couple of weeks.

Next, we moved on to 4th Grade, and Mulan finished all of that within another couple of weeks.  With both the 3rd and 4th Grades, Mulan almost never needed my (or the videos') help on anything.  Nonetheless, I have no doubt that she was learning a lot, and it gave her a good solid skills base as well as a lot of confidence.

At the beginning of August, Mulan started Khan's 5th Grade.  Getting into this section, we felt that this was more properly her level.  It was challenging, but often doable by herself.  Anything that I explained to her was almost always immediately understood and internalised.

Mulan finished 5th Grade within about five weeks, and a couple of weeks ago she returned to the Arithmetic section.  With a few more months of maths tuition under her belt, Arithmetic was no longer beyond her abilities.  And today, Mulan completed the Arithmetic section and started on the 6th Grade section.

We are not sure how much longer Mulan will be able to continue with 6th Grade before she reaches her limit, but we will keep going with it every day and just see what happens.

Miya (6 years old):
There is not nearly as much work available on Khan for Miya's level as there is available for Mulan's level, and Miya has very quickly reached her limit.

In the US grade section, there is one section called K-2nd.  This is exactly equivalent to the "Early Math" subject section.  Miya completed 80% of this, before reaching her limit.

At the moment, and since Miya still likes to do a bit every day to keep her daily streak going, Miya logs in and re-Practices, for several minutes, a few skills that she has already Mastered.  As I see it, it is all good, as it keeps her numeracy skills up.  But it would be much better if Khan Academy extended and developed the questions for younger learners.

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Some final thoughts:

1. Since Khan is an online teaching resource, the questions asked have got to have clearly answerable questions that can be marked unambiguously by a computer.  And it is pretty hard to mark open-ended discussions.  This means that I sometimes feel that, for a maths resource, too many of the questions are equation-style and too few are problem-solving style.  This is not only the case from a balanced teaching perspective, but it is also the case from a student-interest perspective -- Mulan is becoming a little bored with too many straight equations, and is not so keen to be bothered answering them.
2. Khan Academy is clearly from the US.  It uses US spelling, US school grade levels, US non-metric measurements, US maths terminologies (such as reversing trapezoid and trapezium), US money, US education standards (Common Core), and US cultural references in questions.  While it is understandable who their market is, it is still disappointing that there is little attempt to provide a more international feel.
3. Given that Mulan completed entire grades at her age level in a couple of weeks, and both girls are reaching their limit within a few months of daily use, it is clearly the case that Khan Academy has too few questions to last as a daily long-term maths resource.

Each of these reasons in themselves would be enough to want to use other maths resources alongside Khan Academy.  All together, it makes it pretty much inevitable.  Nonetheless, Khan is an excellent partial maths resource that has been very useful to solidify important maths skills in both children, and in a way that has most definitely kept the interest alive for both of them.  A big thanks to Sal and team for creating such an awesome educational website.