Star Week 5: Khan Academy

Hi everyone! I hope you have enjoyed your holidays and you are back with tones of energy because summer is around the corner. I´m Cristina and I´m going to present to you the tool that I have chosen.

 

The tool that I found really interesting to analyze is Khan Academy because I feel that in the past few years it has become really well known. It was created by Salman Khan in 2008 to provide free education to everyone and everywhere in the world. Khan Academy is a free online educational tool for students and teachers to improve their knowledge, skills and learn in a wide range of courses. It offers all the courses in many languages and it provides instructional videos, quizzes and interactive software for al ages to help the learning of it´s users to become proficient and enjoy different topics. It can be used inside and outside the classroom as a compliment to education and way of learning itself. As it is said in the blog tech and learning, Khan Academy “provides very strong math, economics, and finance resources. It now also offers engineering, computing, arts, and humanities. Plus, there is test and career prep, and English language arts”.

1. Rubric for eLearning Tool Evaluation

In this rubric you can find a fifth column under the title “notes” where there is a small justification and a brief outline on how khan academy works and what it does according to the answer chosen in the rubric.

Category	Criteria	Works Well	Minor Concerns	Serious Concerns	Not applicable	Notes
Functionality	Scale	The tool can be scaled to accommodate any size class with the flexibility to create smaller sub-groups or communities of practice	The tool can be scaled to accommodate any size class but lacks flexibility to create smaller sub-groups or communities of practice	The tool is restrictive to a limited number of users and cannot be scaled		The tool focusses mainly in individual work and the progress of each student, so smaller groups or work in groups is not
	Ease of Use	The tool has a user-friendly interface and it is easy for instructors and students to become skillful with in a personalized and intuitive manner.	The tool has an interface that may be confusing to either instructor or learner; there is limited opportunity for personalization.	The interface is not user-friendly for either the instructor or learner; it is cumbersome, unintuitive, rigid, and inflexible.		Khan academy offers tutorial for teachers to show how to use the tool and courses to increase the teacher´s knowledge. Also there are some for the students while performing the activities.
	Tech Support / Help Availability	Campus-based technical support and /or help documentation is readily available and aids users in troubleshooting tasks or solving problems experienced; or, the tool provider offers a robust support platform	Technical support and help documentation is available but limited, incomplete, or not user- friendly	Technological support and help documentation is not available
	Hypermediality	The tool allows users to communicate through different channels (audio, visual, textual) and allows for non-sequential, flexible/adaptive engagement with material	The tool allows users to communicate through different channels (audio, visual, textual) but is limited in its ability to provide non-sequential, flexible/adaptive engagement with material	The tool is restrictive in terms of the communication channels employed (audio, visual, textual) and presents information sequentially in a rigid, inflexible format		The tool offers a wide variety of videos to learn like tutorials according to levels but doesn´t offer communication with participants.

Accessibility	Accessibility standards	The tool meets accessibility guidelines (e.g. local accessibility legislation and/or W3C WCAG 2.0 standards)	The tool has some limited capacity to meet accessibility guidelines	The tool fails meet accessibility guidelines or no information of compliance has been made available for the tool
	User-focused participation	The tool is designed to address the needs of diverse users, their various literacies, and capabilities, thereby widening opportunities for participation in learning	The tool has some limited capacity to address the needs of diverse users, their various literacies, and capabilities	The tool is restrictive in meeting the diversity of needs reflective in the student body. The tool likely restricts some learners from fully participating.		Khan academy adapt to the individual usesr according to their performance helping them grow
	Required Equipment	Proper use of the tool does not require equipment beyond what is typically available to instructors and students (computer with built-in speakers and microphone, internet connection, etc.)	Proper use of the tool requires specialized equipment (e.g. unique device) that likely requires purchase at a low cost	Proper use of the tool requires specialized equipment requiring moderate to significant financial investment		It is available in any device.
	Cost of Use	All aspects of the tool can be used free of charge.	Limited aspects of the tool can be used for free with other elements requiring payment of a fee, membership, or subscription.	Use of the tool requires a fee, membership, or subscription Use of the tool requires a purchase that is likely to pose a financial burden on students (exceeding $50 for a single half term course)		As the tool itself defines itself: “nonprofit organization with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.”

Technical	Integration/ Embedding within a Learning Management System (LMS)	The tool can be embedded (as an object via HTML code) or fully integrated (e.g. LTI- compliant tools) into an LMS while maintaining full functionality of the tool.	The tool can be embedded within an LMS, perhaps with with limited functionality, but can not be fully integrated.	The tool can only be accessed in an LMS through a hyperlink or static representations of the tool (e.g file export), rather than a functional version of the tool itself
	Desktop / Laptop Operating Systems	Users can effectively utilize the tool with any standard, up-to- date operating system.	Users may encounter limited or altered functionality depending on the up-to-date operating system being used	Users are limited to using the tool with one specific, up-to-date operating system.
	Browser	Users can effectively utilize the tool with any standard, up-to- date browser	Users may encounter limited or altered functionality depending on the up-to-date browser being used	Users are limited to using the tool through one specific browser		It is accessible from any browser and is an online tool.
	Additional Downloads	Users do not need to download additional software or browser extensions.	The tool uses a browser extension or software that requires a download and / or user permission to run.	The tool requires a past or version of a browser extension or software.		The whole tool is found online with no need to download, this goes for both students and teachers access.

Mobile Design	Access	The tool can be accessed, either through the download of an app or via a mobile browser, regardless of the mobile operating system and device. Design of the mobile tool fully takes into consideration the constraints of a smaller-sized screen.	The tool offers an app, but only for a limited set of mobile operating systems. Tool is not accessible through a mobile browser. Design of the mobile tool constrained by the limitations of the mobile device.	Access to the tool is limited or absent on a mobile device.
	Functionality	There is little to no functional difference between the mobile and the desktop version, regardless of the device used to access it. No difference in functionality between apps designed for different mobile operating systems.	Core features of the main tool are functional on the mobile app but advanced features are limited. Some difference in functionality between apps designed for different mobile operating systems, but has limited impact on learners’ use of the tool.	The mobile app functions poorly such that core features are not reliable or non-existent. Significant difference in functionality depending on the mobile device’s operating system used to access the tool.		Both, computer and mobile connection to the tool are intuitive and functional in equal way.
	Offline Access	Offers an offline mode: Core features of the tool can be accessed and utilized even when offline, maintaining functionality and content.	Offers a kind of offline mode, where the tool can be used offline but core functionality and content are affected.	The mobile platform cannot be used in any capacity offline.		You could if you download the content.

Privacy, Data Protection, and Rights	Sign Up/ Sign In	Use of the tool does not require the creation of an external account or additional login, such that no personal user information is collected and shared.	Either instructors are the only users required to provide personal information to set up an account; or the tool has been vetted through appropriate channels to ensure strict adherence to local, institutional, or personal policies/standards for protecting the collection and use of student personal data by a third party group.	All users (instructors and learners) must provide personal information to a third party in creating an account and there is some question or concern of the adherence to local, institutional, or personal policies/standards for protecting the collection and use of such data by the third party group.
	Data Privacy and Ownership	Users maintain ownership and copyright of their intellectual property/data; the user can keep data private and decide if / how data is to be shared	Users maintain ownership and copyright of their intellectual property/data; data is shared publically and cannot be made private	Users forfeit ownership and copyright of data; data is shared publically and cannot be made private, or no details provided.		Only your teacher and class mates in some occasions see your personal data.
	Archiving, Saving, and Exporting Data	Users can archive, save, or import and export content or activity data in a variety of formats	There are limitations to archiving, saving, or importing/exporting content or activity data	Content and activity data cannot be archived, saved, or imported exported

Social Presence	Collaboration	The tool has the capacity to support a community of learning through both asynchronous and synchronous opportunities for communication, interactivity, and transfer of meaning between users	The tool has the capacity to support a community of learning through asynchronous but not synchronous opportunities for communication, interactivity, and transfer of meaning between users	Communication, interactivity, and transfer of meaning between users is not supported or significantly limited
	User Accountability	Instructors can control learner anonymity; the tool provides technical solutions for holding learners accountable for their actions	Instructors cannot control learner anonymity but the tool provides some solution for holding learners accountable for their actions	Instructors cannot control learner anonymity and there is no technical solution for holding users accountable to their actions
	Diffusion	The tool is widely known and popular, it’s likely that most learners are familiar with the tool and have basic technical competence with it	Learners’ familiarity with the tool is likely mixed, some will lack basic technical competence with its functions	The tool is not well known/foreign, it is likely that learners are not familiar with the tool and lack basic technical competence with its functions		But knowledge on how to use the tool is rapidly acquired.

Teaching Presence	Facilitation	The tool has easy-to-use features that would significantly improve an instructor’s ability to be present with learners via active management, monitoring, engagement, and feedback	The tool has limited functionality to effectively support an instructor’s ability to be present with learners via active management, monitoring, engagement, and feedback	The tool has not been designed to support an instructor’s an instructor’s ability to be present with learners via active management, monitoring, engagement, and feedback
	Customization	Tool is adaptable to its environment: easily customized to suit the classroom context and targeted learning outcomes	Limited aspects of the tool can be customized to suit the classroom context and learning outcomes	The tool cannot be customized
	Learning Analytics	Instructor can monitor learners’ performance on a variety of responsive measures. These measures can be accessed through a user-friendly dashboard	Instructor can monitor learners’ performance on limited measures; or data is not presented in a format that is easily interpreted	The tool does not support the collection of learning analytics

Cognitive Presence	Enhancement of Cognitive Task(s)	The tool enhances engagement in targeted cognitive task(s) that were once overly complex or inconceivable through other means	The tool enables functional improvement to engagement in the targeted cognitive task(s)	The tool acts as a direct tool substitute with no functional change to engagement in the targeted cognitive task(s)
	Higher Order Thinking	Use of the tool easily facilitates learners to exercise higher order thinking skills (given consideration to design, facilitation, and direction from instructor)	The tool may engage learners in higher order thinking skills (given significant consideration to design, facilitation, and direction from instructor)	The tool likely does not engage learners in higher order thinking skills (despite significant consideration to design, facilitation, and direction from instructor)
	Metacognitive Engagement	Through the tool, learners can regularly receive formative feedback on learning (i.e. they can track their performance, monitor their improvement, test their knowledge)	Opportunities for receiving formative feedback on learning are available, but infrequent or limited (i.e. poor opportunities for tracking performance, monitoring improvement, testing knowledge on a regular basis)	There are no opportunities for formative feedback on learning (i.e. lacking opportunities for tracking performance, monitoring improvement, testing knowledge on a regular basis)

2.   Exploring the analysis by Common Sense Privacy Program.

In conclusion, it is a tool that I highly recomend using because it doesn´t only teach but motivate students to continue studying and learning. I had the opportunity of working with Khan Academy in primary school in Numeracy and my favourite things about it were the weekly challenges proposed as well as the small avatars that grew as you completed activities and you increased the points you had by doing them.

 

Let me know which is your favourite avatar in the coment below!