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How is it different from referring to Khan Academy?

• manicbovine 15y ago
  I'm not really answering your question.. but Khan Academy is not a serious contender in education. So maybe some teachers use it, but Khan Academy is not going to disrupt anything in K12 a serious way. They might do something to consumer educational products, but that's a tiny market. The public servants who buy educational products must justify their purchase in terms of educational efficacy and cost. A minimal viable product is low cost (in dollars), low cost in terms of implementation, and it's designed around well-validated instructional strategies. Ideally, you have some educational experts on your side (not some grad student in education, but well regarded and seasoned educators... who cost a lot). Although Khan Academy is free in dollars, the educational quality of their content is all over the map. Educational quality turns out not to matter to much (e.g. Compass Learning) when it comes to buying decisions. But... Is Khan Academy teaching things in a way that can be integrated easily into ordinary classroom instruction? Can Khan Academy point to research that supports their pedagogical approach? Can they even state their approach? (aside from, "we're charismatic and free!"). If not, then in the mind of a large purchaser, Khan Academy is not a viable large-scale alternative. It's an accountability thing. Education requires deep pockets. Content production is costly enough, but you also have to pay experts to endorse or help build your product. The truly disruptive technology will lower those costs.