Alex Archambault ’14: You sit down to do your math homework, look down at the page and gulp. If only you had taken better class notes. If only you had not been distracted right as the teacher taught the formula that would solve those problems. So what do you do?
Recently, more students have looked towards online resources such as Kahn Academy for assistance. Khan Academy and the like are useful supplements for studying or obtaining a better grasp of material covered quickly in class.
Kahn Academy was founded by Sal Khan in 2006. According to the Khan Academy website, Sal has degrees from both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. Though he originally made and produced all of the videos on his own, the website has grown so popular that Khan Academy now has a full team of over 45 people working to create these helpful videos. In addition to Khan Academy, there are myriad other websites that offer math assistance including mathhelp.com, thattutorguy.com, excelmaath.com.
While Khan Academy lays out entire lessons on how to do almost any math concept, it appears that most students do not want online videos to replace their in class learning, but simply enhance it. Ryan Quinlan ‘14 happily recalls his experience with an online math tool that has assisted him with a Linear Algebra class. “MIT releases videos made by one of their top professors that I use as a supplement to the things I learn in class. I have my in-class notes and my textbooks but the videos give me another perspective on the material. It doesn’t take away from my teacher or my experience in class, it’s just another way for me to aid myself if there is a concept that I don’t quite understand right away. Often, just hearing it stated another way is helpful.”
Although online videos began as a tool to assist students primarily in mathematics, they are now beginning to branch out across all subjects. Taryn Gallagher ‘14, mentioned her own experience of using a Khan Academy video in her Modern History class. “I don’t use the videos to learn new things but they really reiterate what we learn in class. For example, I remember during sophomore year, there was a Khan Academy video on the French Revolution and it was very helpful when I needed to study for my test.” She went on to describe how she even found a Khan Academy video that helped her in her AP Environmental Science class. “It’s just great because they draw it all up for you. I’m a very visual learner so the videos help me remember information more than just reading out of a textbook.” The question remains, why are websites such as Khan Academy allowed while similar sites, such as Sparknotes, are considered to be academically dishonest. Grace Wingfield, chair of the Math Department, voiced her opinion on the matter, praising websites like Khan Academy. “There are a lot of good resources out there and it’s not like it’s a set of answers. If you’re Googling ‘solve this problem’ and you type in an exact problem, which you can do for AP questions, that would be equivalent to Sparknotes and then we would have an issue. But as for Khan Academy and other online resources that show you how things work, they are fine. That being said, there are some bad videos on Khan Academy that are very procedural and not conceptual.”
Wingfield has even developed her own system of online videos that she uses with some classes when it suits the needs of the students. She will film videos of herself teaching the lesson and then upload them so students can watch and learn the night before class. “Online classes help me because when you flip the classroom and the access to the content, the students are doing their learning in the evening it allows for class time to be used for questions and problems that are more challenging. Also, it takes students different amounts of time to learn concepts. For one child it might take 30 minutes and another child might only need 10 minutes so they can use the video at their leisure. But not every topic and not every subject lends itself to that method. It depends on both the class and the material. Just like everything in life, it is not one solution fits all; you have to assess the situation. Either way you definitely still need the classroom interaction to learn to the best of your ability.”
So back to those homework problems that you can’t complete because your focused waivered a moment during class. There is no need to get choked up or worry about not being able to finish. Simply log onto your laptop, open the Internet, and check out some online videos.