Khan Academy has changed knowledge delivery - how will the human elements of knowledge exchange be preserved?

This week we’ll be investigating solutions and enablers to help deliver basic human needs.  Khan Academy makes a strong case for the ability to deliver effective teaching over the Internet at no cost to end-users.  The need is clear – every year global spending on education continues to escalate but students are not making substantial knowledge gains despite spending increases, “about a fifth of American 15-year-olds do not have basic competence in science; 23% can’t use math in daily life.” 

Enter Khan Academy, a collection of thousands of instructional videos with topics ranging from algebra to economics.  Videos are typically between five and ten minutes and involve the instructor speaking over illustrations of an example problem – envision a blackboard where examples are written out with accompanying audio.  Khan Academy is disrupting the way knowledge has traditionally been delivered, in the classroom, and is doing so in a way that makes instruction easy and effective.  The Khan Academy example raises interesting questions about how Internet connectivity can deliver learning anywhere.    

Last year during my first semester at CMU, I was taking Statistical Analysis – and I was struggling to grasp some fairly fundamental concepts. A peer suggested I try Khan Academy – he said the videos delivered the material in an easy-to-understand way.  He was right - after watching a couple Khan Academy videos and doing the practice problems, I understood concepts that had previously eluded me. 

Khan Academy is a fascinating case in the delivery of education.  Three aspects of the Khan Academy model really make this case. Khan Academy offers learning that’s effective, free and available anywhere there’s access to the Internet.  These persuasive strengths can bring learning to parts of the world without classrooms and monetary resources, while reaching people in unprecedented numbers – stretching education dollars to the max.

So will Khan Academy and other online learning tools become the new teaching model?  Or more drastically, will the need for classroom learning be eliminated?  Hardly, Khan Academy lacks essential elements of learning: context, application and interaction.  These learning elements are created through the discourse and exchange occurring in a classroom as teachers and students examine a problem together.  It’s difficult to effectively replicate that interconnectedness online – similarly, the Khan Academy teaching model lends itself to instruction that involves step-by-step problem solving, like algebra.  But how affective could a Khan Academy video teach the history of the Civil Rights movement in the US?  Subject matter that’s challenging to teach in the classroom because of the sensitive nature and contextual importance of the material will not be communicated well over the Internet.  Learning about the human experience has more meaning and impact when it’s shared in person. 

However, what Khan Academy has proved to be very effective at is supplementing, reinforcing and bridging learning from the classroom to the student’s bedroom. One question that arises is as Khan Academy plays a greater role in bringing education to remote locations in the emerging world at no cost, how will education continue to incorporate elements of human interaction and idea exchange in locations where it presents a logistical challenge to do so?