Blog Post 1: Khan Academy

Blog Post 1: Khan Academy

https://www.khanacademy.org/

    This blog entry is about Khan Academy, a tool from Dr. Wang's PPT about previous T3PP results. Specifically, it is found in the list of the top 30/118 software technologies. It is a free site for teachers, learners, schools, parents, and more. Khan Academy includes a ton of content for almost all subject areas. It has the most resources for math and science, but it also includes content in reading and language arts, history, programming, and even life skills such as social-emotional learning and internet safety. It includes content videos that provide lessons as well as homework tools such as assignments for specific topics and practice tests. It provides instruction and lots of opportunities for practice with example problems and assessments to evaluate understanding. It includes content areas ranging from Pre-K all the way to the college level.

    As far as ease of use goes with Khan Academy, it is very clearly laid out. Everything is separated by subjects and then grade levels, so it is easy to find what you are looking for very easily. It gives you step-by-step instructions on how to use the site, how to complete learning modules, how to assign and monitor work for students, and more. Overall, I'd say it is very easy for both teachers and students of all ages to use. It might take a bit of exploring and clicking through if you are looking for a specific topic or content area, but everything is very clearly labeled and organized in a logical way.

    Khan Academy is one of the most versatile learning websites I have ever used. Though it has math and science content more than anything, it also contains a good amount of learning resources for other subjects like history and language arts. Not only does it have an incredible amount of content, but it also allows teachers to use it for instruction, guided and independent practice, assessment, resource sharing among other teachers, and more. That is why when we discussed the 7-Event Framework this week, I thought Khan Academy could fit into several different categories of the instructional sequence. It could be used for reviewing previously taught knowledge which is Event 3, it could present new content and instruction for Event 4, and it could be used for Event 7 which is independent practice through homework and practice tests. It can be used in many different places through the instructional sequence which shows its versatility.

    Lastly, I believe that the overall likelihood of me using this in my classroom is pretty high, especially if I end up teaching later elementary school. I can see myself using it to assign homework or extra practice, especially in math and science areas, or to give practice tests to see where my students are at in their understanding of content. It would not be my main form of instruction, but I would recommend this to students if they need extra help with concept grasping because they do have some great instruction resources. All in all, I will definitely be keeping Khan Academy in mind as I enter my teaching career as a very versatile and content-rich resource for my classroom.

Link to an Instructional Video Example on "adding using place value blocks": https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-2nd-grade-math/x3184e0ec:add-and-subtract-within-20/x3184e0ec:add-within-20/v/adding-within-20-using-place-value-blocks 

Independent Practice example problem for 2nd grade: