Topics: Math, Science, Economics, Computer Science, Humanities
Explanation Quality: Better
Medium: Video, Practice Problems
Type of Content: Teaching Material
Many of you have probably already heard of Khan Academy. It is a website offering short videos and practice problems in a variety of subjects. It was originally created to help the creator tutor his cousin over the internet. The videos feature someone (in many it is the founder Sal) giving a short (under 20 minute) explanation while writing it out on the video screen.
There are videos in economics, math, history, and the sciences. There are only practice problems in chemistry and math, but the difficulty ranges from telling time to calculus. I find the practice problems very helpful. The videos are good too. He attempts to explain each thing in several ways, and does examples in the videos. I have one minor problem with them: I often watch videos to review something from class or to compile all the bits I have learned from different sources. So parts of the video are new things/things I didn't understand, and parts I already know. I end up not wanting to watch the parts I already understand, but I don't want to skip forward in case he mentions something else new. But as I said, this isn't really a big problem.
If you make an account, watching videos and doing problems earns you points and achievements which is a fun additional motivator. They also show stats of how much you have been working on skills or watching videos. Personally, I love things that chart my progress.
If you are a parent/teacher/helpful older sibling, you can monitor your child/student/younger sibling's progress. I have my little sister's account registered as a child account under mine so I can make sure she is still doing work over the summer. When I see that she hasn't done her tasks for the day (she is supposed to learn one skill of her choosing every day to make sure she is doing something educational with her time) I can then react appropriately. But don't worry, you don't need a coach or mentor to use this site. It is good for anyone who wants to learn something.
Explanation Quality: Better
Medium: Video, Practice Problems
Type of Content: Teaching Material
Many of you have probably already heard of Khan Academy. It is a website offering short videos and practice problems in a variety of subjects. It was originally created to help the creator tutor his cousin over the internet. The videos feature someone (in many it is the founder Sal) giving a short (under 20 minute) explanation while writing it out on the video screen.
There are videos in economics, math, history, and the sciences. There are only practice problems in chemistry and math, but the difficulty ranges from telling time to calculus. I find the practice problems very helpful. The videos are good too. He attempts to explain each thing in several ways, and does examples in the videos. I have one minor problem with them: I often watch videos to review something from class or to compile all the bits I have learned from different sources. So parts of the video are new things/things I didn't understand, and parts I already know. I end up not wanting to watch the parts I already understand, but I don't want to skip forward in case he mentions something else new. But as I said, this isn't really a big problem.
If you make an account, watching videos and doing problems earns you points and achievements which is a fun additional motivator. They also show stats of how much you have been working on skills or watching videos. Personally, I love things that chart my progress.
If you are a parent/teacher/helpful older sibling, you can monitor your child/student/younger sibling's progress. I have my little sister's account registered as a child account under mine so I can make sure she is still doing work over the summer. When I see that she hasn't done her tasks for the day (she is supposed to learn one skill of her choosing every day to make sure she is doing something educational with her time) I can then react appropriately. But don't worry, you don't need a coach or mentor to use this site. It is good for anyone who wants to learn something.
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