Exposing a Dark Side of the Khan Academy
01/02/2012
Cathie: I am not sure you noticed...
Elliot: Oh, I am sure I didn't ... but I'll bet you are about to tell me what it is that I missed!
Cathie: On the Myers-Briggs you are off the scale "intuitive..."
Elliot: ... and you are off the scale "sensor" and that's why we work well together... that is, if you don't clobber me first!
Cathie: ... as I was saying... have you noticed that we are zero for two with respect to the getting our letters published in the New York Times.
Elliot: I've tried to avoid noticing, actually; kinda frustrating... but it's their loss! So there!
Cathie: Blog readers, here is our second rejected Letter to the Editor. It addresses an issue in an article about the Khan Academy.
Letters to the Editor, New York Times
December 6, 2011
Response to: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/technology/khan-academy-blends-its-youtube-approach-with-classrooms.html?_r=1&ref=business
"Ms. Tavenner says she believes that computers cannot replace teachers." Sorry, but replacing teachers with computers is precisely the road down which the Khan Academy pedagogy leads! Let's walk down this road: all that is needed to do education in every school on the planet is thousands of 10 minute videos, each video recorded by the single, best lecturer on that subject in the world. First, the students watch the videos and then drill on problem set after problem set as they sit in cafeteria-sized rooms with troops of low-paid, para-professionals walking around providing "personalized" education. It is economics that is propelling the Khan Academy framework to notoriety, not pedagogy. When will we learn; when will we ever learn?
Cathie Norris, Regents Professor, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Elliot Soloway, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Elliot: The Khan Academy can do no wrong; it is the darling of the media these days. But its dark side cries out for exposure!
Cathie: Clever turn of a phrase.
Elliot: Thank you!
Cathie: And thank you, District Administration Magazine for helping us...
Elliot (with a Cheshire cat grin): ...to shine a critical light...
Cathie: (eyes rolling)
Elliot: ...on the Khan Academy framework.
- Cathleen Norris and Elliot Soloway's blog
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