Khan Adds Personal Tutoring To Help Identify Skills Gap

Khan Academy has added a new personal tutor feature designed to help students figure out where to start their lessons and to know when they have mastered the concepts.

Khan Academy provides free educational videos and resources for use by anybody. The "learning flow," as it's referred to by Founder Sal Khan in a video about the new functionality, is currently available for math; additional subjects will be added "soon."

 

The development of learning flow, according to Khan, grew out of feedback from Academy students who "didn't know where to start. They didn't know what level was appropriate for them."

Once a student has set up a free account in the service and logged into a personal homepage, he or she will see a "mission," a condensed knowledge map that shows a box with tiny tiles in it, each tile representing a new skill to be learned. For example, the "world of math" mission includes 482 boxes. They start out gray. As the student shows understanding, the tiles begin to be filled in blue; the deeper the blue, the more the student has proved understanding of that skill.

"Learning flow really makes sure you know where to start, and not only that are you learning new things, but you have the opportunity to review those things and that you know when to use those things when faced with a whole mix of problems," said Khan.

Eventually, missions will be offered that align to grade level, preparing for a test, or performing some type of project. They'll also be offered for other subjects besides math.

To use the learning flow, the student starts with a pre-test that's adaptive. As he or she answers questions or chooses "I haven't learned this yet," software in the background performs an on-going analysis and presents easier or harder questions as the test progresses.

Immediately after the pre-test the mission diagram begins to get filled in. As the student hovers over each tile, it'll say what the skill is and what level the learner is at. Then the service will recommend what the next topic of instruction should be. The same process happens over again. A small quiz is presented with a handful of questions. When a concept confuses the user, he or she can view a video available right on the same page that explains the topic. When the student answers a certain number of questions in a row correct, the system brings up the next topic of learning.

The program also includes "mastery challenges," which allow students to show how well they can recall and apply what they've learned in a mixed group of questions that cross multiple skills.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • From Fire TV to Signage Stick: University of Utah's Digital Signage Evolution

    Jake Sorensen, who oversees sponsorship and advertising and Student Media in Auxiliary Business Development at the University of Utah, has navigated the digital signage landscape for nearly 15 years. He was managing hundreds of devices on campus that were incompatible with digital signage requirements and needed a solution that was reliable and lowered labor costs. The Amazon Signage Stick, specifically engineered for digital signage applications, gave him the stability and design functionality the University of Utah needed, along with the assurance of long-term support.

  • digital network with glowing blue and red lines, featuring multiple red arrows shifting in different directions

    Report: Attackers Change Tactics as Ransomware Payoffs Decline

    Attackers are changing tactics as they collect less money from ransomware payoffs, according to a new report from Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm.

  • SXSW EDU

    Explore the Future of AI in Higher Ed at SXSW EDU 2025

    This March 3-6 in Austin, TX, the SXSW EDU Conference & Festival celebrates its 15th year of exploring education's most critical issues and providing a forum for creativity, innovation, and expression.

  • business leader standing confidently amid interconnected gears

    Leading Through Complexity: How Online Leaders Can Drive Digital Institutional Transformation

    Leaders charged with developing and expanding online programs at their institutions are finding themselves in increasingly complex roles, but there are a few core steps institutional leaders can take to ensure success.