Design Experiment 3: Khan Academy/ YouTube

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is both as website and an app. It is filled with math and science content for all grade levels. However, there was very little grammar content available. The content I found useful on Khan Academy for my specific (previous) grade level was of course for math, and grammar. I was hoping to find writing content but there wasn’t any available. All lessons I viewed were taught on specified grade levels. The lessons viewed were also modeled step by step and reviewed on level for the viewer. The grammar lessons will hopefully come in handy for my unit of study on narrative writing project.

Khan Academy is pretty user friendly and the layout is easy to follow. You can click on grade level and or content to find the lessons you need. I also like that the content here is trustworthy. Viewing the media for the purpose of “inappropriate content” is not likely to be neccesary.

YouTube

YouTube has to be my all time favorite! This website/app is my “got to” place. It truly has everything! The only complaint I have is when you use the search- it doesn’t always “work” the way you would like it to. The search also isn’t as easy to manage for educational purposes. Just because you typed in “2^nd grade” or “kindergarten” doesn’t mean that is what you are going to get. Also, EVERY video MUST be viewed because any one can submit to YouTube. It is not a “trusted” site such as Khan Academy.

That being said, YouTube is filled with loads of content. You just have to be willing to weed through the plethora of videos. I found several that I am hoping are useful for my unit of study on narrative writing. I also found several that could be utilized in other lessons that I had no idea were there! The content and grade level was not limited here like it was with Khan Academy.

One thing I like best about YouTube is that it is a collaboration of videos and knowledge. Anyone can explain in their words how “X” works and the world can view it with the click of a button. I like this best because we all see “X” from different perspectives. It gives us all a chance to voice our view as well as listen to other views. We all learn differently. YouTube gives us the opportunity to see some of those views and have them explained and maybe- just maybe- one of those will click for a student and they will get “X.”