In the previous blog of our Technologies for School Resilience series, we focused on some of the world’s best Teacher Capacity Building apps such as Meghshala, ChalkLit, Firki and tickLinks that teachers could use for accessing ready-made digitized content, be it in the form of videos, PDF documents, images, slides etc.[Read: Online Curriculum-based Resources that Teachers can use for Virtual Classes]
The blog showed how such content can be integrated into slides that can be shown in virtual classes or uploaded onto a learning management system (LMS) that a school chooses. While videos take greater internet bandwidth, non-video digital materials do not. However, we believe that educational content in the form of videos score better in engaging students, if the teacher chooses videos which are:
- Qualitative (meeting the education objective of the teacher with assessment questions mid-stream as well as at the end of the video with answer keys)
- Byte-sized (ideally in the 5-10 min. range)
- Creative (with colourful graphics)
- Having sub-titled text / transcript to complement the voice in the video
- Lucid (simplified concepts which students can relate to with examples) and
- Advertisement free
Growing Preference for Video based pedagogy for Flipped K-12 Classrooms
The insights of a 2018 survey conducted by video SaaS solutions provider Kaltura make for an interesting read:
- 84 per cent survey respondents believed video usage can increase student achievement.
- 83 per cent survey respondents reported that video usage can increase instructor satisfaction with teaching and increase educator collaboration and professional learning.
- 26 per cent student respondents in the K-12 space reported videos being used by teachers for flipped or blended learning classrooms.
- 56 per cent also said they use a video platform that’s integrated with their LMS.
While a teacher can search for video content on YouTube or via Google, the challenge lies in the process being too time consuming to sift through user generated videos with low production quality which will likely hamper the engagement quotient of students.
Khan Academy – Your Educational Video Destination
The objective of this blog is to acquaint teachers with presumably the best destination for education videos – Khan Academy, which caters to the entire K-12 spectrum with high quality instructional videos on subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computing, Arts and Humanities among others.
These videos are free to access as well as advertisement free (unlike YouTube). Moreover, each video is sub-titled along with transcripts that can be read (in case the student has difficulties comprehending the accent used in the video voice-over)
Download: Khan Academy Android App – Google Play | iOS App: Apple iStore
Watch: An overview of content on Khan Academy
Read: Finding the right content for your students
[We recommend using the ‘Search’ tool as it is most convenient. If you are a Maths teacher and want instructional videos on Circles in Geometry, type out Circles Geometry and get recommended videos along with practice and assignment problems]
How to share the videos and practice tests/ assignments with Students?
If your school uses Google Classroom as an LMS, then Khan Academy content can be easily integrated into it for students to access. If not, teachers can choose to email the content to their students.
Watch: Set-up your class on Khan Academy (If you are using an LMS)
Read: Teacher quick-start checklist
[We recommend it is a lot simple to search for the video/ exercises of choice and then sharing the link on email or via any other modes for connecting with students]
Read: How Teachers can use Khan Academy
Grading of Home Assignments
For those teachers who have integrated Google Classroom as LMS, the assigned practice tests and assignments on Khan Academy can be graded and student performance reports accessed by the teacher.
Access Khan Academy in Hindi
For schools in North India, Khan Academy has Mathematics (for all classes) and Physics (for Class 10 and Class 11) video lessons in Hindi.
Khan Academy for Kids aged 2 – 7
Khan Academy Kids is an award-winning educational app for those running nursery schools and teachers of Classes 1 and 2. The app contains games, lessons and books. These resources are meant to help kids learn basic skills before progressing to grade school. Main courses covered are math, reading & social, emotional learning. The app is 100% free with no ads, in-app purchases, or subscriptions.
Download: Khan Academy Kids Android App – Google Play | iOS App: Apple iStore
Access Khan Academy Offline
You read the heading right. You do not need internet connectivity to access Khan Academy. You can also access the content offline using the Kolibri app, which compresses a 250 MB video into a single megabyte. Kolibri content can be downloaded once on to a device in an area that has an Internet connection, after which the curated content (containing Khan Academy videos) can be accessed offline.
Download Kolibri on your Windows PC/ Laptop.
We hope that using Khan Academy videos for your virtual classes turns out to be a fruitful experience. In our future blogs, we will continue to explore free online tools and digital resources that can help your school engage with students during the lockdown and beyond.
Keep sharing your feedback on our recommendations. We are all ears.
About Shailesh Mahapatro
