Teachers and pupils in Grahamstown have access to a futuristic learning resource thanks to a keen-eyed Rhodes professor and an enterprising American. It’s the brainchild of the Khan Academy – a free internet education system that combines YouTube video tutorials with online exercises.
Teachers and pupils in Grahamstown have access to a futuristic learning resource thanks to a keen-eyed Rhodes professor and an enterprising American. It’s the brainchild of the Khan Academy – a free internet education system that combines YouTube video tutorials with online exercises.
It has impressed even Microsoft founder Bill Gates with its conversational teaching methods and attractive visual style.
Pupils can work their way through a wide variety of subjects, concentrating on the sciences, and earn badges for milestone achievements. The goal of the academy, as stated on its website by founder, Bangladeshi American Salman Khan, is to bring world-class education to anyone with access to a computer.
However, internet access in South Africa is notoriously unreliable, with tight bandwidth limits for those lucky enough to have access at all. To work around this problem, Peter Wentworth, professor of computer science at Rhodes University, has now downloaded the academy's entire video library on to Rhodes servers.
Now, anyone with access to the university network can transfer the files to their hard drive, free of charge, for personal use or to complement classroom education.
Dr Lorenzo Dalvit, senior lecturer at Rhodes University’s department of education, who researches the use of IT in education, is cautiously optimistic about resources like these. While reciting the adage that "a teacher who can be replaced by a machine, should be,” he calls it unrealistic and undesirable that computers and the like should take the place of teachers.
“Teaching includes so much more than content delivery,” he explains. Dalvit says, however, that the Khan videos are very interesting and well done and advises their use both for student preparation and as an interactive tool during class.
“The ideal situation would be to give students access the day before the lesson and encourage them to come up with questions [for the teacher],”
Dalvit says. But he concludes with a stern warning: “I can tell you what should not happen: teachers playing videos in class instead of teaching.”
Robin Stephenson, history teacher and head of academics at Graeme College, is in favour of using technological aids in the classroom to “bring a subject to life”. He suggests websites tend to do a better job at engaging with students, noting how easily they doze off during a video. Amply equipped with an AV room, computers and the like, Graeme is better positioned than most schools in Makana to exploit these high-tech tools.
Teachers at both Nombulelo and Mary Waters high schools, in the township, seemed impressed with the material.
“We, as teachers, are so used to just talking and writing on the board,” said Edwin Tou, a business studies and accounting teacher at Mary Waters. “This is something new to us, but I think it’s a good way of moving into the future”. Sizani Nomtandazo, a maths literacy teacher at Nombulelo praised the clear presentation, but said it would be difficult to use these tools in class, given the school’s limited computer facilities.
Asked for their thoughts after viewing a snippet of a science lesson from the Khan collection, one Grade 9 class from Mary Waters appeared intrigued. Chumani Mose, 15, jovially remarked, “At least the video can’t shout at you like a teacher.” Geoghan Loutz, 15, reckoned he could understand the video better [than a teacher]. However, Deshedene Langley, 16, pointed out one major drawback: “You won’t be able to ask questions for more explanation,” she said.
The Khan videos are available free of charge from www.khanacademy.org. Alternatively, they can be downloaded directly from any computer connected to the Rhodes University network at http://netserv.ict.ru.ac.za/khan/
