What do you think of the concept of a “school-of-one” and Kahn Academies? How will this approach to technology shape the classroom of the future?
Before exploring the Kahn Academies website, listening to Salman Kahn’s TED talk, and listening to the Freakenomics “How Is a Bad Radio Station Like the Public School System” podcast, I believed that the “school-of-one” concept was the best theoretical approach to enhance the learning of the students in our classrooms today and into the future. I thought of it as a “theoretical” approach because it is a tall order for a single teacher to be expected to meet the individualized educational needs of each student with such large class sizes and without outside help. However, the individualized on-line tutoring program offered by Kahn Academies gives educators access to unlimited outside help for the benefit of their students.
The first statement on the “About” page of the Kahn Academies website is “A free world-class education for anyone anywhere.” After spending some time surfing the website and watching Salman Kahn’s TED talk, this statement did not seem nearly as simple and generic as it did at first. The goal of Salman Kahn and Kahn Academies is to give each and every potential learner access to an individualized learning plan. After watching Kahn’s TED talk, my mind was brimming with ideas about how useful of a tool this site could be in the classroom. However, at the same time I felt anxieties about how I could successfully implement this program in my classroom. There would need to be extensive assessments done with each student in each subject to determine what areas they need tutoring in and how extensive the tutoring needs to be. This could be as difficult as trying to differentiate instruction for each student in my classroom. I think that with some practice, the on-line tutoring service offered by Kahn Academies could be a very effective classroom tool.
The Freakenomics podcast “How Is a Bad Radio Station Like the Public School System?” made the importance of adopting a “school-of-one” approach even clearer. I had never thought of comparing the public school system to a generic radio station that simply plays the music they assume everyone will like but, unfortunately, it seems as if many school systems are falling into this black hole. These public school systems are probably weary of the “school-of-one” concept because it requires that they completely change their views to be more student-centered. However, from what I learned in this podcast, converting to a “school-of-one” way of thinking will benefit students as well as educators in the long run. Students will learn how to become more responsible and engaged in their own learning processes. Educators will learn how they can increase the educational success of their class as a whole by increasing the educational success and efficacy of each individual student.
As a new educator to the public school system, my goal will be to learn how to use as many effective tools as possible to help reach the individual educational needs of my students to help them become more engaged learners. Educational technology advances, such as the services offered by Kahn Academies, have the potential to completely re-shape the classrooms of the future for the better.
