Khan academy has been around pretty much since I started teaching and has been incredibly popular for math and science lessons for a long time. I will occasionally leave one of their videos with sub plans, or direct my students there for some extra support. Recently I started exploring their AI tool Khanmigo, and I discovered that their library of topics you can learn has expanded immensely. You can still learn math and science, but now you can also learn reading, history, life skills, computing and even elementary. If there is another free online education platform with the extensive library that Khan Academy has I haven’t come across it.
Despite its popularity I have had several students over the years tell me they didn’t like to use Khan academy. This always puzzled me, so this week I decided to put myself in the shoes of my students and examine what it would be like to learn from this website. I first did some research to see if my students reported experiences were echoed by anyone else. Common Sense Media did a review that was mostly positive. They praised the individualized instruction the program offers, as well as the continuous formative assessment. Khan academy teacher tools can collect data on student progress, and adapt the program to student needs, as well as collect data that teachers can utilize. Khanmigo is the built in AI that students can ask questions to. It is designed to guide students and not just give them the answer. The first clue that this review gives that might indicate why some of my students haven’t been a fan is the fast pace of the video instruction. Many of the students that I have directed to resources like khan academy need things slowed down, so they may have had trouble following the videos. I went looking to forums for some student experiences and one quote in this reddit thread stuck out to me: “Khan Academy is fine but can be frustrating for the way some stuff is presented or explained, just like every other math teacher ever. It’s not a route for everyone but I’d bet there’s many more people that have benefited from it than those that haven’t.”
My primary job has been as an in-person instructor, except for a brief foray into online teaching during COVID-19 lockdowns. Before diving in myself I thought it might be helpful to brush up on some basic principles of online learinng. For example, this resource put out by the University of Calgary outlines principles for designing a course on D2L. I am going to evaluate Khan Academy using their main headings.
Accessibility
Khan academy has the huge benefit of being free for both students and teachers. Khan academy makes its money through donations, corporate funding, and other philanthropic sources. The website is easy to navigate, and the extensive library makes this website a formidable player in the online learning space.
Alignment
Khan academy is in a sense its own curriculum. I wouldn’t be able to just assign Khan academy to my students to use as their primary mode of learning and formative assessment because it doesn’t exactly match the curriculum I am mandated to teach. Their teacher tool allows you to select specific lessons that match your curriculum, but it doesn’t have much differentiation within this. For example Quadratic Equations are taught in both Precalculus and Foundations of math in Alberta. Other than taking completing the square out of the Foundations course there isn’t really any adjusting I could do for the level of questions asked. I do like how Khan Academy provides both articles and videos to teach concepts. One thing I found interesting is they haven’t updated their video technology much since I first found them years ago. Compared to science Youtubers, like Crash Course (started by Hank Green) the videos are not nearly as engaging, but perhaps more useful for instruction. For example, the video below describes the process of nuclear fusion in the birth of a star. I found it fairly easy to follow, but my attention kept wandering while I was watching it.
Balance/Roadmap
This is an area where I feel like Khan Academy excels. There is a clear flow through the lesson, with checkpoints throughout the lesson portion, practice following the lesson, and a quiz to assess final learning. The math and senior science classes are the most thoroughly developed. I found the elementary math much less effective. For example, in the Get ready for 3rd grade Math there were videos, followed by practice questions. The formative questions would indicate whether the student was right and wrong, but when I selected an answer wrong to see what guidance was provided I found that it first told students to try again. With further prompting it would tell them the number of hundreds and tens in the number to guide them, but the program did not analyze the fundamental error in the incorrect response, or provide much instruction. I also think that students that struggle with reading might have a hard time understanding the feedback.
Engagement
Khan academy is mostly pretty cookie cutter lessons followed by practice, and it does not provide much opportunity for student discussion, or engagement. The introduction of Khanmigo (the built in AI tutor powered by ChatGPT) is their attempt to provide that same discussion aspect you would have in a classroom. The video below goes through a sample discussion you could have with Khanmigo. I think that this is an excellent first start, but I don’t think that it replaces human interaction you would get in a classroom yet.
Relevance
There is usually a section at the end of math and science lessons that has content posed in word problems. I would not say that is a major focus of Khan academy though.
Since Khan academy is a supplemental tutor to classroom instruction, many of the other critiques in this guide didn’t apply. For example, students aren’t being assessed on Khan academy, so fairness and equity in assessment aren’t applicable in this instance.
Overall I think the student comment I found on that Reddit forum summarizes khan academy very well. It is an excellent resource, and a self sufficient student could absolutely use it to learn a new concept, or supplement their classroom learning. Some students that have slower processing speeds, or who are missing some basic background knowledge may find it less useful. More students should benefit than not though.
I can really relate to your thoughts on Khan Academy. I’ve been using it for years as a helpful supplement in my classroom, whether for extra practice, homework support, or as part of my sub plans. What I love most is its flexibility — students can explore subjects ranging from math and science to reading and life skills, which makes it a fantastic resource for reinforcing learning at home.
The platform’s built-in assessments and progress tracking have been especially useful for identifying where students might be struggling. I’ve seen some students really excel using Khan Academy, particularly those who enjoy working at their own pace.
However, like you mentioned, I’ve also had students who find the videos challenging to follow — often because of the fast pacing. For those learners, I sometimes recommend breaking the content into smaller sections or combining Khan Academy with other resources that offer slower, more visual explanations.
Despite these challenges, I still find Khan Academy to be an incredibly valuable tool. When used alongside other strategies, it offers a rich library of content that can enhance both classroom learning and independent study.
Karissa
I completely agree. I saw many comments in my research of students saying they would not have gotten through a subject without Khan academy. It basically provides a tutor for free, and that is kind of amazing!
Thanks for the great review of Khan Academy. As a parent I have used this resource a handful of times, but have always been impressed at the seemingly expansive collection. I appreciate your comments about how it could be more difficult to use for students who may be missing some background knowledge, but others will have no difficulties. I wonder though if this repository could be used by teachers as their own source of content to supplement their own lessons? For example pull out specific worksheets etc to use with the entire classroom.
Either way it is pretty impressive!
I have also wondered about using it as a source of content to supplement lessons. I don’t think you can print out their worksheets though. You would need access to computers for students to do the practice questions I believe.