Teachers & tutors at work on Khan Academy at our KA Symposium at eircom in September 2014
With the help of pioneering teachers and our friends at the ATECI Education Centres and PDST, who have offered dozens of workshops for and by teachers, Khan Academy is becoming increasingly popular in Ireland.
The number of teachers using Khan Academy in Ireland increased 1200% from September 2013 to September 2014. During the 2014 MATHletes Challenge, number of overall and highly engaged users increased by 700% from the previous year.
These are staggering statistics, and should be celebrated.
However, as these numbers grew, I continued to talk to teachers. I heard their excitement about students’ engagement, improved test scores, and newfound confidence. But just as important, I heard questions, feedback, critiques and suggestions for how to make Khan Academy more useful and useable in the Irish classroom.
The same 3 questions kept popping up:
Maths looks the same in Ireland as it does in the US, and across Europe.
However, there are differences in when and how students are expected to understand different maths skills and competencies.
The first step toward building confidence in Khan Academy in Ireland was a thorough analysis of where the platform aligns to the Irish Curriculum, and where there were gaps. (Similar Khan Academy mapping projects have been done in other countries).
We are thrilled to announce that the first draft of the mapping exercise is now available our our website! The mapping covers 3rd class through Senior Cycle, and is organised by cirriculum strand and chapter/section. It is completely free to use, just like Khan Academy.
We are asking you, the people who care about mathematics education in Ireland (students, parents, teachers, principals, curriculum enthusiasts, policymakers) to contribute. If you have any feedback you can send it to info@mathletes.ie
Please take a look, try it out in your classroom on Monday, and send on your thoughts!