Appropriate Use of Technology

Khan Academy Videos
• Probability: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 . . . Part 6 (I would not go as far as Parts 7 or 8 for middle school students as I believe Bayes Thrm. would simply drive myself and them to tears)
1. Part 1—simply introduces probability and explains how we can calculate the likelihood of predictable, equally likely events, such as flipping a “fair-sided” coin.
2. Part 2—explains the use of the probability tree for figuring out the “fair sided coin” problems (what is the likelihood of getting a heads out of 8 throws…)
3. Part 3—uses another event, free-throw percentages, to explain the concept
4. Part 4—more on free-throws
5. Part 5—using die (monopoly)
6. Part 6—an introduction to conditional probability (at which point I began to get lost; also, I ran out of time).
• What math does it teach or reinforce? Well, the obvious answer is “probability.” However, what it mainly covers is the probability of mutually exclusive events. These outcome of the event is not dependent on the outcome of the previous event (assumes that probabilities do not decrease or increase over time/situation). This type of problem keeps the math calculations very simple, as well as the necessary charts and equations for figuring out the answer.
• Is it effective? Although it was effective for me, I am not certain it was effective for all viewers. If you scrolled down underneath each video, you could see a long list of “questions” that were posted by viewers. Now, if all persons making “comments” or posting “questions” actually watched the video completely through (and stopped to re-watch parts he/she did not completely understand), then it would be fair to say that the videos are ineffective. However, if all persons only partly watched, or were more interested in using the site as a forum for getting their math homework done, then we cannot conclude that the videos were ineffective (rather, only that the viewers lacked the proper motivation to view the videos in their entirety). I felt that if you were to watch the first four videos in a row, you would have a fairly good idea of how probability works (at least for these simple equations with no external, unpredictable factors). You (a middle school student) could go from those videos to your math book and start doing those “picking a blue marble out of a bag of marbles” questions. One video alone, perhaps not entirely effective.
• Video instruction offers the ability to watch and re-watch a lesson. Also, a person who is watching a lesson online has the ability to stop a video and look for external (not in the lesson) information to supplement the material. That is, if Khan says “scenario” and you have no idea what he is talking about, you can quickly go Google the word, then come back to the lesson. It is the same information that you might receive in a classroom, only you have the option of watching it in the privacy of your own home. Whether or not there are fewer external distractions is another question (at school you have your friends to distract you, at home you have the television, the other websites online, music, etc). The video instruction is also good for students who are auditory learners or students with low proficiency in reading.
• Are there other ways to teach or reinforce this same content? I would more or less view these particular videos as supplementary. Khan suggested that he had teachers who said they would assign the videos as homework, or as a prelude to what goes on in the class, which is probably the best approach to using these videos (in my opinion). Anything done in the classroom can reinforce the videos. Students who understand the videos get to move forward, while students who did not understand them (or let’s be honest, did not watch them) get to have more of that traditional classroom instruction.
• If I were to teach the lesson, would I change anything? Did I mention the first video I watched was an Algebra II video involving probability? Sure enough, it was one of those tired old marble in the bag problems. Who on earth cares about their chance of getting a red marble? Do kids even know what marbles are anymore? I would try my best to find ways to make the problems relate to life outside of math problems written 30 years ago. Secondly, I notice that the videos do not involve any reading. This is not representative of what students will see in their books or on their tests; they need to know how to READ problems in order to figure them out. This is why the Khan videos are supplementary (sort of like a self-help book, shouldn’t be your only and primary source). So what might I do, in addition to using the class textbook and Khan website? I would write one or two probability problems of my own that are more exciting. Such as being stranded on a desolate island and having to draw straws to decide who is going to be sacrificed to the volcano gods to ensure that the whole island doesn’t blow up. This way, kids get in some reading, and even if the problem is not entirely realistic, at least it is interested enough to keep students from falling asleep (in theory, of course).
• Another quick note—this particular set of videos (the ones I mention above) might not be particularly practical for use with a new second language learner. Khan uses some terms that would need clarifying (scenarios, mutually exclusive events, etc.) in a classroom with a large number of ELs. As there are no visual written instructions/words, an EL who is watching the video might not even be able to pause it and look up the parts they do not understand because they might not know how to spell it. There are also notations that Khan uses that might be confusing to students who are learning probability for the first time. A teacher who wanted to use these videos in the classroom would need to make sure to gauge the language needs and levels of the students first.
• Also, the set I have chosen above does not really cover the standard that to me was the most important—the one involving the collection and analysis of data (7.SP.6: Approximate the probability of a chance event by collecting data on the chance process that produces it and observing its long-run relative frequency . . .). In a classroom, you would want to have the students perform some “lab” operations to observe and collect the data before making predictions.