The document discusses insights from deploying Khan Academy in rural schools in India. It finds that: 1) Teachers want more ownership and recognition for their work. 2) Content needs to be aligned to syllabus and available offline/online to address bandwidth issues. 3) Students prefer group work and recognition, and need help relating content to exams. It recommends deploying an alternative platform that allows teachers to track student performance, post syllabus-aligned content, and facilitate offline/online sharing of videos and questions. An open-source learning management system like Moodle is proposed.

1. LEARNING'S FROM KHAN ACADEMY DEPLOYMENT IN RURAL
SCHOOLS, AND STEPS FOR MOVING FORWARD
Prasad Kantamneni

2. o
Goal: How can we improve student achievement in JNV schools?
o Have been working with JNV Pedavegi since January 2012.
o Used the time to:
o Evaluate Hardware and Software infrastructure available – with the intention of
deploying Khan Academy .
o Interact with the Stakeholders (teaching staff, school management and the
student body) to solicit feedback about deploying Khan Academy.
o Deploy Khan Academy for 11th standard students, and evaluate the effectiveness
of the solution.
KHAN ACADEMY DEPLOYMENT AT RURAL SCHOOLS
The Story so far.

3. o
A significant percentage of the computers in the labs are unusable because of:
o Obsolete equipment
o Lack of maintenance
o Lack of skilled manpower, or
o Lack of prioritization from the management.
o
Internet connection is unreliable, and bandwidth limited when students want to watch videos online.
o KA software does not have tests for Physics and Chemistry, as a result we are unable to evaluate student performance for
these subjects
o The questions do not correspond with what is expected in a CBSE exam.
o Offline version of KA software routinely corrupts the database, and becomes unusable until reinstalled – which in turn
deletes all existing data.
o The school currently has a single user license for a software called extramarks that provides teachers with material and
questions to prepare for the CBSE program.
o This software is mostly used by individual staff members based on personal interest.
o The hardware is located in an access controlled room
o Software is usually updated on an annual basis
o
Recommendations
o In the immediate term, ADEY training should precede any software deployment – this will help with the
hardware/issues
o Solutions deployed must take into consideration limited bandwidth observed in the school.
o Solution should be freely available on multiple machines to encourage engagement.
o All content should have question banks associated with them so we can evaluate effectiveness of content, and
student understanding.
o Need to evaluate more robust database solutions.
KHAN ACADEMY DEPLOYMENT AT RURAL SCHOOLS
Overview of Hardware and Software Infrastructure

4. o
Teachers
o Most want to make a difference, but want to be treated as equal stakeholders
o Tired of being given projects with little context, and low ownership.
o Not enough time to cover syllabus
o Want to be acknowledged for the work
o Love knowing how their students are progressing.
o The Computer instructors wear multiple hats, have a hard time managing the
hardware, software, and students effectively
o
Recommendations
o Any solution deployed must include teachers as active participants.
o The solution must ensure that good work is identified and encouraged.
o Solution need to be worked into the regular teaching schedule.
o The Solution must involve minimal amounts of skills from the local computer
instructors
o Solution needs to evaluate the success of the content, and report back to the teacher.
KHAN ACADEMY DEPLOYMENT AT RURAL SCHOOLS
Insights from deploying Khan academy

5. o
Students
o Have an exam centric view of education
o “understanding is irrelevant” when thinking of final exams.
o Have a hard time correlating content on the internet with their syllabus
o Look to a teacher to reinforce the fact that they are on the right track
o Loose momentum quickly if not followed up and encouraged
o Students are sometimes tripped up by the language, or by the examples used in the KA videos.
o Don’t see a difference between khan academy and content online e.g. “xeroxing on a canon copier”
o Good content is not limited only to Khan academy. Students use a number of different sources
ranging from KA to websites such as extramarks to newspapers.
o Prefer working in groups - “combined study”
o Are incentivized by badges, answering questions, and enjoy the recognition that comes with them.
o
Recommendations
o Teacher involvement is critical to getting student engagement
o Students need to see a direct correlation between the lesson and the syllabus
o Solutions should encourage team work, while encouraging positive behaviors. May include a
combination of online and offline recognition ranging from virtual achievement badges to weekly
recognition programs. , while holding individuals up to high standards
o Content should not be limited to Khan academy. Any content that allows a student to learn faster
should be game.
o All content should have question banks connected to them so students and teachers can evaluate
the learning outcomes.
KHAN ACADEMY DEPLOYMENT AT RURAL SCHOOLS
Insights from deploying Khan academy

6. o
o
Institutions
oSchools want to highlight strengths
oInternet bandwidth not enough for all students to use rich media online
oDifficult to reorganize schedules to include computer based learning
o Staff participation is voluntary.
Recommendations
oSchools involvement should be based on showcase their strengths.
oMore than 1 school should be engaged at a time, so strengths in complimentary
subject can be leveraged.
oSoftware needs to allow for a offline/online strategy where “heavier” objects are
accessed locally, while the lighter data can be transmitted online.
oSolution should be integrated into the existing lesson plans, so deployment has minimal
impact on class scheduling.
KHAN ACADEMY DEPLOYMENT AT RURAL SCHOOLS
Insights from deploying Khan academy

7. o
Summation
oDeploying the KA software offered interesting insights into how the software would be
used, and also the problems that would need to be taken care off to make the program a
success.
oKey Insights include:
oTeachers need to be bought into the process, and they need to take ownership for
the initiative.
oContent needs to be correlated with the syllabus.
oWe need to think of an offline/online model to deliver the content, and to collect
necessary data.
oNeed to develop complimentary offline and online strategies for recognizing and
encouraging good work.
oNeed to engage at least 2 schools focusing on complimentary subjects.
KHAN ACADEMY DEPLOYMENT AT RURAL SCHOOLS
Insights from deploying Khan academy

8. o
Deploy an alternative platform that is capable of:
o Allow teachers to mediate the students experience
o The teacher should be able to post a set of syllabus elements
o The teacher should be able to mediate all content and questions posted by the
students
o The teacher should be able to track student performance
o Allowing students to identify and share videos of interest to them
o Students share relevant content
o Student may add questions relevant to the content viewed
o Allow an Offline/Online work content sharing process
KHAN ACADEMY DEPLOYMENT AT RURAL SCHOOLS
Recommended next Steps

9. o
o
Open source Learning Management platforms provide the shortest path to the solution.
oMoodle.org
oClaroline
oSakai.org
oOLAT
oAnd Others: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_learning_management_systems
Current preference: Moodle because:
oHistory of regular development updates
oRobust developer community
oMatching skill set
KHAN ACADEMY DEPLOYMENT AT RURAL SCHOOLS
Recommended next Steps