Khan Academy... self-driven education... no classes, no grades, no 6 hr school days

[True Earthling]

It might take decades but I predict this will revolutionize and transform education in our country...

Think about it for a minute. If education moves to a teaching model in which students learn through online tutorials, exercises and evaluations created by a handful of the best educators in the world, then how many teachers will we need preparing lesson plans and delivering lectures and grading quizzes and tests? Surely we’ll need some for one-on-one tutoring, or to run small group discussions, or teach things that can’t or shouldn’t be taught online. Despite assurances to the contrary, however, there’s likely to be fewer than we have now — fewer but better-paid with more interesting jobs — just as has happened in nearly every other industry that has gone through a similar transformation.

The disruption doesn’t stop there. If students are allowed to progress through each subject at their own pace, they won’t be second-graders or sixth-graders any longer, since at any time they are likely to be at different grades in different subjects. Indeed, the whole notion of a 45-minute “class,” or the six-hour “school day,” or even the August through June school “calendar” — the entire framework of the educational experience — will become somewhat irrelevant. And as Khan loves to point out, grading will suddenly become simple: Everyone gets an A in every course, with the only question being how long it takes each student to earn it.

Over the next decade, look for teaching to be transformed from an art into something much closer to a science, look for learning to become highly individualized, and look for education to go from being a cottage industry to one that takes full advantage of the economies of scale and scope. And as in every other industry, look for quality to go up and cost to go down. http://goo.gl/EGQbW

Los Gatos California public school system utilizing Khan Academy with 5th and 7th grade math classes...

The Khan Academy's big idea is that all education should be self-driven. Rather than penalizing failure and rewarding test-taking ability (like our current paradigm), education should encourage failure and experimentation but demand mastery. In the last year, Khan Academy has been testing out a total education system. In a classroom in Los Gatos, California, there is an experiment underway in which every student uses class time to do digital lessons at their own pace. Students perform learning problems for as long as it takes to master the concept, and when they get hung up, digital analytics help teachers give them precise, tailored help.

Among other lessons learned so far, the Los Gatos experiment is showing how students previously thought to be slower or less gifted, in many cases, are simply hung up on core concepts, and once they plow through they can accelerate past other students.

The implications of Khan's work are nothing short of a total reevaluation of education. In a world in which the only constant is the increase in the pace of change, we simply can't afford to give our kids anything less than an education system that actually gives them what they need to be successful.
http://www.good.is/post/big-ideas-from-ted-2011-letting-students-drive-their-education/

http://www.khanacademy.org/

[lazarus]

1. this doesn't work for all students at all

my daughter was placed in a charter school that was built like this. She took her time to finish each class on her own, only checking in once a week.

She passed two classes in 20 months.

Now she's in a private school built for special needs students, with highly regimented and structured class schedules. She's graduating in three weeks.

[True Earthling]

2. This is online learning

Khan wants to flip the education process... take lessons online at home and do the homework at school with the help of teachers.

[chrisa]

7. Some online lessons are pretty terrible. I took them in college.

I could only imagine how bad they would be for teenagers. For example, you can't really learn Science online. Plus, physical schools have a number of social benefits.

[True Earthling]

11. Instead of "imagining" - why not take a few science lessons at the Khan Academy

and let me know what you think..

I took some biology lessons at Khan and found them very enlightening.

[chrisa]

Don't need to take it to know that it could never substitute for normal schools.

We need more teachers per student, not less with kids being taught by a computer screen. We need technology in classrooms, sure, but with guidance of a teacher.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. +1

[True Earthling]

33. Students are not taught by a "computer screen"...

Khan's videos have an informal, entertaining style that captures your attention... The author of the article suggest that the concept can be expanded to include video lessons taught by a handful of the best educators in the world.

Teachers would still be involved to assist students but the bulk of the learning would be video based.

[karynnj]

50. There are better ways to use computers in science

As PART of the science lab experience, two of my kids used a text book that had data sets that they used in their physics class. They had other labs where they needed to collect the data themselves.

[chrisa]

83. "The bulk of the learning would be video based"

I can't think of a more foolish educational model. To rehash what I just posted before, most kids like structured (and fun) activities that keep their attention, not some drone going on and on on the computer screen.

Nothing can replace a good teacher. Absolutely nothing.

[slampoet]

37. "Don't need to know"

Ignorance backed by opinion only.


Did you even study discourse in school or were you allowed to skip it like you imagine a K school would?


You certainly weren't on the debate team.

[chrisa]

82. Give it a rest. I just personally don't think this would work.

The idea of having kids learn by staring at a computer screen has been floated around before. It's always a dumb idea because kids like something that is activity-driven and intellectually / sometimes physically stimulating - not listening to some drip drone on from a computer screen.

Yeah, you could make it like a computer game, but it would still be less effective than a good teacher. Then, you would still be relying on the teacher.

Nothing replaces a good teacher.

[KamaAina]

69. Nailed it!

I was just thinking that a good teacher could make use of the Khan lessons as instructional aids.

Of course, there is no such thing as a good teacher, since their laziness and their bloodsucking unions have ruined America. :sarcasm:

[karynnj]

49. Can you put this in context?

Did you take them as a high school student? Are you a teacher? Do you work for Khan?

[True Earthling]

57. I'm 60 yrs old - not a student, not a teacher and do not work for Khan

I have an interest in genetics and biology.

[karynnj]

59. Thanks - just thought the question needed to be asked

[lbrtbell]

19. Social benefits?

Like bullying, pressure to get into sex and drugs, learning that you've just GOT to have an iPod because "everybody else does," and teachers with attitude problems?

This new form of schooling sounds so much better. Even though I got excellent grades, I think it makes more sense to allow kids to fail and learn from their mistakes, rather than the current method of, "Your last grade sucked. Now open your book, and start studying this NEW material."

I'm definitely interested in this Khan Academy. It sounds like a place where you focus on learning, rather than sandwiching lessons between hanging out in the halls, or smoking dope in the restroom.

[chrisa]

21. Kids need to go out and make friends, not stare at a computer screen all day.

[snooper2]

60. you can't really learn Science online

You haven't read any of the thermite threads in the dungeon :rofl:

[mzteris]

17. it works VERY well for some students

not so much for others.

You have to know your child and what their learning style is and what kind of support system they require. Obviously your daughter requires a LOT more structure and supervision.

But for many kids, the exact opposite is better.

[Hannah Bell]

30. unrec for ed deform commercial.

[Starry Messenger]

36. With Bill Gates featured prominently on the home page.

What a plucky little camper! :sarcasm:

[Hannah Bell]

39. :>). second time in as many days that this ed deform commercial has been posted.

[WinkyDink]

3. And nary a poet nor artist nor philosopher will emerge, much to the delight of the Overlords.

[mzteris]

18. um - actually -

it is freethinkers who are drawn to and thrive on this type of learning!

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

4. This has been around for forty years

Unfortunately it is fading out rather than expanding, it requires too much discipline to ask of teenagers.

[True Earthling]

6. This is new - go to the Khan Academy link ..

check out the lessons.. watch a few videos.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

8. The internet is new, Self Directed Learning based schools were popping up like weeds in the 70's

I think there are fewer than ten public schools remaining.

[True Earthling]

16. The learning experience is new.. thanks to the internet/Youtube

You can't compare learning based schools in the 70's with the Khan Academy.. go to Khan and take a few lessons and tell me they are the same...

http://www.khanacademy.org/

[chrisa]

5. The problem is, what if the kids do no work at all?

They would be stuck in the same place, and would obviously have to move on at some point.

[True Earthling]

9. They are less likely to get "stuck" in this system...

"Among other lessons learned so far, the Los Gatos experiment is showing how students previously thought to be slower or less gifted, in many cases, are simply hung up on core concepts, and once they plow through they can accelerate past other students."

[Occulus]

10. Do they do the same with art and music?

Or do they simply not bother with those subjects?

[True Earthling]

13. Salman Kahn said he wants to cover EVERY subject before it's done - 2300 lessons online so far

He's a young guy (34) so give him time. Also since now he's getting funded, he's hired others to help.

[Occulus]

25. Well, then, he's going to leave things out.

You cannot rehearse as an ensemble over the internet. It absolutely must be done as a group.

I'm saddened to hear that, really. Music as a group simply must be an in-person activity. Even if the network were blazingly fast- terabits per second- the latency would still make the activity completely impossible.

Plus, there will be no marching band in his curriculum, nor any musicals. Those are vast losses.

He won't be able to cover music the way it should be covered. Private, individual lessons, maybe, but not ensembles.

Edit: he won't be able to effectively do private lessons online either. After some thought, it's equally impossible.

[True Earthling]

32. This will not eliminate teacher/student interaction...

The Kahn Academy aims to flip the education process... students take online instruction at home and do homework and projects at school with the aid of teachers.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

51. You gave that part of the commercial already

:eyes:

[True Earthling]

58. There's nothing commercial about it...

If I repeat myself it's because people repeat the same misconceptions about what Khan is about.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

64. Have you been a classroom teacher?

:shrug:

[True Earthling]

68. No n/t

[Lydia Leftcoast]

71. Didn't think so

No one who had been a classroom teacher would promote "one size fits all" systems.

[True Earthling]

74. Never said "one size fits all"

Those students with learning disabilities will always need individual instruction. Some subjects will require more teacher involvement than others.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

77. It's more than that

The system discounts the human element, the personal relationships.

Good teachers have used multimedia for years, but think back on your own school years: Do you remember the great computer programs or the great teachers?

This is no "educational breakthrough." This is another way to enforce the evil corporate mindset of trying to work with as few low-paid people as possible, to turn learning into a strictly vocational, mechanical experience, to take the joy and emotion out of it.

[Hannah Bell]

66. funded by gates. that's what it's about.

[True Earthling]

75. It's not about Gates...

So any cause that Bill Gates contributes to is bogus or corrupt? Gates supported Obama so what does that say?

Gates donates to MANY non-profits and Gates is one of MANY supporters and donors to the Khan Academy... you make it sound like Gates invented and developed the Khan Academy for his own nefarious motives. Please put it in perspective... you seem to have an obsession about Gates.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

80. Bill Gates knows zilch about how people who aren't obsessive nerds learn

The "experts" with no teaching experience are already doing tremendous damage to America's educational system.

They have no interest in genuine learning or intellectual curiosity or lively discussion. They just want a bunch of obedient worker bees who have certain skills but can't think for themselves. Corporate America HATES people who think for themselves, despite their claims otherwise.

The hideous corporate philosophy of doing everything on the cheap is poisoning America.

Such an environment would be intellectual DEATH for all the learning styles that thrive on human interaction.

[True Earthling]

88. Generalization and over-simplification of how corporations work...

However, if I say one positive thing about corporations and how they spend hundreds of billions on R&D which requires independent thought and creativity then I'll be accused of being a RW corporate tool but there you go... flame away.

Corporations who solely focus on "doing everything cheap" don't last very long - there has to be a balance of quality, cost and relative value for a product or service to be successful.

There are many styles of learning... some that don't require human interaction are very successful i.e. books.

Gates is not the inventor or the driving force behind the Khan Academy - he is one of MANY donors. Khan Academy is free... a non-profit.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

91. Are you Khan?

n.t

[Fumesucker]

38. ...

http://www.cockos.com/ninjam/

NINJAM is open source (GPL) software to allow people to make real music together via the Internet. Every participant can hear every other participant. Each user can also tweak their personal mix to his or her liking. NINJAM is cross-platform, with clients available for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows. REAPER (our digital audio workstation software for Windows and OS X) also includes NINJAM support

NINJAM uses compressed audio which allows it to work with any instrument or combination of instruments. You can sing, play a real piano, play a real saxophone, play a real guitar with whatever effects and guitar amplifier you want, anything. If your computer can record it, then you can jam with it (as opposed to MIDI-only systems that automatically preclude any kind of natural audio collaboration1).

Since the inherent latency of the Internet prevents true realtime synchronization of the jam, and playing with latency is weird (and often uncomfortable), NINJAM provides a solution by making latency (and the weirdness) much longer.

Latency in NINJAM is measured in measures, and that's what makes it interesting.

[JDPriestly]

12. This works for very bright students who like to work on their own.

One of my daughters was allowed to just do math problems at her own pace and Wow.

But our neighbor's daughter would not have known where to begin, not even with a computer course.

[True Earthling]

14. Start at the beginning and then progress..

The nice thing about this concept is the subjects are broken down into mini-lessons. Each lesson is only 10-15 minutes... master one then move on to the next.

Basic Addition... http://www.khanacademy.org/video/basic-addition?playlist=Arithmetic

[Aerows]

31. It's perfect for bright students

because they are the ones most likely to get bored when the class has to be slowed down for everyone that isn't, or for those that want to cause disruption.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

15. While good stuff, this concept does not work for all students and some age groups

That said the content is broad and well done. It and others like it can and should be part of an individuals learning plan, but hard to see it as exclusive.

[AngryAmish]

52. What this guy said

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. This thread has been neg reccd. Someone doesn't like alternative education

[Hannah Bell]

70. some people don't like gates-funded ed deform trojans, or commercials for them.

[LadyHawkAZ]

22. Good idea

I would have loved something like this when I was in school.

I don't see it being a cure-all or the future of all schools, but I like the idea of having it available as a choice. Not all students will respond well to the model, but it may help the ones that don't do well in a traditional classroom setting.

[ecstatic]

23. I like the concept. Thanks for sharing. Also, I don't get why

some people would have a problem with this. It's obvious that many students, for whatever reason, are graduating high school with poor reading/writing/math skills. A student shouldn't have to take remedial math/english when entering college!

[Aerows]

29. It's great for kids that are in school for an education

and like to learn.

[ecstatic]

44. great for kids who "like to learn"

I think the biggest barrier for kids who DON'T "like to learn" is the way they feel stupid every time they don't understand the new concepts being taught to them.

I could be wrong, but if the material is presented to them at a pace where they are able to get it, that sense of accomplishment could switch them to the "like to learn" crowd.

[immoderate]

24. Terrible idea. (Partly)

Not that online models, drills, and instruction can't be utilized, it may be superfluous and counter-productive. Replace the computer with peer instruction, and you have the framework for something educational.

Students don't just absorb, they transmit and interact. Let students advance at their own pace, but let them bring others along with them.

--imm

[Aerows]

26. It really depends on how motivated of a student you are or your child is

I went to a high school where we had classes much like in college, and when you weren't in class, you were pretty much free to do whatever you want - hang in the library, do your homework, and you had to take tests in a testing lab.

It worked well for me, because I got to be in the library, and spend more time in the science labs independently, but it didn't work well for those who hung out in the cafeteria whenever they weren't in class.

Mind you, I went to private school, and honestly will admit I got a very good education, but it really all comes down to motivation. You can hand education on a platter to some people, and they won't take advantage of it. The shame is when students hunger for an education and can't get it because there are disruptive students who have no desire to learn.

That does happen, and that even happens at private schools. I spent one year at a school that was easily as bad as any public school for fistfights, drugs and violence. It was a relief to go back to a school where learning was actually something people were interested in.

I can't even imagine how high school must be now, because I graduated 20 years ago. Even then it was rough. It's not that I don't think everyone should have the opportunity - they should. The problem is when we force teenagers who want the opportunity to learn to be in classes with teenagers that are far more interested in anything BUT learning.

[Aerows]

27. And by the way -

my sister has been a public school teacher for over 20 years, mostly first grade. It is a very low income district, yet she is consistently ranked as one of the best teachers in the school. When she taught 6th grade one year, she had students taller than she was, and a young man that ended up throwing a desk and breaking two of her toes.

She STILL had students in that class that learned, but she stopped teaching 6th grade after that. I don't blame her.

[wickerwoman]

34. Ghenghis or "Wrath of..."?

I used to teach in a language school where about 3/4 of the work was online.

It works pretty well as long as 1.) the students are already relatively motivated and 2.) the material is well-designed (which most of it isn't at all). And it doesn't work for some subjects (like writing) that require more genuine interaction and personalized feedback.

[Starry Messenger]

35. Great idea if you want to foster elitism.

Education is a social endeavor, and a group effort that requires the presence of peers. It doesn't work for everyone, but things like this skim off the brightest kids who would normally help their peers in the classroom.

[madokie]

40. I just woke from a nightmare and then I read this

this is the most asinine thing I've ever read.
-1

[readmoreoften]

43. Then you haven't read Bill Gates' idea about hooking undereducated proctors with Indian PhDs via

earbuds in lieu of teachers in the classroom. This dumb anti-teacher nonsense just doesn't stop.

[spinbaby]

41. This would work for only a few students

If you have a motivated student with a parent who can stay home to supervise, this can work well. However, most kids nowadays have parents that work--assuming they have two parents at home at all--and many students have unstable living conditions. When you're poor, a good school provides more than education; it provides stability and at least one regular meal a day.

[readmoreoften]

42. Yes, because teachers are just glorified information dispensers.

:eyes:

Newsflash: the *world's best teachers* have personal relationships with students through socratic dialectic. That means: student asks question, teacher responds and deepens the inquiry, another student asks more refined question, teacher responds, and so on. Online videos don't do that. Most students simply can't learn solely from online interactive technologies. They simply CAN'T.

This is not a new form of education; it's the death of education. It will work fine for brilliant students; it will be a disaster for anyone short of brilliant in a subject.

[True Earthling]

61. Not the disaster you say it is... statistics say otherwise...

1. Students involved in online learning outperform their peers.
According to a 2009 meta study from the Department of Education: “Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.” Students who mix online learning with traditional coursework (i.e. blended learning) do even better. Source: Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies, United States Department of Education. http://goo.gl/O2JB5

2. Millions of students are participating in online learning.
According to the Sloan Consortium, 3.9 million students took an online class in the fall of 2007. That number continues to grow every year. Source: Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States 2008, Sloan Consortium. http://goo.gl/8eat5

3. Most reputable colleges offer online learning.
During the 06-07, the National Center for Educational Statistics found that two-thirds of Title IV, degree-granting post secondary schools offered some form of online learning. (Title IV schools are properly accredited institutions permitted to participate in federal financial aid programs.) Source: Distance Education at Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions: 2006-07, National Center for Education Statistics. http://goo.gl/UYOPD

4. Public colleges report a greater commitment to online learning.
Public schools are more likely to identify online learning as an essential part of their long-term strategy, according to the Sloan Consortium. Their online learning courses are also more likely to represent a greater number of disciplines. Source: Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States 2008, Sloan Consortium.

http://distancelearn.about.com/od/distancelearning101/tp/Online-Learning-Statistics.htm

[Lydia Leftcoast]

78. You know why colleges like online learning?

It's cheap.

[True Earthling]

65. The problem is students don't ask questions sometimes out of embarrassment...

because they don't want to look stupid. They misinterpret ot don't hear (or mis-hear) what the teacher said or they weren't paying attention or dozing off. If they ask too many questions it slows down the learning for the other students.

With online instruction a student can stop, think, conceptualize or visualize then continue on or rewind for a second try at it. That would be difficult to do in a classroom setting with students taking notes and then reviewing later. A student has very little time to think/conceptualize/visualize because they're to busy listening and taking notes.

[Bucky]

45. KHHAAAAAAANNNNNN ! ! ! ! !

Oh, you were thinking it too

[SidDithers]

47. Was the first thing that came to my mind when I read the Subject line...

:hi:

Sid

[karynnj]

46. This may work incredibly well for some, but there may be many who

would fall through the cracks if education really were all "self driven".

In addition, the last article, where kids are using digital lessons to master information at their own pace is not new at all - even before computers were affordable to almost all, there were ways that kids in a classroom progressed at their own speed.

My kids went to several years of Montessori elementary school. Though there were daily class room activities shared by all, in both reading and math, the kids used "materials" that helped them learn material at their level. The difference was that it was in a classroom and the teacher and an aide were there to help each child as needed and to monitor and guide progress. In addition, there was a special writing teacher who worked with all the classes. In each class, the kids were at all different levels and the shared class room time was geared more to helping them learn to observe and put into words what they were observing.

Even back when I was in elementary school in the late 1950s in a public school with typical baby boom size classes, we learned reading individually by going to a cart and picking out the next SRA ( i googled to find the name - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Research_Associates) folder in our "color", returning to our seats, reading it and filling out the reading comprehension test that the teacher graded using a tool coded to match the test to see if the correct ovals were shaded. You usually were then told to get the next folder the next day, but the teacher had the ability to "skip" you ahead or move you back to read different things at the last level you mastered to get you back on track. (Note - this is from memory of the late 1950.)

I also remember that a magazine, I think Life, had a very nice self teaching magazine on a few science topics - like the atom. Not to mention, there was the library.

But, even for the brightest, most self guided students, having a class full of others at your level and a teacher to guide the class is far better than being alone on a computer. I ended up working at Bell Labs - and you should consider that the company itself worked to provide an atmosphere where people interacted - and not just with the people on their projects or in their area of expertize. You never knew who could say something that makes you think of the problem you are working on in a different way.

Not to mention, it is probably in classes that people first learn how to interact with both peers and authority figures other than their parents.

[eppur_se_muova]

48. Those who like this sort of thing ...

will find that this is the sort of thing they like.

It's not for everybody. Having said that ... classroom instruction isn't for everybody, either. It's just a different group that gets excluded by each approach, to a different degree. I think it is a good idea to give students the *option* of trying this out. They may like it for a while, then realize they need something from the teacher. Maybe later they'll go back to OLI for awhile. No one should be in the least bit surprised if the best way to learn is to use more than one method. The most workable solutions seldom lie in "pure" approaches, but in hybrids.

Personally, I loathe video "instruction". It's just too slow -- I can read several times faster than anyone can talk. And I'd hate to see kids grow up to be poor readers because they've spent years watching videos instead of reading. All things in moderation, including watching videos.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

53. You can't REALLY teach a foreign language that way, either

Just the Rosetta Stone level, which is pretty elementary tourist-level stuff (and wildly overpriced for that).

To get beyond the tourist level, you have to have a teacher and other students interacting with you. You have to role-play situations, have a teacher monitor your pronunciation and grammar, and assign you readings and essays.

[Lucian]

54. This is great...if you're in college.

Just seems like another way to phase out teachers.

Some of my favorite memories came from going to school and the stuff I did there.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

56. It would be a great thing for the control-freak variety of homeschooling parent

(Not all homeschoolers are control freaks, but I've met some who want to control every moment of their child's life and can't stand the thought of them being exposed to other people's ideas or "inferior" children.)

[Hannah Bell]

63. you've met my brother-in-law.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

55. Hey, I have an idea, maybe the NEA could take over Microsoft

Makes as much sense as having Bill Gates, who has never been a classroom teacher (an experience for which there is no substitute), determine educational policy for the nation.

[octothorpe]

62. Regardless of the political aspects that might be at play, the videos on there are awesome.

He's a good teacher and the small chunks formatting seems to work great. At the very least, it can be a great supplement to standard courses.

[Hannah Bell]

67. triumph of the will was a great flick, too. "regardless of the political aspects"

[octothorpe]

76. You're comparing his educational lessons to Nazi propaganda?

Even if his ultimate ideas are horrible and misguided as many here believe, comparing him to Riefenstahl seems a bit of a stretch.

Would you recommend against people using his lessons to learn?

[DireStrike]

72. People who support this have never taken online classes. -nt-

[Lydia Leftcoast]

79. I took an online class once to see if I wanted to translate in a certain area

The problem was that the instructor couldn't see our faces.

Any classroom teacher knows that you watch the students' faces to see if they're getting it, to see if they're bored, to see if they're engaged.

It was all very mechanical. We'd read some stuff, do online worksheets, and then take an online test. There was no interaction with other students, no real time interaction with the instructor.

The only reason I took an online class was because the in-person class was at an inconvenient time for me.

I hated it. I wish I had waited till the in-person class fit my schedule better.

[ikri]

73. I knew a student once

He lived with my family for 2 years whilst resitting his exams here in the UK. He'd previously been at one of these schools up in Scotland (I forget the name of the place) but he'd failed all of his exams. He was a very intelligent guy and he'd initially done very well at the school but the lack of structure didn't work well as he got older and discovered such distractions as girls and beer.

These schools work very well for some students but abysmally for others. Like with all education, a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work for every student and in every situation.

[madmom]

81. This worked quite well for my son. He went back to school in his

30's and had to freshen up on some things before taking placement test, helped him immensely.

[WatsonT]

84. If children had an inherent love for learning and could do so on their own

schools would not need to exist.

Sorry but for every kid who just loves calculus there are a thousand who must be forced through it.

Which isn't to say they shouldn't be encouraged to further explore any topic they particularly enjoy. But it is silly to expect that the average student will be able to self-educate themselves sufficiently to be able to function in the modern world.

[LetTimmySmoke]

85. Los Gatos area students peform very well already

And have very supportive parental backgrounds - I know a teacher who teachers there.

[Maat]

86. We homeschool through a charter school ...

and all I know is that this is a resource for us (my daughter tends to want to just work with us on her math).

There are many excellent online resources, such as www.brainpop.com - it's a wonderful thing.

[Hannah Bell]

87. sick of this ed deform crap

[True Earthling]

89. Would you care to expand on what you mean by "ed deform"?

You keep repeating the same thing but I have no idea what you mean.

[TBF]

90. You WILL be assimilated. nt