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Khan Academy research activities overview

Updated

As a non-profit organization, advancement of learning science is an important part of our mission. Our team includes learning scientists, data scientists, machine learning researchers, and efficacy research scientists. We use information regarding user engagement with our services in order to understand the efficacy of our services and continuously improve the services we offer. From time to time, we may also support research undertaken by third party researchers such as faculty, researchers, and designers associated with universities, academic research institutions and nonprofit organizations, through engaging in research with them or providing them access to de-identified data needed to conduct research studies. 

Participating in these activities enables Khan Academy to continuously improve its offerings and contribute to the quality of learning and related sciences worldwide.

This article describes some of the work that we are doing to improve Khan Academy’s offerings, how we support responsible research and development of education technology, and how to opt out of research activities if you so choose. 

User Privacy in Research

First, we would like to highlight how our research and product development activities are conducted in accordance with applicable laws and our privacy commitments set forth in the Khan Academy Privacy Policy. Our research and product development activities are conducted using de-identified, pseudonymized and/or aggregated data, which may include de-identified information from education records (as defined in the Family Educational Rights And Privacy Act (“FERPA”).  

Research 

Enhancing the educational experience through ongoing research is pivotal to advancing our mission. We regularly engage in research activities, including efficacy research and feature testing, to develop effective and user-friendly education technology products and services.

Our research activities may include:

  • Publication of research studies
  • Sharing of aggregate research data and learning insights we have developed based on our research activities
  • Collaborating with third-party researchers from academic and non-profit organizations to provide de-identified data to support non-commercial educational research.

By doing so, we seek to contribute to the field of education by making our learnings accessible to all, consistent with our mission to provide a free, world class education to anyone, anywhere. 

Efficacy Research

Khan Academy's efficacy research focuses on assessing the impact of our product and service on educational outcomes. This type of research includes a range of research designs from correlational studies to rigorous randomized controlled trials (or “RCTs”) which compare outcomes between groups using the service and “control” groups not using it, and longitudinal studies, which track the impact of the service over a longer period to see sustained effects. These studies are typically conducted in partnerships with schools, and may include collaboration with third-party researchers (typically associated with universities). Our efficacy research team includes research scientists with advanced degrees in fields such as education, educational psychology, cognitive psychology, statistics, and related fields. A list of published efficacy studies on Khan Academy is posted on our website.  

Feature Testing

Internal research activities may include A/B testing, which compares different versions of a product to see which performs better in terms of user engagement and satisfaction, learning progress or other metrics. In the interest of improving our platform, users included in tests may be exposed to some variations in user experience or instructional method. We have adopted a set of responsible testing principles designed to ensure that any differences in user experience associated with testing will not harm learning outcomes or present users in the same classroom with a different user experience from others in the class. School customers can opt out of testing as provided under “School Opt-Outs” below.

Collaboration with Third-Party Researchers

Khan Academy partners with external researchers through a research and development infrastructure that securely provides access to anonymized data for educational studies. Researchers do not have direct access to raw data; instead, they work within a secure data enclave where they can analyze approved datasets using predefined tools. All research code is reviewed and approved by Khan Academy before execution, and results undergo an additional review process before being shared. This approach ensures that valuable educational insights can be generated while maintaining strict data privacy and security safeguards.

Individual and School-wide Opt-outs

We hope that all of our customers will help us improve learning outcomes for all by contributing to our research activities. We understand though that some individuals and schools may not wish to participate in research activities. 

If you are a teacher and would like your classrooms to opt out of research activities, please follow the below steps:

  1. Log into your Khan Academy account 
  2. Visit your Settings page by clicking your name in the top right-hand corner, followed by the Settings link from the dropdown list
  3. Scroll down to the "Teacher confirmation" section
  4. Uncheck the "My classes may participate in research for product improvement." box
    - Please note: only accounts who have the Teacher role turned on and have selected "Yes" to the Teacher confirmation will see the research opt out check box. 
    - Teacher accounts who have district-synced classes through a Khan Academy Districts partnership will not see the check box. 
  5. Click "Save changes"

If you are an administrator for a school in a Khan Academy Districts partnership and would like to opt your school out of efficacy research and feature testing, please follow the below steps:

  1. Submit a written request by email to efficacy@khanacademy.org
  2. Subject line of the email should be “Research Opt Out: <Insert Entity Name>” 
  3. Please include the following information in the body of the email:
    (i) Requestor’s name: title and contact information
    (ii) Name of requesting school(s) with NCES number
    (iii) Student email domain
    (iv) Request to exclude participation in efficacy research and feature testing
    (iv) Attestation that the requester is duly authorized and has legal capacity to execute the request.