Feedback on the July 2017 changes to Missions

Hello Cameron,

As a Khan Academy Self-Learner I love the recent changes posted in the News and updates section by Laurie. I like the added material and skills if there is stuff I need to learn in mathematics it will improve my overall outcome in mastering Math.

I am very happy to hear there's new content coming, especially for calculus - I'm going to finish precalculus this month, so I'll be ready to dig into new content. Completing easy new exercises might actually make my progress percentage increase :)
I have a spreadsheet tracking my progress goals, which will need to be adjusted - do you know when exactly are the changes going to go live so I can recalculate?

Awesome! I can't wait!

We are very glad for the improvements in the math missions, congratulations for the great work at Khan Academy, mister Christensen.

Can't wait to see and try out the new math exercises! Thanks to the entire KA team for making available all the great content!

I like that you are adding new content. It would be better if you told users which days the skills will be added. Additionally, I think "practicing" skills should follow a 8/10 or 4/5 correct instead of 3/5/7 correct in a row. A lot of times careless mistakes are made, or the software doesn't interpret the answer correctly. And, if the user's answer was correct (and they report it), there is no positive outcome. The user is punished with having to do the problem set(s) all over again. Just a thing to think about. 

Michael Worsfold here
I'm retired. An old friend visited me recently who happens to be a math tutor who uses Khan. I asked where to start. She suggested gr 4. I did that and enjoyed it. Then did gr 5.

Then I went to gr 6. But couldn't find the mission challenge format. I really miss the % complete circle that used to drive me forward.
Gr6 appears to be just a list of topics

The energy points and badges didn't mean anything to me but I really miss that % complete feature and the over night mission challenge assignments

If that format is a available and I just haven't gotten nf I would very much appreciate knieng the link . Thank you

Hi Cameron,

Since the new changes have come in I no longer seem to be able set up a Grid report to track student progress on a whole class basis.  Do you know if this function is still available?  I have tried to replicate in the 'Progress' tab but it does not produce the same grid view.  

Thanks

Hello Michael, 

Is this the link you're looking for?

https://www.khanacademy.org/mission/cc-sixth-grade-math?ref=mission_callout

There are pie charts for every grade up to high school and also ones for every "kind" of maths - algebra, geometry, statistics and so on. I find it encouraging that the sections overlap, for example, tackling "pre algebra"  will fill part of the circle for "algebra" so it feels like I've already made progress when I just start a new mission.

Hi Cameron, I am a high school math teacher and use Khan Academy with my students over the summer. In the past, i would use the "Recommend Skill" option to assign a variety of skills to a student. With the update, this doesn't appear to possible anymore. There's an assign skill option and that doesn't work as the recommend option used to. I am wondering if you can please give me instructions on how I can still recommend skills to an individual student; also, without a due date. The new interface seems to force you into setting a date. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The practice exercises seem to have been removed from some of the AP classes, such as AP Stats and AP Bio. Why? Will they be added back? Will there be a mission for AP Stats? I'm taking these classes this year so I would like to have the exercises. I know I can find then if I look in the biology and statistics / probability sections (not AP), but not all of these are specific to the AP classes.

Our sixth grader has been very discouraged about losing percentages, whether because you've added material or mastery challenge answers aren't correct the second time. She went from 71% to 60 percent. If mastery challenge questions need to be reviewed, but we're correct in the past, there should be a review, but don't slam the percentage. Also, we have based rewards on percentage goals and that's not working now either. Very discouraging to go backwards on the percentage and not conducive to feeling accomplished. Works against your goals as educators and is defeating.

Hi Taylor,

The goal is to fill in learning gaps for learners, no matter what level of math they are in, so adding new skills to all levels of Khan Math only helps these students grow and learn more!

Sure, a percentage drop can look and feel discouraging, but that's only because new skills were added, none of the previous mastered skills were removed. A list of new skills are here, as well as a few words about lower percentages.

Even with the percentage drop, with the article's help above, you can compensate for the different percentages and still award based on the old percentage if you'd like to do that. Hope this helps!

Greetings,

I was working on Algebra 1 and was at 23%completion.  My completion rate dropped to 20%.  After a few practice sessions and videos watched the program turned off.  I can see the information.  However, I can no longer interact with the Khan Program.  Could you please investigate this for me.  I was very much enjoying the Khan Academy experience and I am very unhappy that this has happened.  At this point, I can longer continue.  I was up to 16 straight of practice.  Do you think it will be fixed today so that I may continue learning today?

My first thought was that I had to donate some amount of money in order to continue my learning experience.  If this is true, then please let me know. 

I am very confused and saddened as we are a very low-income family. 

Hello, Cameron

I logged into my account and I can see my profile page.  However, when I click on anything to continue my learning efforts the page remains blank.

Is this happening because I did not donate to Kahn Academy? 

Could you please check my connection with your nonprofit organization and communicate to me the reason the Kahn Academy program is no longer functioning?

If it is necessary to make a donation in order to continue my practice, then please inform me thusly.

We are a very low-income family.  However, if we must donate in order to continue, then please advise the amount necessary in order for the family to donate in order for me to continue my learning experience with Kahn Academy.

Thank you

Hi avihilidal ,

Khan Academy offers a free world class education for anyone anywhere so this means you don't need to donate to use the website if you did then Khan Academy would become a commercial product.

With the recent updates your percentage will drop you can read this article here.

Also if content is not showing or page is blank it could be the following

1. Low internet connection

2. A technical issue which you can file a Service Request

If you have any further questions I will be happy to help you.

Thanks for using Khan Academy for your families learning.

Greetings Cameron,

I am still attempting to get into Kahn Academy Program so that I may continue my progress in Algebra 1.  As I have stated earlier today, I am able to enter the Home page and I am able to look at all of my badges earned, my number of points accrued, and the numbers of videos watched   My consecutive day is frozen at 16, my points are frozen at 104,277 and my videos watched count is frozen at 45.  This is the only page I can access.  I began to trouble shoot. The secured URL is https://www.khanacademy.org/mission/algebra?utm_source=mastery_task_notification&utm_term=A+new+mastery+challenge+is+waiting+for+you%21&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Mastery+task+notification

I began to trouble shoot. The secured URL is https://www.khanacademy.org/mission/algebra?utm_source=mastery_task_notification&utm_term=A+new+mastery+challenge+is+waiting+for+you%21&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Mastery+task+notification

However, when I click on any lesson from any discipline the page that comes up is blank and I can no longer continue my efforts in learning anything.  I am very sad and disappointed today because I am unable to continue my study of Algebra 1 with Kahn Academy.To continue

To continue the troubleshooting process,  I watched three videos. None of the viewings were added to the aforementioned 45 listed on the Profile page.

Is the Kahn Academy Program not working any longer because a donation was not made?  If this is the case, then please advise an amount to be paid so that I can continue my learning efforts today.  I do not want to lose my continued progress.  Could you please un- freeze the Kahn Academy program so that I may continue with my learning experience today.?  We are a very low-income family.  Plase, suggest the amount that is needed to be donated so that the Kahn Program is unfrozen and the learning experience can once again be continued. I very much enjoy learning with your program and desire to continue my Algebra 1 experience today!

Thank you

avihilidal,

This issue is not caused by not donating, thousands of other learners are still able to use the site as we speak and are not required to send a donation to use Khan Academy; it is a free educational site for everyone, anywhere.

Your situation is likely a technical issue which is affecting your account, so I suggest you create a new ticket here so higher Support can look into it. I also recommend you check the option for Support to log into your account to troubleshoot your issues.

I hope this helps you out!

Hi. Is there a link in which we can access the site's previous interface?? I use Khan Academy for my students to do summer work - unfortunately, not all students enrolled at the end of the school year. So, as they enroll over the summer, I have recommending the skills to the students. With this new interface, I am having difficulty recommending skills to students (without a due date and selecting the option of getting three in a row correct). I have played around with this for a while now and I cannot get it. If there is anyone who can help me with this ASAP, I would greatly appreciate it.

Hi Cameron, in your FAQ you said you would love to hear suggestions on how to better deal with new exercises. Mine is that you freeze the scope for each mission now, no more additions to that mission, then when you have content to add, add it each year as a new mission, for example "Kindergarten 2018".

That way if a child has completed Kindergarten 2018, they will have allways completed it unless they actually lose mastery of a skill that they had previously mastered. It means that college level kids won't have to go back each year to mindlessly complete kindergarten level missions.

My eldest has nearly completed 5th grade and had done absolutely everything before it. How crushing is it that at the start of a school year she has to go back and recomplete 10-20% of kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th grade. We can't just ignore these percentage decreases, as there is a real possibility that at some stage she could lose mastery of a skill from an earlier year. The only way we can stay on top of this is to ensure that she is at 100% on all previously completed missions.

Hi Cameron! New content is always welcome. I just wish there was an easier way of seeing it. In the Subjects dropdown, the percentages only reflect completion of exercises and challenges. You can't see that there are new videos or articles. So you have to go through everything and check for new stuff.

Great news Cameron.

We love Khan Academy and see it as a great alternative to traditional schooling of boring classrooms and static learning methods are old school (pun intended!) In the new age of the internet and interactive gaming, kids respond a lot better to these types of environments and when they are applied correctly and appropriately, they can create fantastic, stimulating learning tools. This topic is discussed in detail in the book, Mathematics Education for a New Era: Video Games as a Medium for Learning, by Stanford mathematician, Keith Devlin.

We created a website, FreeCoolMath.com, where we review specifically math games and recommend them to other parents, because we believe that this is the best and fun way to learn math.