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6.0

Overall Score

LAST UPDATED: February 29th, 2024

In 2006, Salman Khan founded the Khan Academy, a not-for-profit educational organization with a mission to offer a free, world-class education to anyone with access to the web. With course subjects ranging from the sciences to the arts, Khan Academy classes are comprised of hundreds of short videos (usually around seven minutes) and step-by-step equations. They strive to provide learners with an online community in which they can learn at a personal pace while engaging in useful, everyday material.

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The Good

  • Free
  • Content
The best part about Khan Academy is that it is free and available to anyone, anywhere. There are no contracts, no hidden fees and no pricing for individual courses. Furthermore, students are able to dial-in on subjects where they need the most help or the most review and can use as much time as necessary before moving on. The content provided is easy to comprehend, fun to learn and it is clear that the creators of Khan Academy had young, high-energy students in mind when creating the site. All information is delivered in a straightforward manner, even when teaching complex topics, and this helps students gain a feeling of ownership and control over their learning. With the inclusion of a coach-lead option, teachers and parents can monitor the progress of their children while also engaging in a social, more hands-on approach to learning.
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The Bad

  • Limitations
Naturally, with any company that offers its services for free, you are bound to run into some limitations. Khan is largely funded by wealthy donors such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but it is unclear how sustainable the model will be. The company also relies heavily upon volunteers who willing and able to translate their classes into other languages, or provide other forms of online support. Accessing useful customer support with Khan Academy is not easy. If there is a problem, question or concern, students and coaches are directed to a help page full of other users issues. While none of these issues necessarily affect the quality of the education they are providing for free, customers should be aware that Khan Academy is a publicly-funded non-profit, and therefore lack some of the techy bells and whistles touted by other companies.
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The Bottom Line

As far as online learning goes, Khan Academy may be one of the best. Students are able to learn complex subjects through an understandable, relatable and efficient approach, all for no price. With online discussion forums, students, teachers and parents can connect with peers to evaluate, ask questions and provide advice for road bumps that are inevitable in the world of education. Though the company itself may not be easily reached, Khan Academy offers the help of fellow learners and educators to solve problems. What's best about this program is that all students can learn at their own pace, choose the subjects they desire and are never tested on a pass-fail basis. Khan Academy is the epitome of what online learning looks like.
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Star Rating

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4.7

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237 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

76%

4 grade

19%

3 grade

5%

2 grade

1%

1 grade

0%

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Janessa P Logan, UT

I used this in high school, college, and now sometimes to refresh on my knowledge I learned from school. I appreciate the large database of information and learning that does not cost extra to use. I also appreciate the system of learning to do more than just a YouTube video to teach. Sometimes the videos are hard to follow and understand so more explanation (or maybe less explanation) would be better to really describe in simple terms the point at hand.

4 weeks ago

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Emma Morrill

Kahn makes enjoyable videos that my students like to watch. However it would help to see when the videos were made. Even a year old video can have incorrect information depending on the subject it is teaching about.

10 months ago

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Bergen Billings Smithfield, UT

I did not think this was the worst online tool I have ever used but it was difficult to understand. What it wanted me to do was unclear. I used to get extremely frustrated until I had a teacher step in and explain everything to me.

3 years ago

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Natalie Rousey Riverton, UT

Khan Academy has a plethora of information and my high schooler has gotten a lot of answers from it. I found the program is harder for my elementary age kids. There was too much information given too quickly. It would be very helpful if it was slowed down and shown very simple examples and then work up to more complicated examples. But we truly appreciate that he is willing to share his knowledge.

2 years ago

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Dayjah Fort Lauderdale, FL

Khan Academy was very helpful with preparing me for exams during college. Whenever I did not fully understand a topic taught in class Khan Academy's videos broke everything down into a manner that was easier to understand for me. I would totally recommend to any student who is struggling in the department of fully grasping the concepts that are being taught in class.

4 years ago

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Krista Griffith Tulsa, OK

I used Khan Academy while teaching online math to kindergarten and first grade during the 2020-2021 school year. Good material but geared toward older grades.

2 years ago

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Nicole Mondares Bogalusa, LA

Khan Academy did not help me at all with my tests. The speaker is always boring and makes me zone out!

4 years ago

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Enormous Scintilla West Jordan, UT

It confused me a bit but that was just because it didn’t line up with what we were learning in school. It’s good but I wish it lined up.

2 years ago

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Rachel Calton ID

I’ve used it a lot for math it’s worked pretty well. It’s a little confusing in how to used in my opinion.

2 years ago

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Maya Smith Jacksonville, FL

I like khan academy because it allowed me to better understand certain topics, especially chemistry.

4 years ago

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Grossarth Family Herriman, UT

Wasn't a great resource of math information for my students.

2 years ago

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Teneil Alexander, AR

My son has used the learning tools provided by this site. Very helpful tools

2 years ago