Lectures Are Homework in Schools Following Khan Academy Lead

Dr Susan Kramer and some of her colleagues at the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology have moved their lectures and lab setups online to save class time for hands-on learning and discussion. This “flip model” of instruction has gotten national media attention lately, thanks to its promotion by Khan Academy, the high-profile nonprofit online-tutoring library created by Salman A. Khan, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate who was looking for a way to help his young relatives with their homework.

The model -- in which teachers introduce lectures online for students to access at home and then use class time for group practice and projects normally relegated to homework -- is not unique to Khan Academy, however. Advocates of the approach say it allows students to work through meat-and-potatoes background on their own, giving teachers more time to go in depth through discussions, projects and other activities in class. Critics, though, argue the model is too reliant on online materials and will prove difficult to use in schools without major technology infrastructure.