The advantage of the Khan Academy is that the teaching method:
- Shows how the work was done in a step by step manner
- Cuts the subjects up into short, easily digestible chunks
(note that both of these could be attributed to the medium, as screencasts require showing nearly everything unless you want to edit heavily, and YouTube has a length limitation)
The poster's points are valid - Khan's videos exist pretty much in a vaccum, and having no active feedback means that people who don't get a concept are sunk.
That said, there are solutions - I could imagine a teacher assigning "Watch videos 1-3 on subject X" to a class, then in the class sessions students would have to demonstrate competency and could get help.
I don't know anyone who thinks that Khan's work is the end-all solution to teaching problems.
- Shows how the work was done in a step by step manner
- Cuts the subjects up into short, easily digestible chunks
(note that both of these could be attributed to the medium, as screencasts require showing nearly everything unless you want to edit heavily, and YouTube has a length limitation)
The poster's points are valid - Khan's videos exist pretty much in a vaccum, and having no active feedback means that people who don't get a concept are sunk.
That said, there are solutions - I could imagine a teacher assigning "Watch videos 1-3 on subject X" to a class, then in the class sessions students would have to demonstrate competency and could get help.
I don't know anyone who thinks that Khan's work is the end-all solution to teaching problems.