Is Khan Academy Good For College Students?
College can often be held completely online for less money than a traditional college with in-person classes. Khan Academy is one online learning platform that provides a cost-conscious alternative to traditional classes. However, should college students use Khan Academy courses to help them in their traditional in-person classes?
Khan Academy is good for college students because they can supplement their learning and gain new insights and knowledge from additional study. It is a free service that uses YouTube videos and other learning devices to help students learn the material. Anyone can use Khan Academy.
When you’re going through your college courses and need additional help, you may want to check out Khan Academy. Keep reading to learn how it will help you with your studies.
What Benefits Would Khan Academy Provide For College Students?
The benefits that Khan Academy would provide for college students are free personalized learning, free test preparation, unlimited access to free courses, and full language support for non-native English speakers. They also provide learning materials and practice tests to assess your learning.
You can also get personalized help and support if you sign up for a free account.
However, if you are a parent of a young child, they can also benefit from Khan Academy, as they have math readiness classes for kids from Pre-K to 8th grade. All classes are tailored to the ages and abilities of your child, which will prepare them for the next grade level in school.
Let’s take a closer look at the benefits for college students.
Free Personalized Learning
Khan Academy offers free courses that you can take while still in college, and you can easily personalize it because there is an option of signing up for an account. If you have an account, your progress will be saved, and you can visit the courses you already took in case you forgot something.
This is helpful, especially if you are struggling with your in-person college courses. Plus, signing up for an account helps teachers track your progress and give you assistance where you’re struggling.
Free Test Prep
Khan Academy provides several free test preparation courses, including the SAT, LSAT, MCAT, and Praxis Core. After taking several practice tests, it shows you the areas where you’re weak and where you’re strong and then shows you areas that you need to improve upon.
There are lessons, test day tips, and other items you need to succeed in whatever test you need to take.
While the SAT is normally meant for high school students, the other test prep courses are meant for college students who want to go further in their education, including law and medical school. The Praxis Core is meant for education students who want to further their education as teachers.
Unlimited Free Courses
No matter what you’re taking in college, you can normally find a course that will match your course and that you can gain extra knowledge from. They are completely free, no matter how many courses you take.
For example, if you struggle with science courses, you can take as many or as few as you want, and all the learning materials and tests are free. You can even earn mastery points if you have a free account.
Or, if you are struggling with English or history topics, you can take some free courses in the exact area you need to work on to improve your grades in college.
Sources: Khan Academy and MVOrganizing
Language Support
Khan Academy makes its courses available in several languages so that more students from other countries can participate in the online learning platform. Students from all over the world, even in the poorest countries, can take courses even if they don’t have schools in that part of the world.
Languages that Khan Academy offers their students include, but are not limited to:
- English
- French
- Italian
- Spanish
- Hindi
- Deutsch
- Portuguese
Many countries are represented here, making it easier for college students to learn no matter where they live. It also makes it easier for teachers to set up classrooms for countries where only remote learning is possible.
Khan Academy vs. a Tutor–How To Choose?
When you’re looking for a way to gain more knowledge in your college courses, you might wonder if you should choose a tutor or just learn more from Khan Academy. How can you choose the right option?
To choose between Khan Academy and a tutor, you’ll need to ascertain whether or not you’re struggling with your classes. A tutor will give you personalized attention and can answer specific questions you have. However, Khan Academy gives you supplemental information to help with your classes.
Let’s delve deeper into how you can choose between Khan Academy and a tutor.
Benefits Of a Tutor
A tutor is someone who has more and better knowledge in a particular subject area than you do and is, therefore, able to help you with what you’re struggling with. They can quickly see where you’re struggling and can help you see what you’re missing.
You get individualized attention, and your grades can improve if you can ask questions about the areas you’re confused about. You’ll also learn better study habits, which can give you more self-confidence.
When you are sure of your abilities and skills, you can do better in your tests and homework. Khan Academy can’t give you that as easily as it’s more self-paced, and you can’t interact as easily with the instructors.
Source: Oxford Learning
Khan Academy Benefits
As you’ve already seen from this article, Khan Academy can help you prepare for major exams, take unlimited free courses, and learn additional information related to your college courses.
The benefits from Khan Academy include the following:
- Unlimited free courses to practice new skills.
- You can learn at your own pace.
- Students improve their skills in school after taking Khan Academy courses.
- You have access to your courses even after you take them.
If you don’t struggle with the basic concepts of a specific subject, then taking Khan Academy courses might be a better option for you.
Choose What Works For You
To choose between a tutor and Khan Academy, you need to evaluate the actual problem you’re dealing with. For example, if you’re struggling with basic concepts of math, science, or other topics, a tutor would be a better choice for you.
The reason is that reading course materials and watching videos when you don’t understand the concepts won’t help answer your questions. A tutor will help you understand basic concepts.
However, if you understand basic concepts but want additional information to supplement your college classes, Khan Academy would be a better choice for you. This is because a tutor won’t have the wealth of knowledge that you would find with online courses.
In the end, you should choose what works best for you and your needs. Just remember that a tutor will be better able to help you with basic concepts and anything else you’re confused about.
Is There Something Better Than Khan Academy?
Depending on what you’re looking for, there might be something better than Khan Academy. You can take courses on Udacity, Udemy, Coursera, edX, and Future Learn. If you are looking for academic courses, edX might be your best choice.
Let’s look at these options in more detail so that you can make a more informed decision about the best one for you.
Udacity
Udacity is an online learning platform designed for tech students to learn and supplement their education with extra courses. Or, if you want, you could earn a Nanodegree, which is somewhat like a certificate from a technical school.
Most programs take 3-4 months to complete and cost under $400 per month, which is a bit cheaper than most colleges. Or, if you want to take a course without a certificate, you can take one for free.
A certificate will cost a little bit of money.
Udemy
Udemy is somewhat different from the other learning platforms on this list.
Anyone who is an expert in something can apply to be an instructor on the site. Learners who want to learn just about anything can find what they are looking for with Udemy, including technical topics, personal development, and business topics.
Many of the bestselling topics are in the IT field, including, but not limited to:
- C++
- Cryptocurrency
- Data Analysis
- Photoshop
- Graphic Design
- Java
- SQL
- Project Management
Other topics include:
- Real Estate Investing
- Life Coach Training
- Writing
- Public Speaking
- Speed Reading
- Productivity
- Psychology
There are many more topics than what is mentioned above, so if you’re not in college, or even if you are, Udemy might have something for you. Most classes are affordable, and you might be able to find courses at reduced prices.
Coursera
Coursera is different from most of these learning platforms in that they aggregate free courses from other colleges, such as Psychology, Climate Policy, math and science courses, and writing courses.
You can also pursue degree programs and certificates from major universities at a lower price through Coursera.
While not all their courses and programs are free, you can find some great courses from major universities for free. They can supplement your in-person college courses and perhaps give you an edge in your education.
edX
Like Coursera and Future Learn, edX allows you to take courses that lead to a degree for less money than you normally pay at a brick-and-mortar university. That being said, you’ll need to weed out the more expensive courses, as some can cost more than what you might be paying right now for college.
The value of edX is in the free courses that they offer as a way to entice you to pay for more education. But just because they are free, it doesn’t mean they aren’t valuable.
For example, they have several courses from Harvard, the Smithsonian Institute, and other prestigious universities. And, these courses can help you prepare for more rigorous study at your own university.
edX courses, however, coincide with a school schedule, which means that you will need to complete the course within a certain time frame if you want to earn a certificate for the class.
But, it can be something to try if you don’t like Khan Academy.
Future Learn
Future Learn is an online learning platform where you can earn degrees, certifications and take courses. While it is not free, you can take unlimited courses for a small monthly fee. And, if you need to take a degree program, they are cheaper than if you were to go to a full-fledged university.
The best part about Future Learn courses and degree programs is that you can go at your own pace, just like you can with Khan Academy.
How is this better than Khan Academy for college students?
With one payment for a whole year, you can take unlimited courses and earn college credits for your degree program. The benefits of this should be plain, but let’s break it down if it isn’t.
Benefits Of Future Learn For College Students
College students who can take advantage of unlimited courses for one low yearly price can earn credits towards college. When they earn these credits, they end up paying less money for their in-person college degree program.
Also, since you can go at your own pace, you can complete your degree program at your in-person university that much quicker. However, you might want to check with your advisor before doing this, as the credits might not be accepted.
You will also gain valuable knowledge and new experiences through using Future Learn, as there might be courses that your college cannot provide due to time constraints and a lack of professors.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a fan of online learning or not, Khan Academy is undeniably beneficial for college students, as well as high school, middle school, and elementary students. If you need to beef up your knowledge or skills in a specific subject and are on a budget, check out Khan Academy’s courses.
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