KHAN ACADEMYGamification in Education

Prepared By Manu Melwin Joy

Assistant ProfessorSCMS School of Technology and Management

Kerala, India.Phone – 9744551114

Mail – manu_melwinjoy@yahoo.com

Kindly restrict the use of slides for personal purpose. Please seek permission to reproduce the same in public forms and presentations.

KHAN ACADEMY• Khan Academy is a non-

profit educational

organization created in 2006

by educator Salman Khan

with a goal of creating an

accessible place for people

to be educated. T

KHAN ACADEMY• Basically, Khan Academy’s math

program is a video game, where

the content happens to be

solutions to equations. Instead

of blowing up aliens or driving

cars through urban war zones,

players race against time to solve

problems correctly.

KHAN ACADEMY• Each answer is immediately

scored right or wrong.

Correct answers get happy

faces and accumulate

points.

KHAN ACADEMY• Mistakes get round yellow sad

faces, but you still have to get

the answer right before

progressing to the next problem.

You can ask for a hint (that resets

your streak) or watch the video

that covers the topic you’re

practicing (no penalty for that).

KHAN ACADEMY• Users immediately know what

they did well and where they

messed up. Compare that to your

typical math test in high school;

by the time you got the corrected

test back, you couldn’t

remember, much less care about,

the questions and answers.

KHAN ACADEMY• The positive feedback builds on

itself cumulatively, so the stakes

increase with each correct answer.

Instead of fading or zoning out, as I

did so many times in long math

classes, my kids get more engaged

and determined as their streak

increases and they have more to

lose.

KHAN ACADEMY• When they achieve

milestones, they are invited

and encouraged to share

their success with their

Facebook community.

KHAN ACADEMY• Most of these milestones are

predictable: you need so many

energy points to win each level

of badge, beginning with the

meteorite badge. That’s in

keeping with motivation theory:

give people a clear path to

success.

KHAN ACADEMY• But Khan Academy also

offers Black Hole badges

(legendary and unknown,

they are the most unique

Khan Academy awards).

KHAN ACADEMY• Just as animal trainers discovered that

unpredictable rewards sprinkled in with

predictable ones increased dedication

and speed of learning, Khan Academy

tantalizes students with the promise of

a “legendary and unknown” treasure, to

generate fanatical devotion and

commitment. Students aren’t just doing

math; they’re engaged in an epic quest.