Khan Academy, Rocket Schools and $100k salaries for teachers?

[preswim]

Apparently this may be heading across the Pond in our direction: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01ssc0c

But are we ready for it? I can just imagine the reaction if schools started laying off teachers and paying the remaining ones 100K salaries to teach tablet-style.

It may put a few extra-curricular tutors out of business though.

[Heads off to download the app .... ]

A salary of $100k is about £60k. There are already quite a lot of teachers earning at that level, predominantly in leadership roles. A salary of £100k+ is not uncommon for head teachers. There are over 15,000 teachers earning £60k+ in publicly funded schools with around 1,000 of them earning £100k+.

Umm... well I choose to employ a tutor for my DD, despite knowing all about the Khan academy and her attending a good school, because to one to one attention once a week has improved her Maths and her self-confidence.

Lying on the floor to use a lap top is a really bad idea! It will lead to all kinds of back and other problems later in life.

Also a key aspect of learning is to learn from and with your peers. Really good teachers know this and know that all students can have valuable ideas and insights to show their peers.

I think using Khan Academy in the UK is good for a self-motivated child (or adult!) I look forward to hearing how it works when it's used as a tool by the Silicon Valley schools.

I wonder if this links into the "upside-down" classroom idea. This is where kids watch a lecture/explanation at home and then do their practising at school with the teacher there to help them if they run into trouble. Thus flipping the lecture in school/practical practice at home alone as homework model. Sounds like a good idea in theory, just requires kids to actually sit down and listen to the lecture. Much easier to know if they have actually done their practical homework as they return tangible evidence.