In this guide
What is Khan Academy?
Khan Academy is an online learning resource that lets users learn about various topics by watching short videos and completing quizzes, which the user can do at their own pace. The subjects that can be taken with Khan Academy include Maths, Computing and Science.
The Khan Academy app is available on Android and iOS and is also available through internet browsers. All courses and lessons at Khan Academy are free. An app designed specifically for children aged 2-8 also exists called Khan Academy Kids.
How it works
To start using Khan Academy, you must sign up and select a course that you’d like to take. Once you enroll in your course, you will get access to video lessons and quizzes. These are organised into groups called units.
These units are sequential, meaning that as you complete each unit, you will learn enough to be able to understand the next unit. However, if you already know the information in a particular unit, you can skip ahead to the next one without having to complete the ones preceding it.
Khan Academy has a gamified approach to learning, similar to other skill-building apps like Duolingo, with users receiving points and badges for watching videos and completing quizzes. Receiving points can allow users to ‘evolve’ their Khan Academy avatar, getting a different version of their profile’s avatar. This can motivate children to stick with Khan Academy and complete lessons regularly.
Khan Academy has a community forum, where users can ask each other questions and get advice on the subjects they are studying. This forum is based heavily around education and the Khan Academy platform, so it is unlikely that users will be exposed to any inappropriate or upsetting content while using it.
There is a range of educational subjects that can be studied, such as Maths, Science and Economics, but Khan Academy also offers Life skills courses. These include lessons on Internet Safety, Financial and Social Media Literacy and how AI can be used in education. These options make Khan Academy a beneficial app for children even if they don’t use it for school subjects.
Khan Academy parental controls
Khan Academy is an educational platform, with content that is appropriate for all ages. However, there is still an option to create a parent account and monitor your child’s activity.
To do this, parents must create a parent account and then send an invite to their child’s account. Once the child accepts the invitation, the parent will be able to view their activity on Khan Academy. However, this is purely a monitoring role, as parents cannot set any controls on their child’s account.
Being able to monitor activity will let parents stay aware of how much studying their child is doing, and it also lets them know what courses they are undertaking. With Khan Academy having lessons intended for all ages, from primary school to university students, this feature will mean parents are aware if their 8-year-old child is mistakenly signed up to a university economics course.
If you have a child younger than 8-years-old, you can create an account for them on Khan Academy Kids rather than regular Khan Academy. This app only has content meant for children and is more engaging for younger audiences. Animal characters guide children and interactive activities like games and books are used in lessons. Using this app will also mean your child can’t access the community features of Khan Academy.
The Kid’s app does include parental controls. Because it is an app aimed at children, there are not many controls that need to be set. The only settings parents can change are visual ones such as having seasonal themes.
Benefits of Khan Academy
- Free to use
- Wide range of subjects to study
- Gamifying features can encourage kids to learn
- Students can learn life skills as well as conventional subjects
- Learn through videos and quizzes
What to watch out for
Being an educational platform, there is very little risk of exposure to inappropriate or disturbing content while using Khan Academy. Moderation is strict on the community forum. They use AI to quickly remove any comments with bad language.
However, on any platform with community comments there is a chance that something will slip through the cracks, so your child should be prepared to see mean or inappropriate comments if they use the Khan Community forum. You can use our Digital Resilience toolkit to support your child and help them be less effected if they see this kind of content online.
Khan Academy is a US organisation, and therefore its courses are based heavily around the US education system. This can make some lessons, such as the ones based around college admissions, unhelpful for UK children. Explain to your child that this is an American app before they use it. This will help them understand any differences between the American and UK education systems.
Despite being made for an American audience, Khan Academy can still greatly benefit UK children who use it, regardless of their age.