The Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF) has partnered with Khan Academy, a non-profit educational organization, to help bring global best practices to Filipino learners.
GBF, the philanthropic arm of the Gokongwei Group, is the largest private sector provider of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) scholarships in the country.
“Gokongwei Brothers Foundation in its 30 years of service, has had significant strides in improving access to quality education for both learners and educators. We see Khan Academy as an integral part of our plan to reach more learners to provide free quality education for all,” said Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, managing director of Gokongwei Brothers Foundation.
Khan Academy’s global education technology platform, founded by financial analyst Sal Khan in 2008, is focused on closing learning gaps and providing differentiated learning across various subjects. It’s been quickly adopted in different countries as an effective tool for learning.
As Khan Academy’s first international franchisee, Khan Academy Philippines aims to localize its content and lessons and align it with the Department of Education’s curriculum through a team of local Filipinos.
“We are so thrilled to be able to bring this global technology here to elevate learning in the Philippines by providing 21st century skills,” said Geraldine Acuna-Sunshine, CEO of Khan Academy Philippines.
“Our expansion plans are hinged on partnerships with schools and companies like the Gokongwei Group and the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation who share our vision of a better future through education
In August of 2023, Khan Academy Philippines was launched in 34 schools (30 public and four private) across nine cities, namely Quezon City, Mandaluyong, Manila, Marikina, Makati, Pasig, Pasay, Las Pinas, and Dumaguete City.
The pilot began with onboarding Math teachers by training them on how to use the platform as an effective teaching aid, strategies on Growth mindset, Mastery Learning, and Student Progress monitoring.
The teachers then learned to create their own virtual Khan Academy classrooms and guide their students on how to navigate grade 4 math lessons in the platform during their weekly Khan Academy schedule.
According to Khan Academy data, to have a positive learning impact, students must spend at least 18 hours per school year (about 30 minutes per week) of engaged, active learning on the platform.
To encourage use, participating schools employed various techniques such as dedicated “Khan Academy time” in their schedules, dedicated WiFi use for the platform, and providing one device per student at a time for better learning experience. Parents were also oriented and included in the process to ensure that they could support their children’s use of the platform.
The pilot launch for the school year 2023-2024 included 71 Math teachers, 3,250 students, and 600 parents with overall positive feedback from participants.
Teachers acknowledged that the tool assisted them in developing lesson mastery, while students had fun doing the exercises and parents saw an increase in their children’s interest in learning Math. The Khan Academy team also saw a trend in increased skills mastery from students who used the platform consistently.
“When we started using Khan Academy, my workload lessened because there were videos and exercises that were readily available. My teaching became easier. I also noticed that my students were more excited and engaged with the lessons,” said Cynthia Martin, a teacher at San Joaquin Elementary School in Pasig City.
For the incoming SY 2024-2025, Khan Academy Philippines plans to expand to more schools across the country and to include more DepEd-aligned elementary Math courses.
Khan Academy Philippines also plans to introduce its AI-powered teaching assistant, Khanmigo, and propose teacher certification courses for approval by the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP).
All these efforts are geared towards the goal of reaching 1 million learners by the end of 2026.
