Kahoot! is an online game-based learning program. It is a free resource for anyone to use, not just teachers! Kahoot! is used to create multiple choice questions or statements shown on a shared screen for everyone to see with the possible answers provided. The students or whoever is responding, will answer on a separate device. Once the time is up on each question, those playing the game will be told if they got the question/statement right or wrong. Whoever gets it right will get a certain amount of points, which continues to add up after every question which is where the game portion comes in. Kahoot! was launched to the public in September of 2013. It was originally created with the intention of using it in the classroom but has expanded beyond that to businesses, sporting and cultural events, and other social gatherings. The Kahoot! company has international teams located in Norway, United Kingdom, and the United States.
How does "Kahoot!" work?
In order to get the most engaging results from Kahoot! as a teacher, you need to Create, Play, Share, and Reinforce! To Create, you can make a variety of multiple choice questions. The format and number of questions is completely up to you. You can also had pictures, videos, diagrams, etc., to explain further explain questions. For a step by step tutorial on how to set up Kahoot!, watch the short Youtube video provided. To Play, you will typically conduct this a group setting, like your classroom. The questions and answers will be shown on screen for everyone to see and the students answer the questions on a separate device. Each of the answers has a corresponding shape and color; a red triangle, a blue diamond, a yellow circle, and a green square. The students or whoever is playing the game will have a separate device and to answer the question they click on the corresponding shape that matches the answer to the screen. It may sound a little confusing at first but once you get started it's extremely easy to catch on! To Share, encourage your students to create their own game or play different games already created. Also as a teacher, share your own Kahoot! as well as explore others that have been created. Sharing is a great tool to use especially in Kahoot! because it promotes leadership as well as expanding the students knowledge globally because it's a global site! To Reinforce, teachers can revisit Kahoots and implement them for homework. Kahoot is not only a website but an app too, so students can use the challenge feature outside of the classroom to get more practice!
Ways to Use "Kahoot!" in the Classroom
There are many ways to Kahoot! in your classroom but you first need to address what grade level you as a teacher are address. While Kahoot! is a great resource to implement 21st century learning in your classroom, it will probably be most beneficial to students 1st grade and above. In lower level grades, like 1st-5th grade, students most likely will not own smart phones, so teachers will need to make sure that there are class iPads or schedule computer time to play. Around 8th grade through high school, more students own a smart phone, so Kahoot! is a great way for them to be able to get that joy of using their phone in school but in an educational way!
The most popular use of Kahoot! in the classroom is for the teacher to obtain data on where their students are at on the content being taught. It's a great way to see how many of your students are understanding or not understanding the material being questioned. Teachers and the students are able to see how many students put what answer and from there, the teacher can move on to the next question or pause to discuss why the answer was the correct answer. This is also helpful for the students to test themselves because they may think they know the content but when they are being "tested" they actually find out they don't know as much as they thought! I personally have had this happen when I played Kahoot! in the class. I thought I knew the material very well but when I was asked in a different way than normal, I saw that what I needed to focus more on.
Another way to use Kahoot! as a teacher, is to "break the ice" at the beginning of a new school year. Teachers can create a Kahoot! game with selfies or other pictures with questions regarding fun facts about yourself so your students can get to know you! Not only is this a fun way to introduce Kahoot! in your classroom but it also shows your students that Kahoot! doesn't have to just be used to test or review content. Teachers can also use this on their back to school nights with their prospective students and their parents. This allows the parents to get to know the teacher personally as well as getting the parents involved in resource their kids will be using throughout the school year so parents are more familiar.
Why Should You Use "Kahoot!"?
"The 6 Reasons To Start Kahoot!'ing" (what-is-kahoot).
- It's Flexible
- It's Simple
- It's Diverse
- It's Engaging
- It's Global
- It's Free
As teachers, we are always looking for new ways to engage our students especially in a 21st century way. Kahoot! is the answer to that. That's why Kahoot! has over 70 million users monthly, with 60% of them in the United States. Kahoot! states, "Our founding principles are Social, Play and Learning. Driven by our mission, we’ve built a game-based platform that creates an emotional, playful, engaging and truly social learning environment. Instead of looking down into their textbooks or devices, learners are encouraged to look up while playing and connect with each other – we call it a ‘campfire moment’". Kahoot! is a great resource that can be used in multiple ways, in and outside the classroom. As a teacher, you have the ability to use this program to change your teaching and bring fun back into learning!
References
National Geographic Society. (n.d.). Play Kahoot. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/bee/study/play-kahoot/
Advance Education. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhry/2017/08/28/how-kahoot-quickly-hit-one-billion-players-while-helping-advance-education/#736870337393
Learning Games | Make Learning Awesome! (2018, September 21). Retrieved from https://kahoot.com/welcomeback/
Chowdhry, A. (2017, August 28). How Kahoot! Quickly Hit One Billion Players While Helping
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