Tech Trends: Kahoot! for Student Response
Spotlight on emerging technologies for teaching and learning
Volume 2: Issue 2 (November 2018)
Robert Cole, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, College of Education
Editor’s Note: Kahoot! (https://kahoot.com/) Is a web based service that offers a variety of games easy to implement in the classroom. Robert Cole, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, in SLU’s College of Education offers some insight in to how he uses Kahoot! to assess knowledge and provoke discussion among his students.
How have you used Kahoot! in your teaching?
Kahoot! can be easily compared to a Web-based student response system. Students can access a Kahoot! form on any Web-enabled device and there is now a Kahoot! app. I have used Kahoot! in a number of ways. I can get an idea of what students already know about a topic by giving a short pre-assessment. I have also used Kahoot! during a discussion to check for understanding and to do a quick poll to see where my students stand on an issue. Surveying a class regarding their opinions about a challenging topic to initiate deeper discussion is another way I like to use a tool like this. Finally, at the end of a class, discussion or lecture, I have administered short quizzes that indicate if the students are ready for me to move to the next topic or if there are concepts that need to be revisited.
How does Kahoot! support my goals and objectives for student learning?
The use of Kahoot! supports my goals and objectives for student learning in many ways. One of my goals is to model for my teacher candidates current technology tools I see used in classrooms today. This tool is one that has been embraced by p-12 teachers. One of the topics I stress in the course description is the ability to use technology for assessment and evaluation. There are many tools that may fall into this category and Kahoot! is one of them. Not only am I modeling practice that is current in p-12 schools but I am also providing participation and practice with a tool that has direct relation to my course expectations and outcomes.
What do students like about Kahoot!?
Students seem to love Kahoot! They enjoy the gamification of the check-in or quiz. The like the competitive feature that indicates the order of responses – anonymously – from fastest to respond to slowest. During student presentations, they have begun making Kahoots as a check-in, conversation starter or end of presentation assessment. They like creating Kahoots as much as they like participating in them.
What are your favorite features of Kahoot!?
Primarily what I like about Kahoot! is its flexibility. As I have already mentioned, I can use it for any number of ways to assess or begin discussion. In addition, I can use it in a way that students can remain anonymous or, if I want to keep track of correct and incorrect answers, I can tie the users to a number or name that provides me with that information. The creation side of Kahoot! is very straight forward and I see it as quite intuitive. If I have set the assessment to track results, they are provided in an Excel spreadsheet. I have the option of creating, duplicating and editing Kahoots allowing me to have flexibility between different sections of the same course. Kahoot! is a free Web-based assessment tool.
References
Dyar, A. (2015, August 13). Introducing Flipgrid. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://edtech.sesp.northwestern.edu/blog/
Flipgrid (2018). Building a higher education Flipgrid community: Flipgrid integration guide. Retrieved from
https://info.flipgrid.com/
Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative learning: Theory to practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 74, 5-12.
Underdown, K., & Hartman, J. (2017, October 27). 15 ways to Flipgrid in higher ed. Retrieved from
http://blog.flipgrid.com/news/highered
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