Kahoot is an online tool and app that allows you to easily create, play and share an educational quiz show for any subject. I have used this apps for kindergarten students and adults. All age groups find this incredibly fun and competitive. The best thing about this digital tool is it is FREE!

Developed in Norway, Kahoot is popular app in schools and businesses from America to Zimbabwe. It is like a quiz-show combined with a video game. The teacher can becomes the host or students can take the Kahoot! at their own pace. I like it best by displaying the real-time results live on the whiteboards so that students can see who is winning.

Taking Kahoot Further...

Set it up the game so that students interact with the game by asking questions during their play.

Thanks to the ability to add photos and videos, I am able to make the lesson much more engaging. An example is having students watch a short video that will contain the answer to the question. If they listen closely they will hear the answer first. Pictures work great to capture attention or to display an image the relates to the subject.

The game can be setup so that students work individually or in groups. Working in groups is a great way to help students learn to work as a team. However, be sure to setup expectations and rules at the beginning. Students will get excited and can start to fight for the iPad, get upset, and shout out. I like the energy that I get from the students using this app, but every time I do a group game the noise level rises considerably.

You can assign a time-limit for how long students have to answer each questions to help the game move along. With the time limit around 20 seconds, it provides enough time for the students to discuss while still making it through all the questions. If all the students answer the question it will move to the next question after displaying the leader boards.

The leader board can be disabled if you do not want students to see the score until the end. A reason you may want to keep it hidden is so students stay motivated throughout the entire game. I usually leave it on, because the students enjoy seeing the movement and points along the way.

You can let students know that they earn points for correct choices, and extra points for clicking faster. But be careful not to click too quick because a wrong answer is worst that answering slow.

Later you can task students to create their own. Assign a reading at home and have student create the quiz for other students to take based on the reading. Students will come up with creative questions and pay closer attention to what was assigned.

Gamification in Education

The gamification of learning is an educational approach to motivate students to learn by using video game design and game elements in learning environments. The goal is to maximize enjoyment and engagement through capturing the interest of learners and inspiring them to continue learning. Game-based educational content creates an emotional connection between the learners so that they learn much better together.”

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No Just For Students

Kahoot is a great app and can be adapted for us adults as well. It is a great app to use during professional developments and meetings. You will see the same excitement from teachers as well. By introducing this app to other teachers, they will start to use it in their classrooms as well!

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