Attempting to attain an entire class’s attention can easily become a losing battle. Whether it’s reviewing for a test, learning new material, or the act of test taking itself, the act of taking formative and summative assessments can become more interactive. This can easily be accomplished by using Kahoot.
With so many games in education nowadays, it is easy to get your hands on something that can make learning fun — but how much information will the students actually retain? Sure, Jeopardy is competitive and the entire class participates, but do your students walk away confident in the material?
Here’s how it works: the instructor logs on to Kahoot’s main screen through their personal device where they can choose a public game or one that they have previously made. Then, the students log on to the Kahoot game page through their smartphones or computers and enter the code to join the game. From there, the instructor can move at their own pace with the class as the students answer multiple choice or discussion questions, or participate in a poll. As each round progresses, the students are able to see who is in the lead and by how many points. At the game’s conclusion, the students can rate the game on entertainment, education, and validity levels. The best part about Kahoot? You can save the students’ data.
In a study provided by the Kahoot! Journal, it reported: “students that did the game-based quiz (Kahoot!), learned 22% more than students that did paper quizzes, and 52% more than students that used the student-response system Clickers.” Since paper exams are what one would typically find in a classroom, it is enlightening to know that the students took away more material from a quiz that incorporates visual interaction over the standard paper format. The Kahoot! Journal also shared that the student engagement of those who participated in the Kahoot game was “46% higher than students doing the paper quiz, and 55% higher than the students that used the student-response system.”
Kahoot is an excellent tool to use in the classroom, not only to further engage your students, but to make sure they come away knowing more than they did at the beginning of class. Signing up for a Kahoot account is 100% free, as is access to their database of pre-made games. Kahoot is a tool that you will use repeatedly in your classroom that your students are sure to fall in love with. With Kahoot, you can leave the paper tests behind and make learning awesome!
Image credit: flickr
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