Tech Review #2
Description:
Kahoot! is an website that is an interactive response system which can be accessed from any device with a web browser. When logged in on https://getkahoot.com/ quizzes, discussions, or surveys can be made. All three of these options allow you to present questions and multiple choice answers. From https://getkahoot.com/ you can also access public Kahoots! that have been made by others for sharing. You can search for a specific Kahoot! on this page through a search bar and the search can be narrowed down by audience (school, university, business, training, event, social) or by type (quiz, discussion, or survey). The options are endless, varying from questions about movies to questions about algebraic expressions.
Once a Kahoot! is created by the teacher or selected from the public search, a new screen will appear with a website (kahoot.it) and a game pin. The Kahoot! can be selected by going to kahoot.it and entering the game pin. Students will then be asked to enter a nickname, which will then appear on the teacher’s screen as well. Once all students have entered their nicknames, the Kahoot! will begin. Students are able to read the question and the answers from the teacher’s screen (probably shown through a projector) and then able to select an answer from their device (laptop, iPhone, etc.). There is a limited time for answering, but once the time is up the responses are shown on the teacher’s screen in the form of a bar graph. Teachers can also download the results as an Excel file from a Kahoot! when it is completed.
Accuracy of Content:
The accuracy and completeness of Kahoot! is high. It is easy to navigate through the main website and provides simple step-by-step directions to follow when creating a new Kahoot!. The public Kahoots! are endless and I was able to find many of the topics I tried searching for, including writing algebraic expressions and finding mean, median, mode, and range. Although there are two ways to specify a search (audience and type), it would be helpful to be able to also search based on subject area. Many times when I searched for a math topic, Kahoots! would show up that were not math related, but instead had a word in common in the title. The website is free of bias, is available in multiple languages, and is easy for teachers and students of all ages to use.
Technical Quality:
The website is very easy to access. Once on the website, you simply create an account, a very simple process, and select which type of Kahoot! you would like to create. Students do not need to create an account to participate in a Kahoot!, so the only person needing an account is the teacher. To make an account all that is needed is a username, e-mail, and password.
Once you are logged in, right in the center of the website is a place to create a new Kahoot!. You simply select quiz, discussion, or survey. You will then be asked to start by giving your Kahoot! a name or a question (depending on the type you selected). The website then walks you through the process of creating the questions and answers. Images can be included for all questions and for the Kahoot! itself. At the end, you will be asked to provide a short description of your Kahoot!, including the selection of a language. There are currently 24 languages available on Kahoot! including English, Spanish, and Italian. The last step is to play! On the top of the page you can also access previously created Kahoots!, the public Kahoots!, and the help menu. Through the help menu you can contact support, check their blog for tips, or search through FAQ or commonly occurring errors. Overall, the website is very easy to navigate and use.
The presentation of the website is very aesthetically pleasing. There are very few things on each page, making it simple to navigate and find what you are looking for. The process for creating a new Kahoot! is simple and users are provided with step-by-step instructions through the whole process. The colors scheme is simple but fun, it is made up of mostly black and white with some pops of purple, orange, and teal. When students are completing a Kahoot! the answers are represented by different colors, which makes it quick and easy for students to identify the correct answer on both the teacher’s screen and their own screens.
Use of Technology:
Kahoot! makes very good use of the technology for the intended educational use as an interactive response system. The technology allows all students the chance to respond to a given question or set of questions. During class, a student who is not likely to raise her hand due to being shy will be able to share her answer without having all eyes on her. This also allows a teacher to look at the overall understanding a group of students may have on a concept being presented before moving on. Students can also use Kahoot! outside of school by creating an account and using the public Kahoots! to review topics. This is a great tool for review inside or outside the classroom.
Role of Students:
Students will be empowered through the use of Kahoot! in the classroom. Students will be able to share their answers without feeling the pressure of having all eyes of them. Kahoot! allows all students to answer each question on their own. One constraint is the time on each question. This may not allow for each student to come up with an answer for a given question. At the same time, this could be empowering for students to work quickly through each problem allowing them to become fluent with a given skill. Students do not control the creation of the Kahoot!, but will have full control of the answers they give. Kahoot! should be used with a whole class, but could be used with just a few students as well. Students can work as individuals, in pairs, or in groups while using Kahoot!, but will need to work from one device as a group or pair. This website will be extremely helpful for students when reviewing a given concept and will help students value their own thinking and learning since they are each responsible for their own response.
Role of Teacher:
To begin using this website in the classroom, the teacher would need to first create an account. Once an account is created the teacher must either find a Kahoot! on the public list or create a new Kahoot! to use in the classroom. Once a Kahoot! is selected, the teacher must provide the students with the website and game pin. This is best done by projecting the teacher’s computer through a projector. Once this is sent to the students and students have entered nicknames, the work is all on the website. The teacher should then circulate around the room to monitor student use of devices. When the Kahoot! is complete, teachers can choose to download the results for data that can be used later. There are a few videos that can be watched when first looking into Kahoot! that could be helpful for teachers who are interested in starting to use this website in their classrooms.
Classroom Usage:
I believe the best way to start using Kahoot! in the classroom is to begin with a public Kahoot!. By using one of these pre-created examples, both the teacher and the students can get the hang of using a response system. It is also a good idea to be ready to circulate and answer questions during the login process. Once a successful lesson using Kahoot! has been completed, it is time to try making your own Kahoot! to use in the classroom! Make sure you try it on your own before using it in class!
This fits very closely into many classrooms who are looking to use technology to enhance the learning. It is great for review before a quiz or test. For example, if students are taking a quiz on geometry vocab on Wednesday, Tuesday can be spent doing a Kahoot! using the vocab that will be on the quiz. Students can get quick feedback on their individual understanding and teachers can get quick feedback on their students’ understanding!
Critical Summary:
Overall I think Kahoot! is a great tool for a classroom. The website has many strengths: it is easy to use, it is easy to navigate, it provides pre-created Kahoots!, and can be used to review multiple topics. I really enjoy the fact that it allows every student to answer each question individually and that teachers are able to download the results at the end of a Kahoot!. It is available in multiple languages and the answers are presented in a way that is easy to identify, even for the youngest students. This is a great tool for a teacher to quickly assess a class’s understanding of a concept. The one downfall I found to the website is that the public Kahoots! cannot be sorted by subject area.
Overall Rating:
I would give Kahoot! a 9 out of 10 rating. The website is easy to use and is very organized. The website allows teachers to create or use pre-created quizzes to assess a class’s understanding of a concept. It allows students to all answer a given question without feeling the pressure of speaking up during class. I would high recommend Kahoot! as a tool to use in any classroom.
Kahoot! is an website that is an interactive response system which can be accessed from any device with a web browser. When logged in on https://getkahoot.com/ quizzes, discussions, or surveys can be made. All three of these options allow you to present questions and multiple choice answers. From https://getkahoot.com/ you can also access public Kahoots! that have been made by others for sharing. You can search for a specific Kahoot! on this page through a search bar and the search can be narrowed down by audience (school, university, business, training, event, social) or by type (quiz, discussion, or survey). The options are endless, varying from questions about movies to questions about algebraic expressions.
Once a Kahoot! is created by the teacher or selected from the public search, a new screen will appear with a website (kahoot.it) and a game pin. The Kahoot! can be selected by going to kahoot.it and entering the game pin. Students will then be asked to enter a nickname, which will then appear on the teacher’s screen as well. Once all students have entered their nicknames, the Kahoot! will begin. Students are able to read the question and the answers from the teacher’s screen (probably shown through a projector) and then able to select an answer from their device (laptop, iPhone, etc.). There is a limited time for answering, but once the time is up the responses are shown on the teacher’s screen in the form of a bar graph. Teachers can also download the results as an Excel file from a Kahoot! when it is completed.
Accuracy of Content:
The accuracy and completeness of Kahoot! is high. It is easy to navigate through the main website and provides simple step-by-step directions to follow when creating a new Kahoot!. The public Kahoots! are endless and I was able to find many of the topics I tried searching for, including writing algebraic expressions and finding mean, median, mode, and range. Although there are two ways to specify a search (audience and type), it would be helpful to be able to also search based on subject area. Many times when I searched for a math topic, Kahoots! would show up that were not math related, but instead had a word in common in the title. The website is free of bias, is available in multiple languages, and is easy for teachers and students of all ages to use.
Technical Quality:
The website is very easy to access. Once on the website, you simply create an account, a very simple process, and select which type of Kahoot! you would like to create. Students do not need to create an account to participate in a Kahoot!, so the only person needing an account is the teacher. To make an account all that is needed is a username, e-mail, and password.
Once you are logged in, right in the center of the website is a place to create a new Kahoot!. You simply select quiz, discussion, or survey. You will then be asked to start by giving your Kahoot! a name or a question (depending on the type you selected). The website then walks you through the process of creating the questions and answers. Images can be included for all questions and for the Kahoot! itself. At the end, you will be asked to provide a short description of your Kahoot!, including the selection of a language. There are currently 24 languages available on Kahoot! including English, Spanish, and Italian. The last step is to play! On the top of the page you can also access previously created Kahoots!, the public Kahoots!, and the help menu. Through the help menu you can contact support, check their blog for tips, or search through FAQ or commonly occurring errors. Overall, the website is very easy to navigate and use.
The presentation of the website is very aesthetically pleasing. There are very few things on each page, making it simple to navigate and find what you are looking for. The process for creating a new Kahoot! is simple and users are provided with step-by-step instructions through the whole process. The colors scheme is simple but fun, it is made up of mostly black and white with some pops of purple, orange, and teal. When students are completing a Kahoot! the answers are represented by different colors, which makes it quick and easy for students to identify the correct answer on both the teacher’s screen and their own screens.
Use of Technology:
Kahoot! makes very good use of the technology for the intended educational use as an interactive response system. The technology allows all students the chance to respond to a given question or set of questions. During class, a student who is not likely to raise her hand due to being shy will be able to share her answer without having all eyes on her. This also allows a teacher to look at the overall understanding a group of students may have on a concept being presented before moving on. Students can also use Kahoot! outside of school by creating an account and using the public Kahoots! to review topics. This is a great tool for review inside or outside the classroom.
Role of Students:
Students will be empowered through the use of Kahoot! in the classroom. Students will be able to share their answers without feeling the pressure of having all eyes of them. Kahoot! allows all students to answer each question on their own. One constraint is the time on each question. This may not allow for each student to come up with an answer for a given question. At the same time, this could be empowering for students to work quickly through each problem allowing them to become fluent with a given skill. Students do not control the creation of the Kahoot!, but will have full control of the answers they give. Kahoot! should be used with a whole class, but could be used with just a few students as well. Students can work as individuals, in pairs, or in groups while using Kahoot!, but will need to work from one device as a group or pair. This website will be extremely helpful for students when reviewing a given concept and will help students value their own thinking and learning since they are each responsible for their own response.
Role of Teacher:
To begin using this website in the classroom, the teacher would need to first create an account. Once an account is created the teacher must either find a Kahoot! on the public list or create a new Kahoot! to use in the classroom. Once a Kahoot! is selected, the teacher must provide the students with the website and game pin. This is best done by projecting the teacher’s computer through a projector. Once this is sent to the students and students have entered nicknames, the work is all on the website. The teacher should then circulate around the room to monitor student use of devices. When the Kahoot! is complete, teachers can choose to download the results for data that can be used later. There are a few videos that can be watched when first looking into Kahoot! that could be helpful for teachers who are interested in starting to use this website in their classrooms.
Classroom Usage:
I believe the best way to start using Kahoot! in the classroom is to begin with a public Kahoot!. By using one of these pre-created examples, both the teacher and the students can get the hang of using a response system. It is also a good idea to be ready to circulate and answer questions during the login process. Once a successful lesson using Kahoot! has been completed, it is time to try making your own Kahoot! to use in the classroom! Make sure you try it on your own before using it in class!
This fits very closely into many classrooms who are looking to use technology to enhance the learning. It is great for review before a quiz or test. For example, if students are taking a quiz on geometry vocab on Wednesday, Tuesday can be spent doing a Kahoot! using the vocab that will be on the quiz. Students can get quick feedback on their individual understanding and teachers can get quick feedback on their students’ understanding!
Critical Summary:
Overall I think Kahoot! is a great tool for a classroom. The website has many strengths: it is easy to use, it is easy to navigate, it provides pre-created Kahoots!, and can be used to review multiple topics. I really enjoy the fact that it allows every student to answer each question individually and that teachers are able to download the results at the end of a Kahoot!. It is available in multiple languages and the answers are presented in a way that is easy to identify, even for the youngest students. This is a great tool for a teacher to quickly assess a class’s understanding of a concept. The one downfall I found to the website is that the public Kahoots! cannot be sorted by subject area.
Overall Rating:
I would give Kahoot! a 9 out of 10 rating. The website is easy to use and is very organized. The website allows teachers to create or use pre-created quizzes to assess a class’s understanding of a concept. It allows students to all answer a given question without feeling the pressure of speaking up during class. I would high recommend Kahoot! as a tool to use in any classroom.