You’ve probably heard of the Kahoot game! or the word “Kahooting”. Well then, Kahoot! It is an online application that day by day is gaining ground in different classrooms around the world. This is because it allows you to create a fully game-based multiple response system that is adaptable to any age and need. Here we will tell you how to make a Kahoot and how to lean by playing the Kahoot platform.
We can see this gamified response system from two aspects: that are the creator and how it is created and, on the other hand, that of the participant and the modes of play.
Make a Kahoot
First, the game must be created. To play, only the developer needs to have an account; participants only need pin code. This tool allows you, as a developer, to make questionnaires, surveys, or discussions, adapting them to the public you want to target and on the topics, concepts, and knowledge you want.
We refer to creator or developer in broad strokes since the option of creating content is given to any user, both teachers, and students; You should only indicate when registering if you are a teacher, student over 16 years old, a student under 16 years old if you use it for business purposes or in a social way.
Create Questions For Students
I want to highlight this fact because within an educational context it is very interesting since it allows us to carry out peer-to-peer work ( peer-to-peer ), making students the protagonists of their learning while also basing learning not to answer, but to question yourself and make your peers question themselves in a fun and engaging way.
In this way, the student can acquire both the role of the participant and the role of leader when creating the resource and presenting it to classmates.
On the other hand, the participant visualizes the questions projected in the classroom and, at the same time, must answer using his own device. This is done in real-time through a game-based system in order to increase student engagement and motivation.
By involving the students’ own devices, it allows us to work through a BYOD system (Bring Your Own Device), which makes us need only a computer to which a projector can be connected to view the issues (materials that today found in almost all educational classrooms).
Students can access the game with any device they have (tablets, smartphones, laptops…). This is possible through the code provided by the Kahoot, and that entering it on the web allows us to access the game without any type of registration or download of a specific program, it will only ask us for a name or pseudonym in order to carry out the leaderboards later.
When talking about leaderboards, feedback comes to mind. We found that Kahoot roughly offers us two modalities, both in real-time. In-game questions have a response time. Once this is finished, the correct answer appears and a small leaderboard of the participants who responded the fastest.
In addition, once all the questions of the game are finished, another ranking is created where all the participants are classified, and a summary is shown in the table format of all the successes, failures, and response times of the participants. The latter will be saved in the resource developer’s account in the results section.
In short, this game modality gives you the option of knowing your “pros” and “cons” thanks to this immediate, real-time and long-term feedback, seeing the improvements or deteriorations of the participants when participating in different questionnaires.
The application that we can give to these resources is quite wide and adjustable to each case, from “breaking the ice” to introduce a topic, going through reviewing the topics that have been given in the classroom and reinforcing knowledge, to use it as a way of pre-evaluation or practice before an exam.
Ghost Mode
As a positive point, we found that the Kahoot! It continues to develop improvements to the application and new game modes such as Ghost Mode, a way in which students can re-take the same questionnaires and beat themselves to reinforce knowledge and motivation.
Another aspect to consider is that Kahoot! based on their own experience with the game in a university classroom and, at the same time, seeing multiple and different opinions on social networks, the vast majority agree on the good climate generated by this resource in the classroom.
Make a Kahoot on Your Own Device
The real secret of this game is that, although you work through your own device, you cannot stay immersed in it, but you must pay attention to what is happening around you since the questions and answers only appear on a screen. This gamified system Kahoot allows us to introduce into the classroom, regardless of age, it offers an environment of excitement for the participants that leads to a very dynamic and collaborative climate.
On the other hand, we must not forget other aspects that the participants develop, regardless of the topic that is discussed in the resource: reflexes, attention, logical thinking, and, at the time, they become developers, creativity is enhanced.