This week as part of our Rising Resources blog, we’re introducing you to Kahoot!, a free online resource for teachers to introduce game-based learning in their classrooms. Teachers (and students) can play many existing games or create quizzes for any subject, in any language, to reinforce topics or introduce any new ones. Plus, it’s incredibly easy to connect and play online with students in other countries while advancing contemporary social learning.
Kahoot! certainly helps make learning fun, engaging, and shareable using games. It was founded on the principles of social, play, and learning. Their goal is to create and inspire inclusive and social environments where students are collaborative and genuinely excited about learning. Kahoot! was founded in Norway in 2013 as part of a collaboration with the Norwegian University of Technology and Science. Initially focused solely on education, Kahoot! is now also part of businesses, sporting and cultural events, and used within various social contexts, too.
Using this platform in schools.
While the basic version of Kahoot! is free, there are three paid services for Kahoot! They include Plus, Pro, and Premium, for creating, sharing, and playing games for learning, collaborating, presenting, or at school events. Kahoot! Plus is more for professional learning, making it ideal for teachers to collaborate and work together to enhance their teaching efforts. Since there is so much of an emphasis on PD and educators being able to use tech to its fullest, this option is very beneficial to school leaders. It also provides a more private, organized, and collaborative internal learning experience and it's available in the free trial, too.
Also, Kahoot! Pro is great for teachers and school administrators at only $1 per month for K-12 educators. The advanced and premium features help educators save time, increase productivity, and drive meaningful collaboration. It also features advanced game creation tools, which help teachers create kahoots at school (personalized, online quizzes) three times faster. Plus, they could customize their platforms to cater to their specific classroom needs and preferences! And, if students find a kahoot they like, they can easily share it with their classmates.
They introduced the Premium version to meet the high demand from educators who had shown so much excitement towards the initial free version. It launched a few years ago and has all of the previous features teachers and students enjoyed with Kahoot! The improvements saw this service bring with it a price tag of $12 a year for K-12 teachers and $60 a year for higher education instructors. Among the Kahoot! Premium features, teachers can co-create kahoots in a private folder on the website, access a library of millions of images, and utilize performance reports to help track student progress.
The different versions of Kahoot!
While using each of the three versions, teachers can create a “kahoot” in just minutes. Kahoots can consist of different question types, like multiple choice questions, or mixtures of different formats and could feature videos, pictures, and diagrams to increase engagement. Students can also play Kahoots in a group setting by answering questions on individual devices. Also, teachers can, alternatively, choose to display these on a shared screen for students to answer all together. Teachers can also award points to successful students to increase competition and encourage students to create their own kahoots to deepen understanding and inspire student-led discussion. Plus, they can assign kahoots for homework using the Kahoot! app, which provides easier ways to share these trivia games for use at home.
If you’re looking for a flexible, game-based platform, Kahoot! is a very solid option that's suitable for kids of all ages, grades, and skill levels. Supported on all devices connected to the Internet, Kahoot! makes it easy to use in the classroom by not requiring students to create accounts or sign in to play games. The Kahoot! team also shares inspiring classroom stories, helpful tips, and updates on their blog. Once you’ve checked out Kahoot! and maybe created or played your first game, head over to our store to find a bunch of hands-on tech tools for your school.
If you're interested in additional digital, game-based learning tools, try checking out Blooket as well. Plus, we offer everything from classroom robots to drones and more that can help enrich your EdTech initiatives. Finally, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for updates on all things tech related as well!