Kahoot!
Repeat teaching content in a playful way, test knowledge or let your students create a quiz themselves. With Kahoot! you have many opportunities to activate your students and promote the learning process.
In a nutshell: What is Kahoot!?
FACTS
Link: https://kahoot.com/
Login: https://create.kahoot.it/auth/login
Lizence: no licence at TH Köln
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
– Internet connection
– Laptop, smartphone, or tablet
After registering for free on the Kahoot! website, you can create interactive quiz games (kahoots) and share them with your students using a so-called Game PIN. With the PIN the players take part in your kahoot irrespective of location, time, and device. They compete with other players and collect points. Not only the correct answer counts, but also the speed, which you as the teacher determine in advance. Music, animation, countdowns, cheering scenes, and rankings underline the playful character. With Kahoot! learners are motivated to engage with content in order to achieve good results in the game. At the same time, you receive feedback on your teaching.
Range of Features
- Quiz-based knowledge test with playful elements (music, countdowns, cheering scenes and ranking lists)
- Free question types (single-choice and true or false questions) can be combined in a quiz
- Questions and answers can appear in random order
- Time limit and points awarded for answers can be set individually for each question
- Multimedia elements (e.g., pictures or videos) can be added to questions
- Extensive catalog of existing quiz games can be used and edited for own use
- Free basic version can be extended by several quiz types and functions for a fee
- A Game PIN is needed to take part in a quiz game on a device using a web browser or the app. Registration is not necessary.
Uses
Step by Step
The platform is accessed with most devices at the Kahoot! website. The language can be switched to German. From the menu you have various choices, for example, Play (join a Kahoot! quiz), Sign up (create an account) or Log in (access an existing account). Alternatively, go directly to kahoot.it, where you can join by entering a PIN.
Select Sign in to register with Kahoot!. In the first step, choose your account type (Teacher) and your workplace (Higher Education).
The different account types include different rights (e.g., for sharing public games) and restrictions on the number of players. Each account type can be upgraded to a paid plan to include further engagement features.
Register with your email address, or with your Google, Microsoft, Apple, or Clever account and a password. You will immediately be given the option to upgrade the basic plan. Click on Continue for free (below the fee-based plans) to select the basic plan and access the home page of your free Kahoot! account.
You can only create a quiz as a registered user. Click on Create in the top menu bar or Create kahoot in the right column.
You can design your own quiz or choose an existing quiz game, integrate it into your own quiz according to your liking and adapt it to save time.
In the basic version, a kahoot quiz consists of a single-choice or true or false question and the answers that you create in the editor. Instead of written answers, pictures are also possible. There is also an editor for mathematical equations in answers. Pictures or YouTube/Vimeo videos can be added to your kahoot too. In this way you can encourage students to watch a video that leads to a question more carefully.
On the left side of the editor, you add new questions and text slides to the kahoot and adjust their order by drag & drop. On the right-hand side, select the type of question, set the time limit and assign points for the respective question. Select a background by clicking on Themes in the upper menu bar or view your kahoot by clicking on Preview.
Click on Settings to give your kahoot a title and add a description. Select the language and lobby music you wish to have and decide whether the kahoot should be public or private.
Other features are only available in the paid version of Kahoot!, such as certain slide formats, layouts and question types.
Finally, click on Saveto test your kahoot, share it with others through various channels, or play it. To play together, simply share the PIN that appears. With this PIN players can edit the quiz questions even without a Kahoot! account. Depending on the setting, participants play online on their computer or smartphone.
To play a kahoot game with others, you can choose between different settings.
Click on Start to begin hosting a live game. A live kahoot is best hosted on a large screen, projector, or with videoconference software. All players see the questions and answers simultaneously and can use their smartphones as answer buzzers. The live kahoot can be played in individual or team mode. In the lobby on the left side of the screen, you can set various options, such as language, music, or question order.
By clicking on Assign (Zuweisen) you start a quiz that can be played independent of where and when, but within a certain time frame. Because the kahoot is not presented in real time, students can play at their own pace, where questions and answer alternatives are displayed on each player’s screen. You can also switch off the question timer and focus more on accuracy, for example, for more complex questions that require a certain amount of research.
In both environments you can randomize the question order and enable the Nickname generator to block inappropriate names.
Additionally, language and account type can be set in Profile settings and various mail notifications can be enabled or disabled in Privacy.
Useful tips
Check for prior knowledge
Lighten up your course and engage your students’ interest with an introductory quiz. At the beginning of the course or when introducing a new topic, ask for existing familiarity and adapt your content to this knowledge if necessary.
Check learning progress
Use the assessment of a quiz and analyze the results to identify strengths and weaknesses. Use it to find out how students are progressing in the learning process and where learning needs to be targeted or deepened.
Encourage repetition
Assist the learning process by encouraging your students to use the kahoot to revise the content on their own, even outside of class. Even with student-paced kahoots, points scored by all participants can be viewed on completion.
Creating your own kahoot quiz
Let your students create a quiz based on the course content themselves and then share it with others. This deepens knowledge and understanding of the topic.
Any questions?
Feel free to contact us by mail to lehrpfade@th-koeln.de!
