Two wonderful tools for teachers have become available for classrooms in the last year. They are useful for students because they involve repetition, visuals and instant feedback. They are not the same. Both employ the use of student-owned technology, primarily cell phones. Kahoot has replaced my use of jeopardy in the classroom. With Kahoot, the teacher creates a multiple choice question for the student. The question is projected onto the screen for the classroom to view. The students will use their cell phone or tablet or computer to answer the question. All the student sees on his or her phone are four colors. The student presses the color that corresponds to the correct answer.
A few things about Kahoot: 1. It's competitive. That adds a fun element for some students. I know it works in some of my classes because the kids groan and cheer during the "game." At times, the guys will try to touch their friend's cell phones to push the wrong answer on their phone. That doesn't sound good but it works out in my class just fine. It shows passion and engagement! Remind the students that they don't have to be competitive if they don't want to be; they can just focus on accuracy. Students receive more points for quicker answers. I do usually take a grade for Kahoot. However, since it's a bit competitive, I let them miss a couple before I start taking off points from their grade. 2. It allows repetition of important concepts you want your students to remember. The brain works by learning a concept, then sleep, then learn it again the next day. 3. It is teacher-directed. After every questions, Kahoot indicates how many students chose each answer. At that point, you can discuss why the wrong answers are wrong. That's data-driven instruction! It's also instant feedback for the students and teacher. 3. It's visual; you can put pictures and animations into the question. Visuals are especially good for ESL.
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