Teachers love the Kahoot app because it helps them turn boring lessons into fun, interactive games. It’s a revolutionary addition to the classroom and has been named among the best apps for teachers by Yahoo and Digital Trends.

Here at Smart Social, we agree that the Kahoot app is a wonderful learning tool, but we also want you to know how some students are using it in all the wrong ways.

What is the Kahoot app?

• The Kahoot app (or "Kahoot!") is a free game-based classroom platform for teachers to create and manage quizzes, surveys, or discussions
• Businesses can also use Kahoot for meetings and events, but Kahoot is mainly an educational platform
• The Kahoot app “gamifies” learning
• Teachers can create a new quiz (called Kahoots) or select quizzes that have already been created to present to their students
• Quizzes are multiple choice
• They can either be presented live on a projector or students can answer the questions individually on their own device
• Teachers can add videos, images, or diagrams to quizzes to make them more engaging
• Kahoot encourages students to share their quiz results and partake in peer discussions
• Additionally, teachers can assign Kahoots as homework
• Kahoots can be in real-time or a timed challenge

What can students do with the Kahoot app?

• Join classroom quizzes, surveys, or discussions
• Complete quizzes on their own
• Create their own games
• Challenge their friends to participate in Kahoots

What can teachers do with Kahoot?

• Assign Kahoots as homework
• Encourage students to create and participate in Kahoots
• Assess learning progress in real time
• Assign Kahoots as homework
• Encourage students to create and participate in Kahoots
• Assess learning progress in real time

Why should parents care?

• Students need to have a device that connects to the internet (like a smartphone or tablet) in order to participate in Kahoot quizzes, surveys, and discussions
• Students do not need to sign up for an account, instead teachers provide a pin number that students can enter to access the Kahoot
• Investors of Kahoot include Disney and Microsoft
• Similar to social media apps like Snapchat, Kahoot uses gamification to encourage students to engage more
• There are reports of students creating inappropriate usernames
• There are platforms available to students that will help them cheat by selecting all of the correct answers in a quiz
• That same platform can help students create spam bots that will crash the quiz while they’re supposed to be taking it

The Kahoot app in the news:

[On Kahoot] tech-savvy students can connect with students from across the globe to play or can connect with their peers after hours to compete for new scores.

–Common Sense Media

There have been about 60 million of [Kahoot] games created to date, a pretty massive amount considering this is educational content at the end of the day.  

–TechCrunch

Since [Kahoot] has grown in popularity over the past year, some students have begun trying to ‘hack’ the game.

–BuzzFeed News

According to Wired, Kahoot is using the same techniques as apps like Snapchat to keep students engaged at school

"The company claims more than 50 million users in total, with 13 million per month, and more than one million professional teachers creating content on the platform. Half of that content is shared openly for any user to use."

Source: Wired

With the rise in popularity of Kahoot in the classroom, students are finding ways to cheat on the app

"Kahoot has become a hugely popular learning tool in schools, and now teens are coming up with a variety of ways to break it."

"Across the internet, there are multiple platforms, tutorials, and people promising to help crash Kahoot games. Most of these hacks are created by teens."

Source: Buzzfeed News

What teachers say about the Kahoot app

“This a HIGHLY engaging and fun way to help review material with students.”

“Engaging! I love using Kahoot in my classroom. It is a great way to review content and assess student learning….”

“Although this game-based tool is not useful for deep learning, it is great for pre-assessment and review.”

“Great fun for the students, quick assessment, but doesn't show results overtime.”

Source: Common Sense Media

What can parents do?

• If your child has been asked to download the app: Download the app on your own, become familiar with how it works, then determine if it is safe for your family to use
• Find out how and where students communicate on the platform and discuss who your child can talk to (and what content they can talk about)
• Have a discussion with your children to ensure they understand that just because this is an app for learning doesn’t mean bad things can’t happen on the app
• If they come across anything negative or inappropriate, remind them that they can always come to you or a trusted adult

Conclusion

As long as parents regularly monitor what their students are doing on the Kahoot app, we believe this is a great app for family to have. If Kahoot is used as it’s intended, your kids can benefit from a fun new way to learn and compete with peers.