Kahoot is basically a platform to make multiple choice questions into a game that is accessible using smartphones. This post is dedicated to laying down some of my thoughts, comments, and notes in making a Kahoot game for math classes. Specifically, I want to figure out how to make a “good” Kahoot game that is meaningful mathematically.

Since Kahoot takes on a multiple choice format, so the question becomes how do you make good multiple choice questions and how it can be used for learning. My initial thoughts regarding Kahoot is that it would be best used to look at vocabulary and concepts, addressing misconceptions and subtleties. This is due to the score system employed by Kahoot, where fast respondents are given a score bonus. When a question involves calculations, students who may be slower are at a disadvantage in the game, rewarding students who are able to perform calculations faster, which is not really my goal. Instead of speed, I want to encourage accuracy. However, simple calculations with nice numbers can be used to encourage students to work on their mental math. It also rewards students who are familiar with the material by doing homework and/or using work time in class productively.

I plan on making a Kahoot activity as a midterm review, for my grade 9 class and potentially workplace math 10s that review the basic concepts such as rules, common formulas, simple calculations, vocabulary, and definitions. After each question, I will spend time going over each question and point out where the question is from and what the common misconceptions are to help students build up what they need to review.

I will update this post after the Kahoot activity.

Update (Feb 13):

The Kahoots went fairly well. Points of consideration I have after doing Kahoot for 4 different classes are the following,

• Educational goals of Kahoot
• User tag
• Designing questions
• Length & attention span (related to designing questions)

Educational goals of Kahoot

The question behind for everything a teacher does should have the “why am I (are you) doing this?” Any Kahoot activity should have clear purpose. Take the use of Kahoot for review as an example, within the context of a review, it could be used as a casual way to expose students to a range of different topics and getting them to do some math or it could be used to pinpoint student weakness and help students build a study guide. These are all valid reasons behind introducing a Kahoot activity to the class, however, the teacher needs to know before hand what the purpose is and to plan accordingly based on that purpose. You might not need too much planning if Kahoot is going to be a casual and fun way of reviewing, but if you want to use Kahoot to pinpoint student weaknesses and plan their studying, there might need more formal scaffold for younger students to help them develop study habits.

User tag

Problems with inappropriate words or phrases in user name will always exist, therefore, it is the way the teacher addresses these incidents play a tremendous role in setting the tone and expectations in the language used in the classroom. The teacher needs to set a consequence and actually follow through. It might seem hard to identify which student created the user tag, but what you can do is to get students to put their phones down, hands off the device, and go through and check the user names on their phones one by one. Set a consequence that is severe and can be followed through such as a talk after school or involving parents and admin, however, just be careful when you choose to involve parents and admin because it could significantly damage your relationship you have with your students (which is where balancing comes in, how well do you think you can repair this relationship? How important is it to you to set an example of the language you will not tolerate in class? There is no right answer and it will be different depending on the teacher you are). I do not tolerate inappropriate language and I make it clear with my students that there will be personal consequences that will be enforced.

Designing questions

Kahoot is just a multiple choice question in the form of a game. It may feel new to the students, but after a few questions, students will quickly realize it is just math in disguise. This is why variety and variation needs to be thrown in. For math in particular, avoid having multiple calculation based questions and mix in some definition/vocabulary or even some true/false questions. You may also choose to add questions that involve random things such as someone’s birthday, company logos, mixing colors, or even questions for students to learn about you. Having a range of questions help keep students on their toes and keep students engaged for a bit longer.

Length and attention span

Kahoot should not take an entire class, that would be way too long. As discussed above, Kahoot’s core mechanic is basically a multiple choice. Students cannot and will not stay engage for a prolonged period of time. This is where planning out the length of Kahoot is important. I would suggest keeping the basic Kahoot package to ~20 questions, especially if you are going to stop and go through some of the questions. For students who want more, you may choose to design an advance set of questions for those who want to play more and give other students the option to work on their homework if they are tired of Kahoot. When planning out the length of the Kahoot, try and be like a chef: tease the students with just enough questions to whet their appetite for something new but not too much so they are sick of it. You want to be able to come back to Kahoot and have students want to do it, therefore, plan it with ambition and moderation so it remains fresh and exciting for the students.