Assessment Technology – Kahoot in the classroom?

This week we looked at assessment technology in class and we were asked to choose one assessment tool that we wanted to try out with our kiddos. I was impressed with all the different assessment technology that has become available in recent years. For example, Quizizz and Pear Deck were new tools that I had never heard about until recently this year. When having to choose an assessment technology tool to use with my Grade 2 students, I considered many different aspects that would ensure my students had a positive experience using the assessment tool I picked for them as well as select an assessment technology that would be able to assess content we were currently covering in class.

Seeing as my students are younger, I had to choose something user-friendly for my student’s age group and something that would not be overly complicated for them to understand. I did not want my kiddos to get frustrated or unmotivated when using the assessment tool, I selected. Keeping students engaged and having them excited to use this new assessment technology was a must when I started researching which application to use. Additionally, I had to think about the technology that is available at my school and that my students can use. We have various technology carts (i.e. laptops, Chromebooks, iPads) at my school and the use of computer carts is reserved for our older students, whereas the use of our iPad cart is reserved for our primary classes. This also influenced what assessment tool I was going to use with my students because not all features and functions of various applications can be accessed from iPads; I learned this the hard way during the pandemic when I had assigned some Google Slide interactive worksheets for my students and many of them came back saying they could not complete the Google Slide interactive worksheets from an iPad. Most importantly, I wanted my students to have a positive experience when using the assessment technology, I picked for them to use and that thought was always at the forefront of my selection process.

With all these factors in mind, I chose to use Kahoot as my assessment technology for this task. It is an assessment tool I have used in the past with my previous students. I wanted to create a Kahoot for my kiddos that I could integrate with my language arts program and I wanted to create an assessment in French to fit the requirements of the Grade 2 Interdisciplinary Curriculum as well. So given that I knew what I wanted to assess and that there was nothing that was already pre-made I could choose from in the Kahoot activities search engine, I prepared a Kahoot to use with our weekly word study task. Setting up the Kahoot did not take too long – I was probably done creating it within 30 minutes. What probably took the longest was screenshotting pictures and then editing the pictures so we could use them within the Kahoot activity. Additionally, selecting a prompt and vocabulary my students could understand with minimal help was something I took into consideration when I was preparing their Kahoot activity. I also made sure that I had signed out the iPad cart at our school previous to our Kahoot activity to ensure I had enough iPads for all my students to be able to partake in this activity; there are times when I might allow my students to work in groups/partners for a Kahoot activity, but for this particular assessment, I wanted each student to get the chance to complete the task independently. Seeing as this was a new activity we were trying together for the first time, I also wanted to allow sufficient time to walk my kiddos through this application and help them all log on properly to the Kahoot activity for the first time. Whenever we’re explaining a new activity to students or showing them how to maneuver a new application, we need to ensure we are giving them enough time to log on and get set up properly; once, they are comfortable and familiar with a program or application, they do not need as much time as they do for the first time they use any application. It is also super important to make note that as adults when we run through an application for the first time, we will be able to do this much quicker than children will be able to do it. Just walking them through locating the “Safari” icon on an iPad can take a few minutes and once you try to introduce them to an address bar and explain how to type in the URL address correctly in the designated area, you can be well into 15 minutes at times lol. Back as a new teacher, I used to take for granted the time needed for kids to get familiar with keyboards as well as be able to locate letters, symbols, or numbers on the keyboards. As I gained more teaching experience, providing adequate time when introducing new concepts and new technology tools was something I tried to keep in mind when deciding how long I should plan to make my lessons.

I was so thrilled by the enthusiasm I was met with when my students learned that we were trying out a new application in class. None of my students had ever tried a Kahoot before so everything we were doing together as a class was new and exciting for the kiddos. I was happy to see that all my students were very open to trying out this new application and they were all eager to start our learning activity. We started off with a few rules pertaining to the use of technology in the class and then moved on to a whole group demonstration where I asked my students to follow along while we all tried accessing the Kahoot activity together. I used my projector so my kiddos could follow along step by step while we all typed in the proper information to access our Kahoot activity. I was so impressed with my students listening skills and with their patience that day. Everyone was listening and following along throughout the whole lesson. It was clear my students were really engaged in this learning activity. Additionally, I was so pleased with how patient the kiddos were that day – everyone was working at different speeds and some students were able to log on quicker than others, but regardless of everyone’s pace that day, everyone did a great job of waiting for their turns, raising their hands when they needed help and waiting patiently while I helped everyone log on properly to the Kahoot activity. Some students needed extra help locating the proper keys on the keyboards or the correct icon on the iPads, but other than that it was relatively a smooth process to get them all logged on and set up on our Kahoot activity. At times, students were accidentally opening additional tabs and that caused some confusion, but it was manageable by stopping and letting the whole class know how to proceed if that did occur to them on their iPads. Once, we started the Kahoot activity, some kids were having difficulties reading the questions on their own (this could be because every student’s reading competencies are at different levels). However, this was an easy fix and I just started reading the questions out loud in French and reading out the possible answer options out loud as well that they could choose from. It took us about an hour to complete the whole Kahoot activity from start to finish (starting when we went over rules and expectations to the completion of the Kahoot activity and clean up of the iPads). Overall, I think this assessment activity was a success with no significant issues. I do believe that taking the time before we started to explain, and review expectations allowed the kids to have an enjoyable experience and allowed for a smooth lesson to take place. Moreover, I would use this kind of activity for a formative assessment in the future. I loved how at the end I was given an overall summary of questions my students struggled with which allowed me to go back and review with my students the following day.

I would certainly use this assessment tool again with my students in the future. I am also open to trying out other assessment technology in the classroom after this experience.  I loved how engaged my students were while using this tool and I loved how eager they were to try out the learning activity. I do feel that there is a time and place to incorporate the use of assessment technology in education. With younger children, I would stress that there should be clear instructions given to ensure our kiddos have a positive experience with any type of educational technology, and clearly stating expectations before you start an activity will ensure your lesson runs smoothly without a hitch. Personally, I would not solely rely on assessment technology to evaluate my students’ knowledge, but I do believe it can be used as a component in the evaluation process.