Best Practices

Below is a set of best practices the authors have put together from their experiences using Kahoot! quizzes in the classroom.

Creating a Kahoot!
Administering a Kahoot!
Assessing Kahoot! Results

Creating a Kahoot!

Here are 5 simple steps:

  1. Sign up or log in:
    Go to https://kahoot.com and log in to your account or sign up.
  2. Pick a game type:
    Click “New K!” in the top navigation bar and pick a game type. The game type for a Kahoot cannot be changed after it’s created. You can choose from:

    • Quiz – a competitive multiple choice question game
    • Jumble – a competitive sorting game where you have to place answers in correct order
    • Survey – a multiple choice game to gather opinions (no points)
    • Discussion – a one question survey
  3. Add details and settings
    Once chosen, fill in the details and settings for the Kahoot!.
  4. Add questions
    Set up questions and answers. Adjust time limits and turn points on or off.  Add an image or YouTube video to the questions – this creates additional engagement.On quizzes, you must mark at least one answer correct. Setting more than one answer as correct will allow any correct answer to award points. Players cannot submit more than one answer per question.
  5. Save progress
    Between adding questions, it’s good to regularly use the “Save” button. This will update your database and give you choices to continue editing, preview, play, or share your newly made Kahoot!

When you’re done editing, it’s time to play!

Administering a Kahoot!

Projection

A live Kahoot is intended to be displayed on a large screen projector in front of an audience (like a classroom of students). Audience members use their own web-enabled devices to enter your game PIN in the Kahoot mobile app or at kahoot.it in their browser to answer questions.

Initial tech check

Since Kahoot! is an internet-based service, connectivity is crucial to a successful event. You may want to consult with your IT department if you are planning to have a large lecture connect to the wifi at one time.

Content check

On this website we provide descriptions of Kahoots created by someone else, the best way to review questions, accuracy of info and relevance for your audience is by using  the “Preview” feature and then adapting the content for your specific course.

Practice to make perfect

Between questions, take time to discuss responses with your audience. Always explain the correct answer and if time allows why the alternative answers were incorrect.

How to host

The best way to start a game is to…

  1. Go to https://kahoot.com and log in to your account or sign up.
  2. Find the game you want to host.
  3. Click “Play” to launch the game. Remember that questions need to be displayed on a big screen so that all players can see.
  4. Review which game options are on/off and adjust to your preferences – for example, if you’d like to randomize the order of questions or use our nickname generator feature for players.
  5. Choose “Classic” or “Team” mode .
  6. Wait for everyone to join, then click “Start”.
  7. Use spacebar on your keyboard or the “next” button to progress through the game.

Or you can….watch this handy video!

Pro Tips

  • Incentives matter: making each Kahoot a small stakes activity increases engagement.
  • If you give a Kahoot as a review, make sure you reward students for correct answers. Kahoot provides a downloadable file with each student name and the number of questions correctly answer.
  • Turn on the podium feature! The students who have answered correctly the fastest most often will appear on the projector in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place after each question. This dramatically increases engagement among your top performers. You may also wish to reward students on the podium with additional extra credit.
  • Kahoot allows you to embed images. These images enhance the experience and make it more relevant and fun.

Assessing a Kahoot!

Kahoot! Quizzes allow students to either select a username themselves or the system can generate a username for them. If instructors allow the Kahoot system to select usernames for students, there will need to be some cipher that allows instructors to link students to gradebook entries. This could involve students completing a Google Survey that asks for their LMS/CMS username and their Kahoot username. An alternative is to force students to use their school-affiliated access ID so that it is easier to sync with gradebooks. Each Kahoot has spreadsheet results that list students overall score and number of correct/incorrect answers. If syncing with a LMS/CMS system, a vlookup command can connect the two spreadsheets.

Individual Kahoot! questions can be graded or ungraded, and is set in the question creation stage. Questions in an individual Kahoot! can also be edited to allow for points or be open as a discussion question. Kahoot questions are graded as 0/1 in the simplest version of the game, but each game has multiple options that allow for more varied scoring methods.

Countdown Timer

Each game has a countdown timer that also awards points based on speed of accurate answers. Inaccurate answers, regardless of how soon they are entered, receive no credit. If Kahoots! are used as a substitute for traditional grades, assessment would most likely be based on accuracy, but bonus points may be assigned for overall speed score or position on a leaderboard.

Streak Bonus

In the game options section, before beginning the game, instructors have the option to enable streak bonuses for students that answer multiple questions in a row correctly. Once a question is answered incorrectly, the streak resets. Students can see their streak and the leaderboard after each question will display the number of students on a streak.

Caution: Team Mode

Kahoots! can be administered in a group setting where students enter a team name and then their individual names. This can be great for large classes, which forces students to interact on a shared device. From an assessment standpoint, however, only the team name is reported in the spreadsheet and not the individual players. You will want to ask students to write their team name and usernames on a notecard if you plan to award credit for participation.