Recently, the concept of gamification and the incorporation of coding and robotics have been very prevalent in today’s classrooms to encourage student engagement. Not only do students enjoy these games, but they provide interactive opportunities for students to learn, practice and master the content. That said, I decided to browse the internet in search of the best coding, robotics, and gamification tools that I could incorporate into my future classroom. I toyed around and created a mock artifacts with each of these tools to get a good sense of their accessibility, convenience, and effectiveness in the classroom. I also scored each tool using the Triple E Evaluation rubric after thoroughly assessing each item.
The first tool that I came across was Kahoot, which is a fun, colorful program that allows teachers to create their own quizzes. These quizzes are designed to be a competition amongst students, where the student with the quickest responses and most answers correct wins, providing an incentive for students to know the content and try their hardest. To use this tool, an interactive and/or SMART board is required, and a device with access to the internet is required for each student, whether it be a cell phone, laptop, iPad, etc. Its quick and easy to create one, from a teacher’s perspective, and very easy to log in and connect to the Kahoot, from a student’s perspective. As an example, I decided to create an account and construct my own mock Kahoot to fully experience the tool.
As depicted, the Kahoot is colorful, competitive and can be created and customized for nearly every lesson. In this case, I created my Kahoot to check for understanding about a book my class could be reading, such as the Hunger Games. Students would respond to each question, and their placements would be shown and ranked at the end. That said, another fun feature about Kahoot is that students can create their own usernames when playing. This can allows kids to answer anonymously and would allow students who may be struggling to avoid any embarrassment.
In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed using Kahoot and feel it could be an incredibly effective gamification tool to use in my future classroom. If I were to rank this on the Tripe E Evaluation scale, Kahoot would earn and honest score of 17/18. Due to its ease, accessibility, room for adaptation, and endless possibilities, Kahoot is by far one of the best completive quiz tools I have yet to toy around with. The only area where Kahoot lost a point would be in the category that refers to the tool’s availability to stay on task. For, when Kahoot begins to get very competitive, students may become distracted and a bit less focused on the content at hand.
With the success I found after evaluating and creating my own Kahoot, I decided to select a similar gamification tool and compare and contrast each platform to decided which is most effective. That said, I found Quizizz, a gamification tool that is about as easy to create as a Kahoot, but has different options as to how students will select responses. Quizizz prides itself on being a student-paced formative assessment that is fun and engaging for students at any level. Much like Kahoot, these quizzes are entirely customizable and the platform itself is colorful and fun. For my artifact, I decided to create a Quizizz similar to my Kahoot in order to get a better sense of the tools’ similarities and differences.
As first glance, the set up is visually different than Kahoot’s, and this tool allows teachers to get a sense of what their students will view on their tablets as well. That said, not much is different between the two when referencing the quiz’s set up, however there are differences regarding how the students use these tools. Whereas Kahoot is a competitive game, Quizizz is more designed for students to respond to the pre made quiz at their own pace, and allow for a more accurate measure of each student’s understanding of the content. For this matter, Quizizz serves as a more accurate reading of student understanding, but does not promote student engagement as much as a competitive Kahoot would.
All in all, Quizizz is a great tool to monitor each individual student’s progress in the form of an online, formative assessment. On the Tripe E Evauation scale, I decided to give Quizizz a whooping 17/18 as well. However, in this case, points were lost in the category that notes student motivation. Although a colorful and personalized quiz, this tool is much like a typical pen and paper formative assessment, and therefore lacks the ability to motivate students the way a competitive game may.
The final tool I decided to explore was a robot, Ozobot, which requires a basic knowledge and understanding of coding to operate the device. I selected this tool because I was given the opportunity to experiment with it in my own college classroom. Although a bit pricey, Ozobot is a tool that can easily introduce the concept of coding to students who have little to no experience with the subject, and can be adapted to lessons within the curriculum as well. In order to provide a basic understand of what Ozobot really is, I’ve attached an introduction video about the robot and its basic functions.
The video above does an excellent job at depicting Ozobot’s many uses and its adaptability in classrooms of all ages and levels. It provides students with a basic understanding of coding and could be incorporated into a variety of lessons. For example, worksheets could be designed to require certain colors as responses that can create a track for Ozobot to follow. This could promote student engagement because their incentive to complete the assignment would be the ultimate creation of a track for their Ozobot. Students will master the content at hand while also mastering the concept of coding that can be applied to future technological encounters.
When referring to the Triple E Evaluation rubric, Ozobot would score a 16/18, losing points in the “Time on Task” category. For, being that this robot has many different speed and trick options, students can become easily distracted and off task when attempting to complete an assigned task. When experimenting with this tool first hand, I found it difficult to keep from experimenting with the Ozobot myself, let alone if I was a curious, young learner. The Ozobot would also lose points in the accessibility category, if there was one, as each robot is about $50-$60 and could only be used during centers or stations, unless you are willing to spend a pretty penny.
In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed my search for effective gamification tools and robots that could be used in my future classroom. My personal favorite after this reflection would have to be Kahoot, simply due to its easy set-up, customization and competitive element. After just experimenting with it for a few minutes I felt as if I was just playing a game, and not at all like I was mastering the content as well. I feel as if this tool would be the most effective when keeping students engaged, and simply makes learning fun. That said, I also enjoyed how Quizizz can accurately assess my students’ current level of understanding, as I can use these results to decide what I must focus on instruction wise. I did also like Ozobot, and feel it would be my favorite option if it was just a bit cheaper and easier to set-up and/or maintain. Regardless, I feel that all of these tools could be incredibly helpful for me in the future, and could serve as fun and interactive ways to promote student learning and overall success.
Technology in the Curriculum 