TASK 5 - "Kahoot!"

Hi! 😃 It’s Lucía Gil, today I am going to evaluate Kahoot!, an online educational tool based on games and questions. Teachers can create quizzes, discussions, or surveys to supplement the classes. Normally, these questions are projected in the classroom and students answer them while playing and learning at the same time, which encourages the motivation and participation.

To examine this online tool, I will useI two tools: the Rubric for eLearning Tool Evaluation and the Common Sense Privacy Program.

In the first place, I am going to talk about the functionality. The tool is restrictive to a limited number of users (50) and cannot be scaled. However, it is very easy to use, since itl has a user-friendly interface and it is easy for instructors and students to become skillful in a personalized and intuitive manner.

Talking about accessibility, the tool presents minor concerns in accessibility standards and user-focused participation, because it has some limited capacity to meet accessibility guidelines and to address the needs of diverse users, their various literacies, and capabilities. On the other hand, a positive point is that a proper use of the tool does not require equipment beyond what is typically available to instructors and students and all aspects of the tool can be used free of charge.

Next, I am going to examine the technical part. Talking about the desktop and laptop Operating Systems, users can effectively utilize the tool with any standard, up-to date operating system, so it works well. The same happens regarding the browser and the additional downloads, users can effectively utilize the tool with any standard, up-to-date browser and they do not need to download additional software or browser extensions.

Now, let’s talk about the mobile design of the tool. The access of Kahoot! works well, since it can be accessed, either through the download of an app or via a mobile browser, regardless of the mobile operating system and device and takes into consideration the constraints of a smaller-sized screen. In addition, it also works well when we talk about the functionality, due to there is no difference in functionality between apps designed for different mobile operating systems. Nevertheless, the mobile platform cannot be used in any capacity offline.

Talking about Data Protection, Privacy and Rights. Either instructors are the only users required to provide personal information to set up an account. Kahoot! collects information from all users who have an account (teachers), however, this information is only used for advertising. On the other hand, when a child under the age of 13 creates an account, the platform only collects their name and email address. Besides, users maintain ownership and copyright of their intellectual property/data; the user can keep data private and decide if/ how data is to be shared. And finally, the content and activity data cannot be archived, saved, or imported/ exported.

Regarding social presence, Kahoot! works well in the collaboration part, since it has the capacity to support a community of learning through both asynchronous and synchronous opportunities for communication, interactivity, and transfer of meaning between users. Talking about user accountability, instructors cannot control learner anonymity but the tool provides some solution for holding learners accountable for their actions.

Next, I am going to evaluate the teaching presence. The tool has easy-to-use features that would significantly improve an instructor’s ability to be present with learners via active management, monitoring, engagement, and feedback. Kahoot! is also adaptable to its environment: easily customized to suit the classroom context and targeted learning outcomes. Finally, the instructor can monitor learners’ performance on a variety of responsive measures, which shows that it works well.

Finally, we will examine the cognitive presence. The tool enhances engagement in targeted cognitive task(s) that were once overly complex or inconceivable through other means, which demonstrate that the tool works well. The same happens with the metacognitive engagement, since through the tool, learners can regularly receive formative feedback on learning. On the other hand, the tool presents minor concerns in high order thinking, because it may engage learners in higher order thinking skills.

The Next tool that I am going to use to evaluate Kahoot! is the Common Sense Privacy Program, which offers a score in different aspects of plenty of tools. These scores allow the platforms to be classified into: "Pass", "Warning" and "Fail". Being Kahoot! inside "Warning" with a total score of 66%.

Now, let’s see the scores of this platform 🔎:

In conclusion, Kahoot! is a free game-based learning online tool that makes students learn any subject, in any language, on any device in a funny way. Kahoot! collects personally identifiable information and other information and may receive a user’s personal information. The terms of Kahoot! state they use measures to protect users' personal information. Taking everything into account, although kahoot is safe in many aspects, we must be careful when using this online tool.