The outbreak of coronavirus has caused schools and universities in several countries to temporarily close and move their instruction online. To support you through this transition to distance learning if your school is affected, we’ve put together a list of free tools to help you engage students online. You can use them as standalone solutions or in combination with Kahoot! and its distance learning capabilities.

Students and teachers can play Kahoot! when not at school

Google Hangouts Meet

Run a class via a videoconference, encourage a discussion between students and interact with your learners online. Many teachers and business users also use this tool to facilitate live kahoots across distance. A few days ago, Google announced it would give free access to advanced video conferencing possibilities, for example, extended participant limit, until July 1.

Watch this video tutorial to see how you can host a kahoot live via video conferencing:

Skype

Using Skype, you can connect with your students individually or with an entire class to teach over videoconferencing. Combining it with the screen sharing feature, you can also host a live kahoot. Our ambassador Steve Auslander has been successfully using Skype to run his yearly global Kahoot! Cup with schools from different countries.

Additionally, we recommend you check out Skype in the classroom, a global learning community where you can find free classes in different subjects, join virtual field trips or connect with other classrooms anywhere in the world.

Zoom

This tool for videoconferencing and screen sharing has extended its capabilities included in the free licenses to support schools and businesses affected by coronavirus. For example, it allows you to host an unlimited number of video meetings with up to 100 participants. Also, together with the China Educational Information Platform, they launched a Zoom video conference platform that supports online education for all universities and colleges in China.

Flipgrid

Flipgrid is a social learning platform where students respond to discussion topics with short videos. For example, you can ask them to talk through their solution of a problem, review and summarize a chapter, or encourage them to reflect on a kahoot you recently played (what questions they liked, which ones were difficult, etc.)

Getty Images

Using relevant imagery in your instruction increases comprehension and makes learning content more engaging which is especially relevant when teaching remotely. The image library in Kahoot! will help you save time finding relevant, high quality visuals on a broad range of topics. You can get access to the full image library with millions of images by activating a free Premium license if your school was affected by the coronavirus.

YouTube

If you aren’t already using YouTube in your instruction, here are a few ideas:

  • Choose high quality videos relevant to your subject and create playlists by topic to share with your students
  • Record and upload a short lesson for your students to watch at home
  • Embed relevant YouTube videos into your kahoots to add more context
  • Have learners create their own videos to present research or their own take on a specific topic.

Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a free service that simplifies creation and distribution of learning assignments, as well as relevant files. For example, when you’re creating a challenge to send a student-paced kahoot, you can automatically share the link with your students via Google Classroom so they can play at home.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a platform facilitating an online classroom experience. It allows students, teachers, and staff to work together, create content, and share resources. With Kahoot!’s integration with Microsoft Teams, you can share a game or a link to an active student-paced game in challenge mode.

You can find more tips on how to ramp up remote learning programs with Microsoft Teams on the Microsoft EDU blog.

Google Forms

You can use this solution to collect student input, for example, feedback on a class or ideas for an activity. Business teacher Jacqueline Prester found a creative angle to using Google Forms in combination with Kahoot!’s spreadsheet importer feature. She uses this solution to co-create kahoots with students.

Any other tools you’d add to this list? Join the discussion on Twitter and share them with other educators! Let’s make distance learning awesome together. Download our new guide to distance learning to learn more about using Kahoot! to connect with students remotely.