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5 Nov 2020

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Greenwood College School successfully combines in-class and online instruction with Kahoot! EDU

We spoke with Jonathan Tepper, Executive Director of Information and Learning Technology, to learn how Kahoot! EDU has helped support, energize and empower teachers at Greenwood College School in their “HyFlex” blended learning model.

I’m the Executive Director of Information and Learning Technology at Greenwood College School in Toronto, Canada. As part of my role, I look after the portfolio of technology that helps teachers enrich learning. Because of COVID-19, one of my top priorities has been finding new ways to support and energize teachers, as well as equipping them with powerful tools for classroom, blended, and distance learning.

Kahoot! has been integral to our toolkit. It’s been woven into the fabric of learning at our school as far as I can remember, and it’s one of the most popular tools among our teachers. Students love it as well! When they hear the Kahoot! music, their eyes light up, and they get excited. It’s great for gamifying learning and building a community. Upgrading to Kahoot! EDU and getting a site license has helped us empower our educators with the tools to collaborate with each other and engage learners both in class and at home.

Greenwood College School playing a kahoot over Google Meet

Students connecting to a live kahoot from class and home

Seamlessly onboarding almost 80 educators to Kahoot! EDU

When I evaluate an EdTech tool, I start by looking at the security, the privacy, and the ability for the tool to work on all types of devices. Kahoot! EDU ticks all these boxes. Onboarding has been really straightforward: I simply send an email invite to teachers who request access. Close to 90% of our teachers are now using Kahoot! EDU, and it’s especially popular with math, English, geography, history, music, and French teachers!

Kahoot! is not only a great tool for learning. It brings staff and learners together.

Sarah Bruce, Principal

Using Kahoot! to successfully implement HyFlex learning

Over the past few months, we’ve been teaching with a HyFlex model. It means we are synchronously teaching students live in the classroom and at home. Grade 9-12 students are split into two cohorts. When one cohort is in class, the other is at home joining via video.

Students using Kahoot! outside during French class

Students during a French class

Students can choose on a daily basis if they’re going to come in to the school or learn from home. The tools we are using need to be flexible and function well in both scenarios in our blended learning model. We had to abandon some of the tools that we used previously because they didn’t work for distance learning.

Kahoot! EDU has been perfect for our current HyFlex model. With Kahoot! EDU, it doesn’t matter where you are, as students can interact and learn at home or in a classroom – they can connect to live kahoots in class and via video, and play student-paced challenges wherever they are.

Kahoot! makes comprehension checks fun and engaging when simultaneously teaching students in person and online.

Maggie Kirkpatrick, English Teacher

Improving student engagement and participation with advanced question types

The “Type answer” question type was one of the main reasons we upgraded to Kahoot! EDU. It was the first question type that caught our attention when we considered acquiring a site license. Our teachers love this feature, as they can remove guesswork by asking students to type the answer instead of selecting it from predefined alternatives.

What’s more, being able to import slides and add a mixture of advanced question types to create interactive lessons has opened a lot of new avenues for engaging students.

How Kahoot! reports identify knowledge gaps and consolidate learning

Our teachers have warmly welcomed Kahoot!’s tools for formative assessment. Now, teachers often start lessons with a kahoot that recaps what students learned the week before. This helps quickly identify gaps in students’ knowledge or misconceptions.

Some teachers get extra creative when it comes to using reports! For example, history teacher Eugene Henry provides an engaging “Assessment for Learning” throughout each history unit and also awards points in an ongoing history challenge, based on the scores from a report. According to Eugene, Kahoot! not only “adds a gaming dimension that makes material come to life,” but also “helps form a game plan and adapt future classes and assessments based on student performance.”

Strengthening our school spirit during times of physical distancing

Kahoot! is definitely bringing fun to a difficult situation during the global pandemic. Kahoot! EDU enabled us to increase the player limit so we can host kahoots with more students and strengthen the school spirit through bigger games. When our school building was closed early in the pandemic, we hosted our first-ever virtual “Kahoot! Spirit House” game with 80 students. It was a huge success!

In-person Kahoot! Spirit House Game

Kahoot! Spirit House Game before the pandemic

Virtual Kahoot! Spirit House Game

Kahoot! Spirit House Game now

“It turns out we didn’t miss a beat in terms of participation across Houses,” said Connor McFarlane, Coordinator of the Spirit House System. “I’d argue that Kahoot! allowed us to realize we can still unite our community, even when we’re all virtual.”

Also, we frequently use Kahoot! for staff engagement, and it has truly helped us all connect! As our Principal, Sarah Bruce, nicely summed up, “Kahoot! EDU is not only a great tool for learning, but it offers fun ways to give staff a break from thinking about COVID-19. It brings us together.”

Are you a school or district admin? Discover how Kahoot! EDU can connect and empower teachers across your school or district.

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