Taking student engagement across campus to the next level with Kahoot!

In the U.S., institutions of higher education are using a variety of unique and engaging methods to help their students succeed. Nowhere is that more true, than the College of Southern Idaho, where Kahoot! Is being used by faculty and staff alike to create a welcoming and engaging learning environment. 

The College of Southern Idaho (CSI) is a comprehensive, public community college, located in Twin Falls, Idaho. CSI’s 2021-2022 full-time equivalent was 4,467 and was recently designated a Hispanic-serving institution. This provides funding to institutions like CSI, that support them in strengthening institutional programs and services to expand educational opportunities for Hispanic Americans.

Like many institutions of higher education, CSI serves a diverse student population with a different set of goals and common challenges related to time management, financial resources, and encouragement to complete their learning goals.

“Our students come to us from a variety of backgrounds. (…) We have a lot of students who cannot consider college their absolute priority 24/7, so they have to balance their employment and a lot of personal obligations. (…) Based on this, we realized that looking for different avenues of engagement is always important because we have to find a priority for what we do in the midst of all sorts of things that are going on, Kahoot! met that need for us.” -Seeley-Case. 

CSI felt that providing the campus with a Kahoot! EDU institutional site-wide license was a good fit. 

Making learning and engagement accessible in the classroom 

As a comprehensive public community college serving primarily Idaho students, especially those located in Twin Falls and the surrounding agricultural communities, tools that provide access to learning are important.

CSI serves not only students entering college immediately following high school graduation but also many returning students or those seeking a credential after many years in the workforce. Many of these returning students did not experience the numerous educational technologies that exist today for K12 students, therefore keeping the barrier low for learning technology is vital for institutions like CSI.

To address these diverse needs, Kahoot! plays a significant role in equalizing in-classroom learning through inclusive, intuitive, collaborative, and game-based learning experiences. In this way, Kahoot! allows students to actively participate and engage with content encouraging different learning styles and making it easier to integrate technology into their education. 

“Some of my non-traditional students are some that seem to like Kahoot!, even more because they have never experienced that technology before. It is an equalizer, where everybody, no matter your background, seems to be able to use Kahoot!” Sarah Renaldi, Assistant Professor, Health Professions.

Even professors think back to their experience as undergraduate students, some may even remember the use of clickers in their courses. Kahoot! has drastically changed the dynamic when it comes to student response during live instruction or asynchronously.

“You remember the clicker? Now you don’t have to buy the clicker, it (Kahoot!) is way cooler, this will be more fun than that.” Perri Gardner, Associate Professor, Political Science.

Integrating Kahoot! for quick assessments and review 

When assigning readings or other at-home work, it can be hard for instructors to stimulate discussion or check for understanding of the course material. Kahoot! is a valuable resource for CSI instructors to quickly assess students and gauge their progress. This is how they can identify areas where additional support may be needed and tailor their teaching strategies accordingly.

The most common way that I use it (Kahoot!) is to assess learning. I assign a reading or a text a week and usually, I am coming with a kahoot afterwards.” – Perri Gardner, Associate Professor, Political Science.

For other instructors on campus, Kahoot! is a great tool to check for understanding while reviewing course material at key points in the semester and ahead of exams. This helps empower students to actively participate in their learning process, preparing them effectively for exams in a manner they find engaging and fun.

Increasing the engagement (and fun) in student recruitment and outreach 

In Idaho, the majority of high school students do not immediately enter college or university following their high school graduation (go-on rate). The state’s most recent go-on rate for high school students sat at 42% for Fall 2022 enrollment. This go-on rate has been a big focus for Idaho’s State Board of Education, which formed a Higher Education task force in 2017 and has focused heavily on strategies to improve the go-on rate. This means Idaho universities and colleges recruitment and admissions teams have an extra challenge of trying to convince Idaho high school students that college or university is a place they belong. 

Trying to help prospective students envision themselves on a college campus means showing them that campus life is not all about academics, but that there are other pieces to life as a college student that are exciting and inspiring. For the CSI Admissions team, Kahoot!’s features and functionalities are key to infusing a sense of fun into their presentations, tours, and events and helps put potential students at ease in an unfamiliar environment. 

Easy and intuitive platform for faculty and staff 

Despite having a variety of other instruction tools available to instructors on campus, Kahoot! has proven popular amongst instructors and admins alike. With so many legacy systems needing to be updated and more solutions entering the market, the internal resources to implement, deploy, train, and maintain campus solutions are a big challenge for large and small institutions. 

“Our greatest usage on campus is Kahoot!, and I think that we really both chose that and are continuing it just for ease of use. A lot of our other platforms seem to need a whole bunch of internal support to help get people up to speed, so they take our IT people, our teaching and learning center, and a lot of other resources that we just don’t always have.” -Seeley-Case.

Not only is the feedback positive on how easy Kahoot! is to use, but the platform allows instructors of varying levels of technological savviness to use it in a way they feel comfortable with. Kahoot! can be used for different purposes by each instructor or campus user. 

“Instructors can use it to the depth they want, it can be a quick quiz, or you can really build your class around the opportunities Kahoot! has.” -Seeley-Case.

 “For me, it is more and more become an integrated part of the lecture or the class that I am giving, (…) because you can put in slides as well, and build it into an ongoing lesson, lecture, or experience in the classroom.”  – Perri Gardner, Associate Professor Political Science.

By incorporating Kahoot! into the classroom, CSI succeeded in meeting the needs of all campus members by enhancing the overall learning experience, promoting inclusivity, increasing engagement, and helping bridge the gap for students.For CSI, Kahoot! has proven itself a valuable tool that meets the needs of learners, faculty, and staff alike. Encouraging others to explore Kahoot!, Seeley-Case emphasized the minimal risk involved in trying out the platform. 

Does your college or university have a Kahoot! success story that you want to share? We love hearing how faculty, staff and university leaders are using Kahoot! on their campuses to elevate the learning experience for their students. Reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok, or send us an email at press@kahoot.com to share your story!