Reflective Writing #8

PIDP 3230 – Assignment 1: Reflection 2

Objective

For this assignment, I watched 5 videos of different media enhanced assessment techniques by previous students of PIDP3230. Although many of the videos were excellently done, I’ve chosen to reflect on Victor Law’s video Kahoot! An Informal Assessment Strategy (Oct 2016). In this video, Victor speaks to the strengths and limitations of using Kahoot!, as well as gives basic instructions on how to use the assessment tool. This video caught my attention because there has been a push lately in my institution to use Kahoot!, and I used this as an opportunity to learn more about it.

Reflective

I found this video to be quite engaging for 2 reasons. Firstly, I liked the simple video format similar to a PowerPoint presentation. I may be old school, but I find flashy presentations to be more of a distraction to learning than an aid. I also find myself frequently caught up admiring an author’s visual effects skills, that I stop paying attention to the central message of the presentation. Law’s video was both short enough and plain enough to keep my interest for the duration.

The second reason I found the video engaging was the fact that Kahoot! appears to be very easy to setup and use. For me to use an assessment tool, it must not consume excess amounts of time in its setup. Using the readymade library of Kahoot! questions, I may go from signup to playing in 10 minutes. This is remarkable!

Interpretive

I found the idea of Kahoot! being used for pre-test review intriguing. I think having review in this fun, interactive, slightly competitive environment may be an excellent way to relieve stress and reinforce ideas. Kahoot’s website claims “Kahoot! fosters social learning, unlocks learners’ potential and deepens pedagogical impact” (Kahoot! 2017). For this reason I feel that it would be especially effective in Trades apprenticeship training. Apprentices are socialized and learn on-the-job skills through mentoring. It stands to reason they are receptive to social learning or they would not chose the apprenticeship path to knowledge.

Secondly, by having fun while reviewing a subject, students will have increased retention. Sarah Henderson echoes this in her conclusion from R. L. Garner’s study in Humor in Pedagogy: How Ha-Ha can Lead to Aha! (2006), “retention was strongest in the lectures with content-related humor, and that students reported more enjoyment in the experience” (2015).

Decisional

As a test, I decided to try Kahoot! as a review tool in my class this week. Initially, the idea of using the game received a lot of groans and lack of enthusiasm from the class. The group demeanor changed dramatically however once we started. I allowed students to play as themselves or partner with someone else. The students were heavily engaged and racing to recall information to beat their classmates in points. Because I controlled the pace of the game, I would pause on the results page and clarify any group misunderstandings before moving on. I felt this tool was extremely effective in assessing the knowledge of the class and in increasing their engagement.

In the future I will increase the usefulness of this digital media further by creating my own Kahoot! games tailored to my class. After viewing some of the PIDP3230 videos created by past students, I am blown away with what can be done with digital video software. I’m looking forward to learning how to use some of these tools to create that project.

References

Garner, R.L. (2006). Humor in Pedagogy: How Ha-Ha can Lead to Aha! College Teaching,

Vol. 54 , Iss. 1,2006

Henderson, S. (2015). Laughter and Learning: Humor Boosts Retention. Retrieved from:

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/laughter-learning-humor-boosts-retention-sarah-henderson

Kahoot! (2017). What is Kahoot!? Retrieved from:

https://kahoot.com/what-is-kahoot/

Law, V. (Oct 2016).  Kahoot! An Informal Assessment Strategy. Retrieved from: