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Snapshot

Type of Interaction: Synchronous
Type of Course: Online, Face-to-Face
Suggested Class Size: 10-15

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You may think that active learning involving elements such as classroom competitions and games can only happen in a face-to-face setting. However, there are many options available to instructors who want to host innovative and interactive video conferences. Read on for an instructional designer’s view of their active learning experience in a video conference from the student perspective.

Note: Although the example provided was done in an online synchronous meeting, this activity would easily translate to a face-to-face classroom.

Description

During an online course about multimedia principles, our instructor used Kahoot! during a synchronous meeting to create a dynamic and interactive learning experience.

Prior to the video conference, we completed our reading for the week (Mayer’s 12 multimedia principles). During the video conference, our instructor gave a short presentation about multimedia principles. The presentation purposely neglected the multimedia principles we had learned about in the reading, which generated a great deal of discussion among participants. After she finished her presentation, we each selected a slide to review (the presentation slide deck was added to the LMS  just prior to the online meeting). The idea was for each of us to fix our slide to make it adhere to a multimedia principle from the reading, and then re-post it to the LMS. We were given about 5 minutes to do this. If we didn’t finish in the 5 minutes, we could continue after we played the Kahoot! game.

Process

To play the game in a video conference, we had to first open a second browser to access the game. The first browser window is where the instructor managed the questions and leader board. The second window is where we submitted our responses. Here’s the flow:

1. The instructor opened the game and gave the game pin to the students.
2. Each student opened a second window to access the game.
3. Each student went back to the first window to see the first question.
4. Once the student determined the answer, they went back to their submission window to submit. The answers were color coded to make answer selection easier. Speed mattered, which meant we earned more points for correct answers submitted quickly.
5. After the answers were submitted, we returned to the instructor window to see the results of everyone’s responses.
6. Once the results were calculated, the leader board was updated.
7. This continued for 20 questions.
8. The instructor gave 5 points extra credit to the winner of the game.

Tool Implementation

This approach may seem complicated and clunky because of the need to switch between browser windows, but it didn’t take long for us to get the hang of it. I would suggest starting with some freebie warm up questions to allow students to get a feel for the flow. My experience was that everyone got really involved and had fun “competing” with each other. There was a lot of laughter and cheering and moaning, depending on how each of us fared on the leader board. This class had 12 students participate.

By the end of this online meeting, we had 1) prepared for class by reading the content for the week, 2) watched the instructor’s presentation, 3) applied principles by fixing a bad slide, and 4) played the Kahoot! game on multimedia principles. The online class was 90 minutes, which included a 5 minutes break and the 5 minute “fix a slide” exercise. By the end of it, I believe the class felt very comfortable with the week’s content, and had a good time meeting together.

Learn more about Kahoot! in a demo video. Or get Kahoot!