KAHOOT VS QUIZLET: WHAT IS THE BETTER ONLINE TEACHING TOOL?

Kahoot vs. Quizlet: What Is the Better Online Teaching Tool?

Matthew Josephson

Coastal Carolina University

EDIT 677: Assessment Technology & Learning Analytics

Dr. Lee

April 28th, 2022

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Introduction
As a teacher or professor, it is important to know what is best for your students. You need

to know what their strengths are as well as their weaknesses. The more you understand your

students the better teacher you will be. As of late, online teaching and online gaming in the

classroom has become increasingly useful. Especially when Covid-19 hit and struck a worldwide

pandemic, teachers had no choice but to make the switch to distance learning. Due to the fact

that teachers were not used to teaching or assessing using virtual learning, it was very tough and

a challenging transition for many.

Two of the most popular online teaching tools are the websites, apps, and games called

“Kahoot” and “Quizlet.” They are remarkably similar in which they have the same goal for

students, but they are each different in their own way. Kahoot is popular because it is used as a

review tool, where teachers can present a question on a screen and each student can answer their

question from their phone, computer, or tablet. It is a shared experience; teachers can give

feedback and review with the students right away while the game is being played. It is an

especially useful tool for studying and reviewing for tests and quizzes.

On the other hand, Quizlet is a learning tool that allows students to make flashcards,

study guides, and games. Quizlet is more commonly made by students where Kahoot is more

likely to be made by the teacher for the students. Quizlet and Kahoot are both free of charge and

easy to access. I was a college student during the time of Covid-19, and I was forced to learn

online and had to find ways to test myself while also keeping the material interesting and fun. I

have always wondered since then what is the more effective study tool, Kahoot or Quizlet.

Which gaming tool will increase students' ability to learn the material?
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Review of Literature

As a result of virtual learning in the last two years, there have been a few studies done on

this topic. The first of which I reviewed was “Students’ perception of Kahoot!’s influence on

teaching and learning.” This study was developed based on college students' experiences with

Kahoot! The participants were 14 students randomly selected, 10 being male and 4 being female.

Students agreed to participate and take a fifteen-to-twenty-minute interview at the end of the

course. The questions were focused on the students' experiences using Kahoot! The main priority

of this study was to understand Kahoot’s influence on classroom dynamics, their engagement,

motivation, and learning. They were also asked what they would change with the app and any

suggestions moving forward (Licorish, Helen, Owen, Daniel, Li George).

The participants were 14 randomly selected students, ten being male and four being

female. Some of them also suggested that using Kahoot while in the classroom “captured and

sustained” their attention as well as enabled them to take a break in the lecture and provided a

point of difference in learning. All students also stated that Kahoot! was an enjoyable activity

and it motivated them to pay more attention during the lecture than what they normally do such

as note taking or memorization. In terms of “attention,” using Kahoot! helped these students

closely examine lecture material to prepare for the Kahoot! and answer questions correctly. One

student said “I guess it keeps you more aware in a way, but you have got to listen throughout the

lecture to know what the answer is in a Kahoot! Which is also a good thing. So, you are always

focused if you want to do well in Kahoot!” (Student 7).

These students explained that using this app is a unique lecture experience that is

enjoyable and a change of pace in the classroom. They described it as a “rewarding lecture
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experience that is captivating and desirable” (Licorish, Helen, Owen, Daniel, Li George). This

study answered the question of, “Does using Kahoot! increase and influence classroom

dynamics?” There were four main factors that define classroom dynamics. They are attention and

focus, interaction, and engagement, learning and retention of knowledge, and fun and enjoyment.

All the students interviewed, they all had positive things to say about using Kahoot! in the

classroom.

The second study I found and reviewed was “Vocabulary development in College

Students Using Quizlet Digital Flashcards” (Jescintha, R.). The purpose of the study was to see if

Quizlet serves its purpose in developing vocabulary in students at the undergraduate level. This

study used pretest and posttest questionnaires. There were 70 participants, and they were divided

into 2 groups based on their pretest scores. The pretest had 26 multiple choice questions while

the posttest had 29 multiple choice questions. Group 1 had MALL (Mobile Assisted Language

Learning). While group 2 consisted of CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning). Group 1

learned by exploring the application “Quizlet” and by classroom collaboration. Group 2 learned

by online classes that were one hour in length a week. The researcher taught vocabulary using

digital flashcards with the help of Quizlet by sharing their screen during the online lectures

(Jescintha, R.).

Group 1 had 12 total students. Their pretest score had an average of 20 questions right,

and after the study their posttest jumped to an average of 23 questions correct. The results stated

that advanced learners improved after using the Quizlet app for vocabulary development. Group

2 had 58 students. They were classified as the intermediate learning group. The pretest average

for group 2 was 11. After the study, the posttest average was 17. Once again, this study came up
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with the results that using Quizlet improved students' vocabulary development. The only

difference was the intermediate learnings in group 2 had online classes and the digital flashcards

were created by the researcher.

There was a posttest questionnaire, in which they asked the students if they think the

quizlet app helped improve their English vocabulary. 38 students answered yes to only 3 students

answering no. More than 50% of the students preferred to use “flashcard mode” on quizlet. More

than 50% of the participants said they enjoy using quizlet because it is easy to use, fun and

interesting, and not time-consuming. In conclusion, 93% of the students said they will use the

quizlet app in the future (Jescintha, R.).

The third study I found and reviewed was “The effect of using Kahoot! For learning – A

literature review” (Wang A., Tahir R.). This research study's goal was to investigate the effects

of using Kahoot! for learning, specifically learning performance, classroom dynamics, student

anxiety, and the perceptions of students and teachers. As stated in the title, this study was a

literature review. There were multiple studies that they reviewed inside this article. There were

five questions that they wanted to answer. How does kahoot affect learning performance, how

does Kahoot affect classroom dynamics, how does Kahoot affect students’ anxiety, what are the

student's perception of Kahoot, and what are the teachers’ perception of Kahoot? From 2015 to

2018 the number of articles and studies they reviewed jumped to more than 50 (Wang A., Tahir

R.).

Of the studies they reviewed, twelve of them compared traditional type learning to

blended learning and game-based learning. All of them stated that using Kahoot! improved

academic results compared to the non-traditional teaching approaches where Kahoot! was one of
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the tools. “Most of the articles found in our literature review investigate how students perceive

the use of Kahoot! in the classroom, and eighty - two articles reported findings from the

students’ point of view. Seventeen of these articles include a statistical significance test related to

students’ perceptions of Kahoot! One result from these articles shows that playing Kahoot!

frequently over five months did not affect the students’ engagement, motivation, concentration,

and perceived learning negatively compared to the first time it was played, but the classroom

dynamics were affected” (Wang A., Tahir R.).

There were no critical findings in the reduction or increased anxiety level in students

while using Kahoot! In general students gave positive feedback about the game-based app.

Teachers and professors also enjoy using it as a tool to switch up the type of learning for the

students. They believe it is an enjoyable yet effective way to teach. Teachers’ motivation

increased significantly after starting to use Kahoot! It also enhanced their teaching, was

entertaining, and resulted in better student attention and concentration.

METHODOLOGY

I am currently not teaching in a classroom myself. However, I am a graduate assistant

with the football team at Coastal Carolina, so I created a way to test my questions by using

Kahoot! In the classroom, I tested this study during “Spring Ball.” We have position meetings

throughout the week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. After each week, I made a

Kahoot test of that week's material. I treated the daily kahoots as quizzes and the weekend

Kahoot’s as “tests” because they covered more material and were more in depth. I created an

excel spreadsheet to keep up with our players' grades during position meetings. I was able to
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compare their daily quiz grades to their performance on the field. I wanted to see if a low quiz

grade on a certain day translated to mental and physical mistakes on the field.

Did the players who knew what was going on in the classroom (position meeting) know

what was going on while on the field? I believe using Kahoot! was a great tool and different for

them. In relation to football, Kahoot has a timer on their questions, on the football field you must

be a fast processor and make calls and checks quickly. By using this app, it made it feel like an

in-game moment. Using paper quizzes, they can sit there and think, but with Kahoot! They saw

the timer and it made them feel some pressure, which is what we wanted.

My quantitative data was the percentages they scored during meetings. While my

qualitative data was the performance on the field as well as post spring ball interviews and a

questionnaire. The questionnaire had suggestions, positives, and negatives of the new Kahoot!

process.

ANALYSIS

I analyzed my data using Microsoft excel. I kept each student's score and then compared

it to their practice performance while watching film after practice while taking notes.
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If a player had a noticeable bad practice, I would use my spreadsheet as a reference to see

if the bad quiz grade and Kahoot! translated to the field. Students were aware of their test and

quiz scores during this process. I would give them their grades the next day with a tally of their

mental mistakes on the field. Often this would motivate them to do better on the next quiz.

FINDINGS

While watching practice I made note of any “Mental Errors” a player had. By mental

errors, they made the wrong call or did something that was not a physical error. This was the

biggest thing that I could tally to compare their performance on the field to their Kahoot! scores.

I learned that the players who took their quizzes seriously had fewer mental errors on the

field. One player, “Boykin” for example, graded highly on every single quiz. It translated on the
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field as he had the least number of mental errors and performed well. I was also able to use this

study to see which players were studying their playbook at night and which ones were not.

I also learned that the students loved the way we quizzed them throughout the spring

rather than the boring paper and written quizzes we usually have done in the past. As a result of

it all, they became a lot more competitive. They told me in the post spring interview that they

made it a competition to see who will have the best scores. They also enjoyed the timer and

pressure it put on them with having to click an answer choice fast, which made it like a game

situation. You cannot be on the field forever thinking of what call to make, which is why

Kahoot! was a great tool to use to simulate that game like feel.

After hearing from the players and seeing how the players performed during the spring, I

am going to use this Kahoot! Style process in the summer during camp. I will continue to quiz

them daily and test them on the weekends. They were much more engaged and locked into the

playbook this way. The mental errors were less than previous spring practices.

The findings in my data were like the ones I studied. My study as well as the research

was trying to figure out if using “gaming in the classroom” influenced the learning process. I

believe the first study (Licorish, Helen, Owen, Daniel, Li George) had the closest purpose to my

study. Their study had the four qualities that defined classroom dynamics. These four are

attention and focus, interaction, engagement, learning and retention of knowledge, and fun and

enjoyment.

In conclusion, despite the negatives of distant and virtual learning there are some

positives. I have found that using Kahoot! and Quizlet as an online teaching tool can help

students learn material in an enjoyable yet effective way.

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REFERENCES

Students’ perception of Kahoot!’s influence on teaching and learning. (n.d.). Retrieved May 1,

2022, from https://telrp.springeropen.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s41039-018-0078-8.pdf

Jescintha, R. (n.d.). VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT IN COLLEGE STUDENTS USING

QUIZLET DIGITAL FLASHCARDS - A STUDY. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from

https://eds.s.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=dab34c7c-2f70-4273-

af10-c4d5ee8626a3%40redis

Wang, A. I., & Tahir, R. (n.d.). The effect of using Kahoot! for learning - A literature review.

Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0360131520300208

token=EC6C9411294D69F6CCCAA651778EE0A9DD337DE72F0DF77034E045FBD1D

D8CDA452301749CE5A4D77C60C3A77A3D323C&originRegion=us-east-

1&originCreation=20220501234217