A recent Student Pulse Survey from Top Hat found that 94 percent of college students wish to use their cell phones in class for academic purposes. If you’re like many instructors, there’s a good chance you’re concerned that phone use in the classroom will become too distracting and that it may hinder your students from participating in discussions, engaging in lessons, and staying on track to achieving learning objectives. While these concerns are quite valid, there are a number of ways you can integrate cell phones into the learning experience to engage and motivate you students. One example that has been effective for many instructors nationwide is the practice of having students use their cell phones to participate in Kahoot! activities. Kahoot! is a game-based learning and trivia platform that is free for educators. Instructors in higher education, across a variety of disciplines, use Kahoot! to foster classroom discussions and activities that are more fun, engaging, and inclusive. Unsure how Kahoot! could possibly be utilized in your course? Here are a few ideas to get you started.8 ways to use Kahoot! in your course

1. Pre-assess students’ knowledge before introducing new concepts.
2. Check students’ understanding.
3. Practice identifying key terms and definitions.
4. Pose ice-breakers at the start of the semester or the beginning of each lecture.
5. Survey students’ opinions and experiences.
6. Initiate classroom discussions and debates.
7. Encourage individual students or teams of students to create new Kahoot! activities.
8. Swap out traditional homework assignments and quizzes with fun Kahoot! challenges.

To learn more, visit Kahoot.com. You’ll be able to create a free account, review quick steps for getting started, and find additional ideas for using this resource in your course.More good newsMany of Paradigm’s learning solutions provide access to Kahoot! quizzes that align with chapter objectives. You can access these quizzes through our free instructor resources.