Kahoot!

Kahoot is an online, game-based learning platform, where users create, share, and play fun quizzes and trivia games. It can be accessed on a web browser, phone, or an app. Kahoot can be described as an open-enrollment course, as anyone who has access to the internet can participate. Alternatively, there is the option to make the quizzes you create private, which means only people with a certain code can access them. I love using it in a classroom setting, synchronously, as classmates face off against each other. Students get excited about the little bit of friendly competition between peers, and they don’t even notice they are fully immersed in the selected content. On the other hand, students can also access the content asynchronously. Single players can face solo challenges or do assigned Kahoots as “homework.” Kahoot is versatile and can be used in a centralized manner, or you could allow the students more freedom to branch off and choose what topics they’re interested in, in a more decentralized pathway. I have used this in the classroom many times, as it is a fun and flexible way to get students engaged, and I highly suggest using it in your classroom, or just to test out how much you know about dinosaurs, ice-cream, or any other random topic you choose to explore!

EdX

EdX is an online university-level course provider, that offers over 2000 courses from Harvard, MIT, Microsoft, and more. Most of the courses offered are free, but you can pay a small fee to get a certificate of completion. It offers a variety of courses that are offered through enrollment or that you can take and complete at your own pace. This variety also extends to the timing of the courses, and some you must complete according to a schedule and others are completely open and asynchronous. EdX is fully online, meaning you can learn anywhere, anytime. Open edX is the open-source platform that powers the edX courses and is freely available for educators and technologists to build learning tools and contribute to the platform. The courses that I have explored on edX are centralized courses, as they have a suggested pathway through the course materials. I personally completed the Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education course offered through UBCx and really enjoyed the course. There were many interactive materials, including videos, discussions, self-assessments, audio content, readings, word clouds, and assignments. During this course, we had to meet certain deadlines and completed the material along with our other classmates, whom I learned tremendous amounts from. Overall, I learned a ton and the platform was super user-friendly!