Copyright © 2020 The Author IDEAS is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 License Issued by English study program of IAIN Palopo IDEAS Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) Volume 8, Number 1, June 2020 pp. 1 – 12 Your Name & Your Co-author’s Name Cambria, 11pt Your Article Title Cambria, 11pt IDEAS, Vol. 6, No. 1, June 2020 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) The Benefits and Drawbacks of Kahoot: Students’ Perspective Gartika Pandu Bhuana gartika@ikipsiliwangi.com 1Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, IKIP Siliwangi, Cimahi Jawa Barat Abstract Technology and education are inseparable. Many schools or universities have integrated the use of technology in the classroom. The purpose is not only to bring the effectiveness of in the teaching, but also to enhance students’ motivation and participation in learning. Kahoot is one of the educational online games that is mostly used by the teacher. Unfortunately, some students think that there are problems on its usage. This study is intended to investigate the benefits and the drawbacks of Kahoot from students’ perspective. The descriptive qualitative method was considered suitable to be used. There were 50 students at one institution selected as the participants of the study. The data were collected through questionnaire and interview. Overall findings revealed that most of the students had positive attitude to the implementation of Kahoot. It offered the advantages and condition that could not be offered in conventional method. For example, it provided positive competitiveness and lively atmosphere in the class. However, some drawbacks were found. It was dealt with technical problem, such as internet connection, and the absence of discussion, and the frequency of its usage. Finally, it is suggested for the second language lecture to consider some aspects in the implementation of Kahoot. Keywords: Kahoot, students, perspective Introduction In today’s digital era, information and communication technology has been integrated in teaching and learning process in the classroom. The teachers have shifted their “chalk and talk” method, which induces boredom, to the modern one. They adopt technology in the classroom. They use smartphone or tablet that are very close to the students live nowadays. They even apply popular technological trend in education, such as mobile learning, educational social network, online learning, and educational games. One of educational games mostly used in the classroom is Kahoot. Kahoot is educational online learning platform (Bicen & Kocakoyun, 2018) with 70 million active users (Harrell, 2019). It is mostly used for assessing students, constructing quizzes, or reviewing the concept material learned (Lofti et al., 2021). It integrates the graphics, music, points, and leader board. Plump and LaRosa (2017) found that Kahoot is easy used for both teachers and students and requires no prior training to be implemented. For the teachers, for instance, they can utilize Kahoot to project multiple/survey questions to which students respond the question using a web browser on their smartphone. The questions can be added by picture and video. The teachers, here, can control the pace of play by setting up the time for the students to answer the question. For the students, they just have to enter the access code or pin to participate in the game. They then determine their nickname. To answer the question prepared by the teacher, the students just have to press the button for the right answer. Students whose nick name appear on the board indicate active participation. Students are also awarded points for answering the questions correctly, and timelessness of incorrect respond also impact the points awarded. At the end of the game, there is the recapitulation of students’ score. The teacher can find out which students who dominantly give the correct answer and vice versa. Several studies (e.g. Prieto et al., 2019; Licorish et al., 2018; Bicen & Kocakoyun, 2018; Barrio et al, 2016; Yien et al., 2011; Wang, 2015) found that Kahoot offered several advantages for teaching and learning process. It fosters students’ attention and engagement (Licorish et al., 2018 ; Barrio et al, 2016; Wang, 2015; Wang & Lieberoth, 2016). It improves classroom dynamic as the students get the direct feedback for their performance (Plump & LaRosa, 2017; Iwamoto et al., 2017). It also enhances students’ sense of community since the students can create, share, and exchange content with other in the class (Wang, 2015). Moreover, Kahoot also can increase students’ motivation because it includes competition in which it displays students’ point on the screen (Licorish et al, 2018; Bicen & Kocakoyun, 2018; Wang, 2015; Cameron & Bizo, 2019; Pais et al, 2018). More importantly, it offers fun, engaging and rewarding activities that can make students feel positive (Iwamoto et al., 2017; Yürük, 2019; Cameron & Bizo, 2019; Wang & Lieberoth, 2016) and learning process to be more effective (Bicen & Kocakoyun, 2018). A study conducted by Wibisono (2019) and Zarzycka-Piskorz (2016) even revealed that Kahoot was effective in improving students’ language skill such as reading and grammar. It is also proven to be able to improve the target language effectively (Yürük, 2019; Ares et al., 2018; Licorish et al., 2018). Apart from the benefits of Kahoot, Lofti et al. (2021) found that Kahoot offers some drawbacks on its implementation. Some students feel that it is not quite effective for teaching and learning process as there are no further discussion from the teacher related to the questions asked. Thus, they do not get the clarification of why their answer incorrect. Moreover, there is also technical problem while the teacher or students use it. This technical problem is related to the internet connection and quota. Thus, its usage in the classroom should be considered. The benefits and the drawbacks of Kahoot stated and found by the above experts finally leads this study to investigate further undergraduates’ perspective the use of Kahoot in the classroom. Their perspective needs to be found out as it can give subjective feedback for the teachers to the implementation of Kahoot in the classroom. Method Descriptive qualitative method was considerably effective for this study. It allowed to describe the data, fact, and condition naturally. Kim et al. (2017) mention that qualitative descriptive generated the data that describe who and what from a subjective perspective. This is in line with the aim of the study which investigate the benefits and drawback of Kahoot from the students’ perspective. The participants of the study were 50 undergraduate students (30 females and 20 males) at an institution in Cimahi. They have been experienced using Kahoot in their classroom. In other words, they have taken the class in which the lectures implemented Kahoot as part of the learning process. In collecting the data, questionnaire and interview were conducted. Questionnaire was consisted of 20 questions that were developed from the benefits and drawback of Kahoot proposed by some experts. The questionnaire was in the form of five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagrees to strongly agree. Meanwhile, the interview was semi-structured interview. Similar to the questionnaire, the question in interview was developed from several theories of Kahoot. Questionnaire data processed by calculating the answer from each point and question based on the Likert Scale formula. The gained score was then categorized into the interval score proposed by Pranatawijaya et al. (2019). 0 % –19.99 % Strongly Disagree 20 – 39.99 % Disagree 40 – 59.99 % Neutral 60 – 79.99 % Agree 80– 100 % Strongly Agree Meanwhile, the data from the interview were transcribed. It was then analysed and used to support the questionnaire data. Results The discussion of the findings elaborates the result of questionnaire and interview data. The data gained from questionnaire will be directly related to the interview data. Thus, the differences can be obviously revealed. Based on Likert scale calculation of the questionnaire related to the benefits of using Kahoot as the learning tool, it was found out that 69% students agreed that Kahoot offered the advantages. The detail of students’ answers is presented in the following table: Table 1 The Benefits of Using Kahoot from Students’ Perspective Table 1 shows that most of the students felt happy to the implementation of Kahoot in the classroom. They liked to play it as it was easy to be used. They also thought that Kahoot is a fun game. It not only formed a lively atmosphere for the process of learning, but also prompted them to be active as well as motivated them to get a good score. Several students thought that the use of Kahoot also helped them to understand the material that have been explained by the teacher better. Even though, there were 17 students who disagreed with the statement. Kahoot also allowed them to collaborate with their friend. They did a discussion with their friend to find the correct answers. It also created positive competition in the classroom. That is why some students believed that Kahoot was effective to be used in the classroom. The above findings corroborated the data gained from the interview. In the interview, most of the students thought that Kahoot was definitely a good learning tool. They were happy to use it in the classroom. In their opinion, Kahoot could make them to be more active. They also felt that Kahoot created lively learning ambience in the classroom. On the interview, it was also found that Kahoot also motivated them to study better. It helped them to focus on the material explained by the teacher as they were afraid of getting a bad score when they played Kahoot. Some of the students’ answers are provided below: S1 I like to play Kahoot. It was fun. I thought Kahoot offered several advantages. It helped to become active learner. It also motivated me to focus on the learning material as the question in Kahoot was related to it. S2 Kahoot is fun. I like it. It created good learning condition. S3 Kahoot created fun learning atmosphere. I like it. I participated actively in playing Kahoot. I also discuss the correct answer with my teammate. S4 Kahoot was good. It could melt the situation. When we felt tired of learning, Kahoot helped us. S5 Kahoot was fun. I felt that Kahoot helped to participate actively in the game. It also motivated to choose the correct answer as my score were displayed. S6 I thought Kahoot helped me a lot. It, for instance, helped me to be active. I always tried to choose the correct answer. I also tried to focus on the teacher’s explanation S7 Yes, I agreed with my friend. I always participated in playing Kahoot. I also actively discussed the answer with my friend. It helped us to focus on the learned material. The Likert scale calculation of the questionnaire also found that 67% students agreed that the use of Kahoot had the drawbacks in the learning process. These drawbacks included connection, the absence of discussion, and time allocation. The result of students’ answer on the question is showed in the following table: Table 2 The Drawbacks of Using Kahoot from Students’ Perspective The above data was little bit different with the interview data. On the interview, it was found that the problems of using Kahoot in the classroom dealt not only with connection and the absence of discussion, but also with the frequency of its usage. It was revealed that some students thought that the teacher used Kahoot a lot. They were getting bored of it. Therefore, they were suggested the teacher to find another educational game or limit its usage. In addition, the students also thought that they had not gained a certain competency after playing with Kahoot. They only knew that they played a game. They were not sure if this material was tested, they could answer the question correctly. All of this information is gained from the following statement: S1 Sometimes, I felt bored of it. Maybe, the teacher had to use another educational online game platform S2 Hmm I thought the teacher had to find another game because the frequency of using Kahoot is too much S3 The teacher had to limit its usage. She used it more than 7 times in semester. She can find another game. S4 The teacher probably could use another game. She was very often to use it. Then, I thought it will be better for teacher to discuss of why my answers were wrong. S5 I felt that the time given to answer the question is too short. S6 My internet signal impacts a lot in using Kahoot. Besides, there were no discussion of the wrong answer. S7 I think the internet signal. I did think I could answer the question correctly if the material presented in Kahoot was officially tested because I just felt that I played a game. Discussion Based on the findings, it can be concluded that from the students’ perspective, Kahoot offers not only advantages, but also disadvantages. This is in accordance with the study conducted by Lofti et al. (2021). Related to the advantages, it is undeniable that online educational classroom can create condition that cannot be gained in the conventional method (Licorish et al., 2018), such as enjoyable, lively, and competitive learning atmosphere. This is due to attractive display of Kahoot. As previously discussed in the background of the study that Kahoot combines colourful graphics and upbeat music. This can reduce stress and boost the students’ mood (Baltazar et al., 2019). Moreover, points and leader board of Kahoot support the students to be more active and competitive in answering the questions. Kahoot also creates meaningful learning process (Prieto et al., 2019) as well as supports the development of students’ cognitive and motivation (Licorish et al., 2018). This is proven by the data from questionnaire and interview, in which the students could pay attention and focus on the teachers’ explanation while they know the teacher will use Kahoot in the post activity. Besides, as there is “group” mode in Kahoot, it allows the students to collaborate with their classmate in answering the question. They can intensively discuss the correct answer of the questions. As a result, classroom condition become livelier. Although there are so many benefits of using Kahoot in the classroom, the teachers should pay attention to several things on its implementation. The data of the study found that there are some drawbacks of using Kahoot. Internet connection becomes the main obstacle here. As Kahoot is online application and the display is colourful, it requires a large amount of data bandwidth. Thus, good internet connection is really needed. To cope with this problem, the teachers basically can do some strategies. For example, the teachers can group the students who had poor internet signal with the good one. Thus, every student can participate in the activity. Second problem deals with the absence of discussion. This is in line with Lofti et al. (2021) study. In the investigated institution, it is found out that the teachers rarely make any review after playing Kahoot. Most of them use Kahoot as post-activity as formative test, quiz, or additional activity to spend the learning time. They do not make it as an integral part of the whilst-activity. Thus, at the end of the learning process, the students do not get any clarification of why their answer wrong as well as any conclusion of the material learned. Regarding this, Dadheech (n.d) says that care should be taken while using game learning approach as it can be difficult to align with the learning objective. Instead of get something to learn, the students will gain nothing to learn. The other problems are related to the time allocation and frequency of its usage. It is better for the teacher to limit the use of Kahoot although its benefit is quite tempting. Or, the teacher can find another educational online game that have the same impact with Kahoot in the classroom, such as Quizzes or Wordwall. Conclusion The finding indicates that in students’ opinion Kahoot offers advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of using Kahoot in the classroom includes: 1) creating good ambience for the students to learn; 2) providing a good competition in the classroom; 3) helping the students to be more active, whether in participating in the classroom activity or in doing a discussion; 4) increasing the students’ motivation in learning; and 5) pushing the students to be more focus on the material learned. On the other hand, the drawbacks of using Kahoot in the classroom are:1) internet connection; 2) the absence of discussion session, especially clarification of the wrong answer; 3) time allocation to answer the questions; and 4) the frequency of using Kahoot in the classroom. Based on the above findings, it is suggested for the teachers to considers some drawbacks that the students’ felt while they are playing Kahoot. The teachers, in this case, should be more creative in finding the new online game or method that can be used in the classroom. Thus, they do not frequently use Kahoot References Ares, A. M., Bernal, J., Nozal, M. J., Sánchez, F. J., & Bernal, J. (2018). Results of the use of Kahoot! gamification tool in a course of Chemistry. 1215–1222. https://doi.org/10.4995/head18.2018.8179 Baltazar, M., Västfjäll, D., Asutay, E., Koppel, L., & Saarikallio, S. (2019). Is it me or the music? Stress reduction and the role of regulation strategies and music. 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Teaching English with Technology, 16(3), 17–36.   Copyright © 2020 The Author IDEAS is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 License Issued by English study program of IAIN Palopo IDEAS Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) Volume 8, Number 1, June 2020 pp. 1 – 12 109 110 111 image2.emf image1.emf image1.png image15.png No Statements SD D N A SA 15 There are a lot of problem in using Kahoot 3 0 29 16 2 16 Internet connection become a problem in using Kahoot 0 0 9 20 21 17 I cannot answer the questions in Kahoot as I had poor internet signal 0 7 14 13 16 18 The questions asked in Kahoot need further discussion from the teacher 1 4 10 20 15 19 The teacher rarely do discussion after playing Kahoot 0 0 11 19 20 20 The time allocation to answer the question in Kahoot is too short 6 5 15 15 9 No Statements SDDNASA 15There are a lot of problem in using Kahoot 3029162 16Internet connection become a problem in using Kahoot0092021 17 I cannot answer the questions in Kahoot as I had poor internet signal 07141316 18 The questions asked in Kahoot need further discussion from the teacher 14102015 19The teacher rarely do discussion after playing Kahoot00111920 20 The time allocation to answer the question in Kahoot is too short 6515159 No Statements SD D N A SA 1 I am happy when the teacher use Kahoot in the learning process 0 0 14 22 14 2 I like to play Kahoot 0 0 13 14 23 3 Kahoot is easy to be used 0 0 15 16 19 4 Kahoot offers some advantages for the learning 5 9 10 12 14 5 Kahoot is a fun educational games 0 0 13 22 15 6 Kahoot creates attractive atmosphere for the learning process 2 6 16 19 7 7 Kahoot prompts me to be active in the classroom 0 2 13 26 9 8 Kahoot pushes me to get a good score 0 4 12 17 17 9 Kahoots increases collaboration with some friends in the classroom 0 3 14 17 16 10 Kahoot allows me to understand the learned material better 7 10 13 14 6 11 While the teacher use Kahoot in the beginning of the lesson, it can grab my attention 2 5 19 17 7 12 Kahoot can foster my engangement to the learning process 2 4 17 20 7 13 Kahoot create competitiveness in the classroom 0 3 13 20 14 14 Kahoot is effective to be used in the classroom 7 2 18 16 7 No Statements SDDNASA 1 I am happy when the teacher use Kahoot in the learning process 00142214 2 I like to play Kahoot 00131423 3 Kahoot is easy to be used 00151619 4 Kahoot offers some advantages for the learning 59101214 5 Kahoot is a fun educational games 00132215 6 Kahoot creates attractive atmosphere for the learning process 2616197 7 Kahoot prompts me to be active in the classroom 0213269 8 Kahoot pushes me to get a good score 04121717 9 Kahoots increases collaboration with some friends in the classroom 03141716 10 Kahoot allows me to understand the learned material better 71013146 11 While the teacher use Kahoot in the beginning of the lesson, it can grab my attention 2519177 12 Kahoot can foster my engangement to the learning process 2417207 13Kahoot create competitiveness in the classroom 03132014 14 Kahoot is effective to be used in the classroom 7218167