Technology Pursuit

Blending Technology Into the Language Arts Classroom

Comparing Classroom Response Systems: Kahoot, Pear Deck, and Quizizz

**A new updated comparison of response systems can be found here.

 

UPDATE:  The day after I tried out Quizizz with my students, the good people at Quizizz updated the software to include brand new controls, including unlimited time and non-randomized questions.  Definitely some fantastic upgrades.  I also updated my table below to reflect these changes.

Kahoot and Pear Deck have been staples in my classroom teaching this year, but in the past few weeks, I’ve become acquainted with Quizizz, another classroom response system.  A few days ago I while we were reviewing, I wanted a response system, but one that didn’t emphasize answering the question quickly, as students tend do (and are rewarded for doing) with Kahoot.  Pear Deck would have worked, but we were also having a group competition, so I wanted something that also had a scoreboard.

Enter Quizizz.

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Quizizz is newer on scene than Kahoot, but it does have some bonuses.  For one, the time allotted for each question can be programmed to up to 5 minutes; while students are still rewarded for answering the question faster than others, extending the time helps ease student anxiety.  They don’t feel as rushed to answer the question.

The program is also very intuitive.  It takes only a few minutes to throw together a quiz for a class.  The system also delivers questions in random order to each student, so the quiz process contains less class interaction than Pear Deck and Kahoot have, resulting in a quieter environment.

I won’t give up Pear Deck or Kahoot.  All three have a use in the classroom depending on teacher/student needs.  Here’s how I see their sequence in my teaching:

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1) Pear Deck comes first, as it is really an interactive presentation system, not solely a response system.  I can deliver a few slides of material and then ask students to respond to a question.  Pear Deck also works well with new material because it does not use a public scoreboard.  Students see others’ responses, but all responses are anonymous in the “presentation” and “student” view.  (Teachers can view the “teacher” view on their mobile devices and see how students answered each question.)

2) Quizizz is a logical next step.  With longer times for questions and a quieter environment, students are able to better concentrate and work through new material at their own pace.  At the end of the quiz, they can see how they compared to other students on the public scoreboard.  Students could also use code names or student ID numbers to add more anonymity.

Quizizz is also better than Kahoot for higher depth of knowledge questions or questions with passages.  If you want students to take their time, this is the better format.

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3) Kahoot is fabulous for rapid recall questions.  As much as we should stress critical thinking, there are some facts students still need to know (multiplication, countries, presidents) or skills they should do quickly (looking up a number on the periodical table).  For a quick-paced review, Kahoot is your tool.

What I do want to emphasize more than anything is that these are all tools for formative assessment.  I use these to check the pulse of the class, to determine what needs more review and what they understand well.  When I give a summative assessment, I do not want my students to feel time constraints, either placed on them by the application or by the teacher/classmates on Pear Deck waiting for them to answer.

Check out the table below for a more detailed comparison:

1Student Selection Response comparison Google Docs

9 Comments

  1. Will Northgrave

    August 13, 2015 at 2:02 am

    Some questions:

    Which of the services allow for teacher created student accounts?

    My experience with students anonymously assigning their own names in an environment that is going to be public is that often a student tries to express their personal sense of humour which is sometimes a little rough. What has been your experience? Are there ways to track?

    • Melissa Pilakowski

      August 13, 2015 at 2:39 am

      Great questions, Will! Pear Deck is Google integrated, so it will use whatever name is associated with a student Google account. Students never have the opportunity to type in a different name there.

      Kahoot and Quizizz both allow students to type in nicknames, but teachers can click on the name to kick them out of the game. I’ve had to do this a couple of times, but I give a quick reminder of being school appropriate. I see it as a quick lesson in digital citizenship.

      Exit Ticket is a service that allows for student accounts–that might be worth looking into.

      • Hey Melissa,

        My name is Langston Ware and I am an Educational Specialist for Bedford County Schools Systems in Bedford, VA. I love your edu blog as it gives me more insights into different educational platforms I can use with teachers.

        That being said. I noticed you talked about a review above called “Riddle.”

        I can’t find the exact website or tutorial videos to look at.

        Can you post the link to this site or email it to me?

        Thanks so much!

  2. Thanks for this great comparison. I’m familiar with Pear Deck but have not tried Kahoot or Quizziz. I like how you put these tools into a sequence and show how they each serve a specific purpose.

    I’d like to put a link to this post in a blog post I am writing about Pear Deck for the International Literacy Association. Is that okay?

  3. Anand Kharade (Andy!)

    August 11, 2018 at 2:59 pm

    I am going to enter in to new business area namely learning game like Kahoot, Pear Deck, and Quizizz. Here i would like to know does any one know more learning game educational platforms like Kahoot, Pear Deck, and Quizizz ? Kindly share there name it would be helpful to train my professionals.

  4. Hi Melissa, I’m Terra from Rolljak, a new response system that incorporate not only Multiple Choice Questions, but also open ended and draw response that allow students to collaboration their response with peers. I believe you will love Rolljak and currently we’re on the soft launch, so you can be our early access and enjoy all pro features for free. Please read our blog if you’re interested! https://www.rolljak.com/blog/rolljak-the-ultimate-teaching-platform

  5. Hello,

    Secondary teachers…need a way to motivate, reward, and teach your students? Try Kash-In , we allow teachers to create and monetize interactive lessons and quizzes, to award students with digital kash, instead of just points. Kash can be used to purchase incentives from an online store created by their teachers and school. Learn more at http://www.kash-in.com

  6. This comparison provides valuable insights into three popular classroom response systems: Kahoot, Pear Deck, and Quizizz. Each has its strengths, catering to different teaching needs and fostering interactive learning environments effectively.https://astreahillside.org/kahoot-vs-quizizz/

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