You walk into class, ready to learn. You sit down in your chair and prepare yourself for a lecture of sorts, like every other day. But today is different. The teacher has the projector on and plastered across the whiteboard is the word “Kahoot!” instantly letting you know that this is going to be a good class.

The highlight of any class for students here at Hollis Brookline High School is playing a Kahoot! quiz to review before a big test. “It’s really successful,” said Rebecca Balfour, a Psychology teacher here at HBHS. “I keep on using it because it works. I started using it in my Contemporary Issues class because of the success I had with Psychology.”

Kahoot! is a great way for teachers to easily offer a great way to review before a test. Balfour uses the quiz program as an alternative way for students to prepare for the AP Psychology test. Students agree that Kahoot! has improved their studying techniques and helped them retain the information. “Kahoot has changed my life. It’s made me better at everything,” Isaac Wimmer ‘18, AP Psychology expert, said. “I don’t know where I’d be today without it.”

Kahoot! has been shown to increase student attentiveness and engagement during class. The overall learning atmosphere of Kahoot! helps students, who might be easily distracted or disinterested by lectures and powerpoints, focus. College Professor Maria Gabbels from the University of Greenwich, UK, said, “The overall consensus was that it absolutely increases motivation and engagement. It’s a great way to instantly see which topics are less understood than others,” Gebbels said. “The subject I teach can be considered very dry and almost abstract. It’s not everyone’s favorite topic and Kahoot! makes it more fun.”

Kahoot! isn’t always the end-all for efficacious teaching materials around, though. “Despite Kahoot! being a message from the gods, it has some flaws,” James Surette ‘18 said. “For example, speed is an important factor, so students like me may rush to hit the answer quickly, instead of actually thinking it through.” In this sense, Kahoot! could promote laziness and low motivation in students if they aren’t on the leaderboard.

According to Kahoot! statistics, over 47% of teachers Kindergarten through 12th grade use Kahoot! in their classroom at least once during the school year. Every second of every day in 2017, an average of 3.3 Kahoot! games were hosted and played in schools across the world. Kahoot! is truly the teaching tool for all students and teachers alike.