Blooket is a tool for teachers that helps them “level up classroom engagement” with questions and reviews (Blooket, 2021, para. 1). Blooket is a platform for learning that is based on games. Teachers host games by giving students sets of questions to answer on their own devices. This is a tool for assessment, particularly formative assessment.
When students get correct answers, they receive points, which allow them to buy and sell ‘Blooks’. You can use one of the hundreds of ready-made question sets on Blooket, or you can make your own set that is just for your class. This new take on reviewing or practicing material can increase student engagement and excitement.
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Learning Styles
Behaviorism is the study of how people learn by interacting with their surroundings. Positive reinforcement is the most obvious example. When students answer a question correctly on Blooket, they get points. This affects how they act because it makes them want to learn more so they can get more points.
Usefulness
We gave this tool 5 stars for how easy it was to use. There aren’t many instructions needed, and using the website is easy. After giving your email address, you can start right away by making a game or a set of questions. The website doesn’t have a FAQ page, but there is a “getting started” tutorial for teachers.
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Privacy
In terms of privacy, we gave this tool 3 stars. When registering to use the tool, the user, who must be older than 13, has to give out personal information like their first and last name and email address. Other information, like how the Internet is used, what kind of device is being used, and where the tool is being used, is also collected. In the privacy policy, it is clear what information is collected and what is done with it.
It seems like you can’t always choose what information is collected, but schools and parents can ask that student data be removed. In its privacy policy, Blooket says, “Blooket collects the minimum amount of information from students that is needed to use our Service.
We only ask students who are invited to play games or do homework to create a username.” Students who join as users with parental permission or who are over certain ages only have to give their names, email addresses, and usernames
Accessibility
We gave this tool a rating of 2 stars for how easy it is to use. There doesn’t seem to be an accessibility statement from Blooket. You can’t use Blooket with just a keyboard; a computer mouse or computer pad is also needed.
Accessibility could be improved by supporting screen readers, alternative ways to navigate, and text-to-speech and speech-to-text features when asking or answering questions.
The SAMR Model and Booklet
The SAMR model by Dr. Ruben Puentedura is a way to look at how technology is used in a classroom. As you try to use online tools in your classroom, you can use this model as a way to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
Here’s one-way Blooket could fit into the SAMR model:
Students use Blooket to virtually answer quiz questions (instead of using a pencil and paper).
Students can play Blooket games from home, the library, or anywhere else in the world and get feedback right away.
Students can learn more about the material by playing different games.
Students can play games against other classes from around the world.
Since technology is changing faster than ever, it is important that we use it in schools. We hope that you’ll think of Blooket as an example of how technology can help students learn and understand things better.
Activities for Learning
Math \sSpeedy Having math races with AI ghosts or other students makes people want to learn more about basic math.
Students can see how well they understand fractions by looking at a picture of a pie chart and then choosing the right proportion value for the picture that goes with it.
Science students can play a game where they have to list the correct parts of a cell based on a picture, the elements of the periodic table, or even pop culture references or two-word descriptions of compounds.
Leveling Up: Students could use pencil and paper to make their own “Blooks” for each element in the periodic table, or they could work together to make a bank of quiz questions and host the game for a younger class or family members.
Language and English Arts
Students can be asked to make a list of all the parts of a sentence (subject, predicate, etc.).
Social Studies
Students can work on remembering the names of states, capitals, and countries.
Using Blooket for Formative Assessment
All of the games we’ve talked about so far let both the student and the teacher get direct feedback. The student can see in real-time which question(s) they got wrong. This will help the student figure out what they need to look at more closely.
As a teacher, you can see if your students are fully understanding the information you are teaching them during a session. By looking at how students responded at the end of each session, you can find out what parts of the topic they didn’t understand and go over them again before moving on to the next one.
