Kahoot! and socrative in higher education: a comparative study

Technology brings new challenges and opportunities to higher education institutions, as it can promote learner-centered activities. Mobile devices such as smartphones are very popular among students and can easily engage them and promote motivation and active learning. In this study, we investigate Tourism undergraduate students’ perceptions on the use of mobile technology in the classroom, specifically two quiz makers in a comparative perspective: Kahoot! and Socrative. The purpose of this two-stage study is to identify and meet students’ preferences, so as to design activities that can truly promote learning. The participants are Mathematics and English students from a Portuguese higher education institution. At the first stage, in a preliminary survey, 33 students have identified their quiz preferences and most of them (87,88%) selected Socrative as their favourite quiz maker. At the second stage, students were also inquired about their general perceptions and preferred features, such as collaborative mode, competition mode, self-paced mode or immediate feedback. Similar studies have shown that these tools can promote engagement, motivation, concentration and learning. Therefore, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of how technology can improve the learning process.