Create Live Quizzes with GimKit

We all know that our students LOVE to play quiz games. These games can be a fun and engaging way to review content or check for understanding. Many of us have been creating quizzes and using them in our classes for some time. There are a whole host of tools out there we can use to create out games. Recently a new tool piqued my interest. Not because of any particular feature but because of the fact that it was developed by a high school student.

GimKit is a web-based quiz tool created and maintained by, Josh Feinsilber, a high school student from Seattle. Josh created GimKit when he was a junior. I mentor high school entrepreneur teams so I was thrilled to see a tool created by an innovative student. Way to go, Josh!!

Overview

Using GimKit, teachers create custom quizzes that their students play as live games or as homework assignments. As students play the game, they earn in-game money they can use to purchase upgrades, power-ups, and other rewards. They need to be careful though, incorrect answers will cost them cash.

It is free to sign up for the basic plan, which gives you most of the features but a limited number of quizzes you can create. To add the ability to create more quizzes and manage more classes, you can upgrade to the Pro or Go package. The Pro package will cost you $4.99 a month while Go is $7.99 per month. To see a full breakdown of the pricing, visit the pricing page.

The game-play is similar to Kahoot! – students use a code to join the game and then answer questions on their own device. On the teacher screen, you can see which students are in the lead.

There are some fun features that set this apart from the typical quiz game application.

Features

• As a teacher, you can create your own quizzes, a class roster, and assign quizzes as homework.

  

• Use the KitCollab and have students work together to create their own quizzes.
• As students wait to for the game to start, they can draw on their screen. This a fun little hidden feature.
• The in-game reward system is pretty robust and I can see how it can motivate students to play and earn cash. There is a huge library of power-ups and rewards that students can purchase with the money they earn from playing the games.

• For teachers, there is an easy to navigate dashboard where you can manage quizzes, classes, and assignments.
• Quiz creation is super simple. You can add images to your questions. I like that the system automatically randomizes the questions and answers. Because this is so simple, you can create quizzes quickly.
• Teachers also have the ability to import quizzes from Quizlet.

If your students like to play quiz games, then you should give GimKit a try. It is a power-packed tool that your students will love to play.

Also, be sure to tell them that GimKit was created by a student just like them. Challenge them to think about what they could create if given the chance.

Way to go, Josh for creating a great tool! You have a great future ahead of you! Well done!