[4][5] In July 2023, Kahoot agreed to be acquired by Goldman Sachs Asset Management alongside General Atlantic, Glitrafjord, and others in a $1.72 billion all-cash deal.
was founded in 2012 by Morten Versvik, as well as a team of co-founders such as Johan Brand, Jamie Brooker and Asmund Furuseth in a joint project with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, collaborating with professor Alfe Inge Wang to develop the website.
The idea was to transform the classroom, where the teacher acted as the game show host, and the students were contenders, using their own mobile devices.
The latter was a disadvantage, as the students had to pay out of their own pocket to play Lecture Quiz, as the telecom providers at that time charged per megabyte transferred.
The first experiment with Lecture Quiz was carried out in a classroom with twenty students at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, where the focus was on efficiency and usefulness.
[28] The results from the experiment showed that Lecture Quiz was relatively easy to use, and contributed to increased learning.
From 2006 to 2011, four versions of Lecture Quiz were developed, where the main changes were related to improved usability, thus making it easier to create quizzes, and using newer technology for implementation.
was launched in 2013, the research community has conducted many experiments related to the effects of using the game-based learning platform in classrooms.
managed to boost students' engagement, motivation, concentration, and learning after using it repeatedly for five months.
The core factor to keep students' attention after heavy repeated usage was found to be the competitive nature of Kahoot!.
[32] The results show statistically significant improvement in motivation, engagement, enjoyment, and concentration for the gamified approach (Kahoot!)
Another quasi-experiment at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, in which 593 students participated, investigated how the use of points and audio in Kahoot!
[33] The results reveal that there are some significant differences whether audio and points are used in the areas of concentration, engagement, enjoyment, and motivation.
According to research by two students at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the network latency in accessing the website greatly influences the quality of experience of the platform, in both longitudinal and cross-sectional studies, with a sample size N=21.
has a positive effect on learning performance, classroom dynamics, attitudes, and anxiety, and the main challenges include "technical problems", "seeing questions and answers", "time stress", "fear of losing", and "it being hard to catch up".
Studies included in this review use a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research methods, that reveal, among other things, that Kahoot!
creates statistically significant improvement in learning performance compared to traditional teaching and other tools, on students’ and teachers’ perception of lectures, in classroom dynamics, and that Kahoot!
's pedagogical quality was evaluated and certified by Education Alliance Finland (formerly Kokoa Standard).
The assessment was done and developed by Education Alliance Finland in collaboration with Lauri Hietajärvi and Erika Maksniemi, researchers from the University of Helsinki.
's educational value is highest when students are creating quizzes of relevant topics themselves, because it uses creativity, and practices 21st-century skills.