Key points:
During the height of the COVID-19 outbreak, teachers needed to become resourceful in how they delivered content to students. During this time, students experienced significant change and evolved into a more technologically-dependent group.
This sparked a period when online learning and digital resources gained substantial popularity, and one tool that helps students learn–while also feeling like a game instead of a lesson–is Gimkit.
I am an 8th-grade science teacher in a fairly large district, and I recognize the importance of these engaging and interactive resources to help students build knowledge and continue learning.
What is Gimkit?
To begin with, what is Gimkit? According to a tutorial, “Gimkit is an excellent game-based learning platform that combines fun and education, making it a highly engaging tool for both teachers and students. It works like a mashup of Kahoot and flash card platforms, but with several unique features that set it apart.
“Unlike other platforms, Gimkit allows students to earn virtual currency for every correct answer, which they can use to purchase power-ups, adding a competitive edge that keeps students motivated.”
Gimkit offers so much more than just a game-based learning experience for students–it can be used as an introduction to a lesson, as assigned homework, or as a tool for reviewing.
Building a Gimkit
From the teacher’s side of Gimkit, the platform makes it extremely easy to build lessons for the students to use. When you go to create a lesson, you are given many different options to help with the construction.
Jamie Keet explains: “After establishing your basic Kit information, you will then move onto the fun part–adding your questions! You will be given the option of adding a question, creating your Kit with Flashcards, continuing with KitCollab, adding from Gimkit’s Question Bank, or importing from Spreadsheet.”
Adding your questions is a great way to make sure your students are getting the exact information they have been provided in class, but some of the other options can help with a teacher’s time, which always seems to be scarce.
The option to add questions from the question bank allows teachers to view other created kits similar to their topic. With a few simple clicks, a teacher can add questions that meet the needs of their lesson.
Gimkit as data collection
Gimkit isn’t just a tool for students to gain knowledge and play games; it is also an excellent way for teachers to collect data on their students. As Amelia Bree observes:
“Gimkit reports explained show you both big pictures and small details. The look might change sometimes. But you will usually see:
- Overall Class Performance: This shows the average right answers. It tells you the total questions answered. It also shows how long the game took. It’s a good first look at how everyone understood.
- Individual Student Results: Click on each student’s name here. You see their personal game path. Their accuracy. Which questions did they get right or wrong? Sometimes, even how fast they answered.
- Question Breakdown: This part is very powerful. It shows how everyone did on each question you asked. You see how many got it right. How many missed it? Sometimes, it shows common wrong answers for multiple-choice questions.”
Being able to see this data can help ensure that your students are not just completing the required steps to finish the task, but are also working towards mastering the materials within your class.
When examining the data, if you identify trends related to specific questions or concepts that students are struggling with, you have the opportunity to revisit and reteach these areas.
Conclusion
As you can see, Gimkit isn’t just a tool for students to play games and have fun in class; it is also an opportunity for students to gain knowledge in your lessons while potentially having some fun in the process. Teachers can make creating content for their classes much easier by utilizing some of the built-in features Gimkit provides.
They can collect the meaningful data needed to ensure students are making progress in the areas where they want them to.
Works Cited
Breisacher, J. (2024, October 7). How Teachers Can Use Gimkit in the Classroom (a tutorial). Student-Centered World. https://www.studentcenteredworld.com/gimkit/
Keet, J. (2021, July 9). How to Use Gimkit- Step By Step Guide. Teachers.Tech.
https://teachers.tech/how-to-use-gimkit/
Bree, E. (2025, June 6). Unlock Data-Driven Teaching: Using Gimkit for Meaningful
Assessment Insights. GIMKIT JOIN.
https://gimkitjoin.net/gimkit-for-meaningful-assessment-insights/