Abstract:

The Internet and the introduction of multimedia in the classroom allow students to experience situations that complement their training in a more challenging and active way. A great deal of progress has been made in this regard and, in recent years, several online tools have appeared as teaching aids. Some of these innovations are Kahoot! and Socrative, which belong to a new generation of audience response tools (ART) linked to the utilisation of mobile devices in the classroom.

If we bear in mind that one of the major concerns of university teaching staff is students' lack of motivation, introducing this sort of technological tools can be seen as a means to promote both their participation and motivation.

On the basis of the aforementioned ideas, this study examines the effect of using these two on-line learning platforms (namely Kahoot! and Socrative) in different subjects included in the syllabi of the Degrees in Business Administration and in Finance and Accounting at a Spanish public university by comparing them in the academic year 2016/2017.

The aim of this paper is threefold: firstly, to measure and assess the results obtained in terms of improvements in students' academic performance and motivation. Secondly, to analyse and determine to what extent the use of the ART, as a learning tool based on games, enables us to achieve, among other things: more dynamic and diverting sessions, interactive assessments of students' performance, higher levels of participation and subject learning in the classroom. Thirdly, to ascertain whether there are any significant differences between the results obtained in each of the ART employed.

The innovative aspect of this research relies on the fact that it investigates the relevance of using new technologies in class to make theoretical classes more appealing to students and, at the same time, to motivate students to study the subject in order to obtain a better final mark.

Keywords:

Kahoot!, Socrative, ART, smartphones, academic improvement.