With the new version you have not given us a choice to deactivate the answer streak bonus. This creates a situation where some students can get 1000 points for a question but other students can get 1500. It actually discourages a student from trying if they fall behind as it is no longer an even playing field. Please restore this ability for us to deactivate the answer streak on the "new" version. It used to come up at the beginning of each game in the old version but no longer does in the new one.
61 comments
Hi all!
Again, thank you so much for all the feedback about this. It's been eye-opening for our team to learn about the issues around Answer Streak bonuses. As of today, bonuses are officially a thing of the past. Answer Streaks still exist, but there are no points awarded for them.
Why didn't we re-instate this as a game option?
No other game option had near the impact this did on the outcome of games. As it's important that we provide a consistent experience that both hosts and players appreciate and recognize, we realized that this option needed to become uniform across all games.
Why did we keep the answer streaks?
Once we learned through your feedback that the bonus points had an adverse effect on underperforming students, we knew the core issue was point calculations. We believe that the answer streaks themselves still offer positive encouragement, as players don't necessarily have to compete for the highest score but also for the highest streak.
I thought this was launched a few months ago.
In March 2020, one of our product managers announced in this post's comment feed that "we have decided to remove the allocation of answer streak points". This was not a statement that such change was live, but rather we were actively working on it. As of today, the decision to go live with this change was made and we're happy to be announcing it to you :-)
I agree entirely with this post. Please return this option.
I only started using Kahoot recently with teaching apprentices and found that the answer streak encouraged guessing rather than thinking through what the question was asking. I then started disabling it and found this to be better for our classes.
I agree with the comments above. Bring it back the option to turn it off thanks.
I really need to disable the streak facility on my kahoot as we are using it for an official competition in two days time. Can this be done in any way? If I upgrade can I take it off and simply allow students to get points for correct answers?
We're new to the product, but I agree - not a big fan of the answer streak, particularly when you are offering fairly easy 'informational' presentations designed to just get boring info across in a fun way. We are offering minor prizes for the winners, and I have a feeling it's going to end up feeling pretty unfair.
Yes! Please bring back the option to disable the streak!
Pleeeease bring back the option to disable the streak!
How many people have to ask??? Give us the options back.
The options to......
Disable the answer streak
Toggle points on or off.
Thank you
It's really gone? I just can't believe. We need the option to play without answer streak bonus since in many cases the bonus turned to be unfair. (E.g. imagine a student who failes at the 4th questions and well defeated by another one who failed at the 1st question.)
I agree with everyone that wants the streak default changed. I think it should be the teacher's option whether to choose to reward answer streaks. My students don't like it, and I agree with other teachers that point out it discourages students and leads them the "check out" of the game. Please go back to the old system!
Streak is the dumbest think ever, please five us the options back. Useless devs.
Streak makes sure that the smartest pupils always win.
So yes. As a teacher I really want to disable this.
YES PLEASE BRING BACK! IT'S SUPER ANNOYING!
I agree too. The streak should always be an option to enable or disable. Enable if you have varying levels of difficulty and no one should be able to predict what question will come up next. Disable (which I always do) to keep the game fair and give every contestant a fighting chance.
Please, return the STREAK BONUS feature to enable/disable. :(
I also want the disable answer streak option brought back. The answer streak allows the top couple of students in my class to get so far ahead that the students who struggle just give up. For me, it makes Kahoot less valuable as a classroom tool. For my students, it makes Kahoot less fun and, thereby, less motivating.
I'm disappointed not to be able to revert to the old version. The only reason I did so was to disable streaks. Unfortunately I frequently have to ask my top students not to participate or the other option is to allow them to win every time. That makes this no longer a useful educational tool.
Disable streak bonus please.
Hi, I teach at an elementary school and Kahoot is a great motivational tool in my classes. The streak bonus, however, discourages weaker pupils. They lose even a meager chance of winning when stronger pupils start getting miles away in the race. I have paid my money, now I am a Pro Kahoot user. Please, give us an option to turn of the streak bonus.
Add my voice to those requesting the ability to disable the streak bonus. I used it occasionally in the past for quizzes we had done previously in the year (for end of quarter/semester reviews), but typically kept it off. I have a student this year finishing thousands of points ahead of 2nd place due to the streak bonus and my next to last and last place players are just giving up within a few questions because they know they can't catch up. Even my 2nd place players are giving up before the end since they know once their streak is broken they can't come close to my top player. I don't want to keep her from playing just because she's a good student.
Without the option of disabiling the answer streak the purpose of playing kahoot is almost defeated - the weaker students have no chance of catching up and the stronger students become even stonger. This kills the fun of playing becuase the game is almost rigged. PLEASE give us this option back.
I know this is gonna sound crabby, but I feel like it's a reasonable request/expectation. I haven't heard from any Kahoot staff on this topic. Two months since original input. Please advise.
Same. My students really dislike streaks and I don't understand why the ability to turn them off was removed. It breaks the game flow for students who miss a question mid-game. They become disengaged and frustrated. Streaks are killing my games and my students really dislike it.
I have had contact with someone from Kahoot!
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We have noticed this has become a regular request. We are tracking it, and I have brought it up with my supervisor. We are escalating this issue to the decision-makers, and will hopefully be able to change this soon :)
Thanks for bringing this to our attention! If you add your opinion on the forum as well, that will help us in showing the numbers that request this feature :)
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He also told me that the reason for not being able to disable the answer streak bonus was because only 1% of users used that option. So the choice was made to remove it to remove the "clutter".
Unbelievable...
- that our 'professional' fellow teachers and trainers never looked at the Kahoot options.
- that someone at Kahoot! thought it was a good idea when person A who does the first 5 questions right and last 5 wrong wins of person B with alternating right and wrong (so also 5 right and 5 wrong).
And I accept they both have an equal chance of winning, as the last questions are normally harder so I reckon person B deserves to win a bit more.
- not more people are posting here with the demand to return this option.
All in all I think the Streak bonus should be DISABLED as the default option.
It gets worse......
The answer streak bonus ALSO applies to a POLL question!!! That's right. If you start with a "fun" poll question (NO points and NO correct answer) such as "What is your favourite ice cream?" then once you start the questions with points all those who picked in the majority of the poll question get BONUS points!!!
It is incredibly unfair. My students hate it. Tell your friends to let Kahoot know..... We just want the OPTION of turning off the streak Hopefully we can make our voice heard. If you are reading this comment please comment again and let them know.
Please replace the clutter. (i.e. disable streak bonus) Possibly get a veteran teacher or two on your team to help with these kinds of decisions. I'd be happy to help.
GOOD NEWS:
Just got this message from Kahoot!
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Thank you so much for the clarification! Your comments have been directed straight to our Product managers, and we are already talking about fixing this issue! :)
Hopefully, we will have something concrete soon, but I know there is a lot in the pipeline, so I haven't received any specific times yet.
I appreciate that you have taken the time to explain your reasoning, as this will surely help with the discussions around it :)
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So I am hopefull they are going to fix this issue somewhere in the future.
I agree! Bring back the option to disable the Streak bonus, and I also agree that the Streak bonus should be DISABLED as the default option. Thank you!
Totally agree! Please bring back the option to disable the streak bonus! I have several classes and without this option I can't compare the results between the students!
Thank you!
Steak bonus option will definitely be missed
I can only agree. This feature was a must have. Players getting the first questions wrong stop playing and are giving up, because it is so difficult to get back in the game. Players with the same amount of correct answers will have very different scores. This is so bad. :(
+1 for disabling streak bonus, it noticeably demotivates students and discourages them from continuing playing.
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