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Boost student engagement with the Poll widget
In this guide, we’ll walk you through setting up the Poll widget, share its key benefits, and provide ideas to use it for formative assessment, student check-ins, and fun learning games.
How to use Kialo Edu in Classroomscreen
Alice Whitting6 min
Looking for a way to make class discussions more inclusive, thoughtful, and organized? Add Kialo Edu to your tech toolkit and read this guide to having inclusive, critical thinking discussions in your classroom.
Kialo is a free web-based platform that turns arguments into visual, interactive maps. It’s like a digital debate board where every claim is structured as a pro or con under a central thesis—and the best part? Everyone can contribute at the same time.
Here’s how it works:
- Arguments are visually organized as trees or sunbursts, making complex reasoning easy to follow.
- Discussions are automatically saved. You can review or assess later with ease.
- Divide students into breakout discussions and monitor progress across the board.
- Provide feedback, score claims, and track participation—all built-in.
note:
There is also an Anonymous mode, which allows students to contribute through fun avatars instead of their names.
Step 1: Set up your discussion in Kialo Edu
Kick off your discussion by selecting a ready-made topic from the Kialo Edu Library, home to 600+ curriculum-aligned debates designed to spark critical thinking and classroom engagement. These aren’t just any prompts—they come with background info, guiding questions, and claim trees that help students develop reasoned arguments and understand multiple perspectives.
Each one helps students practice critical thinking tools and techniques in an engaging, visually structured format. You can also customize any topic or build your own in minutes, tailoring it to fit your lesson goals and your students’ needs.
example:
Ancient Athens or Sparta: Which was the better place to live? Dive into the politics, culture, and military life of two of ancient Greece’s most influential city-states. Students will debate the merits of artistic freedom and democracy versus discipline and military power.
Step 2: Embed Kialo into Classroomscreen
Once you’ve created your discussion - we’ve picked ‘Should anyone own outer space?’ - it’s time to embed it directly into Classroomscreen for a seamless discussion.
Here’s how:
- In Kialo Edu, go to the Sharing tab and generate an embed code.
- In Classroomscreen, add the Embed widget.
- Paste your Kialo code and resize the window to fit your screen setup.
You’ve now created an interactive, online classroom discussion board that students can view in real-time on the main screen. No extra tabs or distractions.
tip:
Pick a themed background from our selection of images and illustrations.
Step 3: Use Classroomscreen widgets to guide and structure the discussion
Kialo Edu works very well with our widgets that provide the structure needed for a class discussion.
Here are some of our suggestions:
- Set discussion periods or timed rebuttals using our Timer/Visual timer widgets.
- Add a QR code to link to the Kialo Edu platform for students to add their claims to.
- Remind students of appropriate discussion volume by placing an appropriate Work symbol next to the Sound level widget.
- Add a discussion schedule with the Timetable widget.
- Add decorative themed stickers to match your fun background!
tip:
Are you keeping score? Add the Scoreboard widget and some fun team names to bring the competition.
Ready to try it?
Explore Kialo Edu’s platform here and start fostering inclusive, thoughtful discussions today.
