In this episode

00:00   Introduction to the Inside Learning Podcast

00:15   The Changing Landscape of Education

00:34   Guest Introduction: Sean Darcy from Kahoot!

01:38   Engaging Students in the Modern Classroom

05:03   The Role of AI in Education

09:29   The Future of Work and Lifelong Learning

15:31   Practical Tips for Using Kahoot!

21:08   Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks

This article mentioned during the episode is available at:
Training After Layoffs: 3 Strategies to Rebuild Engagement and Performance


Transcript

Aidan McCullen:
Today’s classrooms have changed, our attention has changed, and the tools we use to learn are changing even faster. Many teachers report that students are harder to engage than they were before the pandemic, yet platforms built around play, curiosity and interaction seem to be cutting through that fog. Our guest works for Europe’s largest EdTech company. He has spent his career at the intersection of technology, pedagogy and motivation. His work focuses on how interactive learning, gamification and now AI can help teachers create environments where students participate, not just sit through content. We’ll explore what this means for classrooms, for learner psychology and for the future of education in a world where attention has become the scarce resource. It is a pleasure to welcome Chief Solutions Officer at Kahoot!, Sean D’Arcy. Welcome to the show.

Sean D’Arcy:
Thanks so much, Aidan. It’s great to be here with you today.

Aidan McCullen:
Great to have you. And I’d say people were expecting an Irish accent there, Sean, as well.

Sean D’Arcy:
I’ll do my best, but you’ll have to settle for Canadian today.

Aidan McCullen:
Sean was telling me when he comes into Ireland, often he’ll be greeted by the passport officers and they’ll say, “Welcome home, Mr D’Arcy.”

Sean D’Arcy:
My middle name is actually Patrick, so it’s like my parents couldn’t get enough of the Irish name, so they had to give me a middle name, Patrick, in addition to Sean.

Aidan McCullen:
Let’s get stuck in — we’ve a lot to get through. I’ve been trawling through your articles that you’ve written on the Kahoot! blog, but you’ve, as I said in the intro, worked across education markets for years. And I wondered what was the biggest shift you’ve seen in how students show up in learning today?

Sean D’Arcy:
Even before the pandemic, I think we saw a big shift already happening. We have around 9 million active teachers on our platform in the last 12 months, and they all struggle with the same thing — really engaging kids to attend to whatever’s being taught. A few years ago the issue was paying attention. More recently it has become just showing up at all. One of the big trends we see in the US in particular is a lot of schools where the students actually aren’t in class. So we need solutions that not only help kids drive learning outcomes, but at the most basic level, just help them really show up to learn. And that’s really the challenge.

Aidan McCullen:
When did you see the real shift towards engagement and the use of tools like Kahoot!?

Sean D’Arcy:
Pre-pandemic, the trend was already ramping up. The advent of one-to-one devices — Chromebooks, Apple iPads — really accelerated things. And then when the pandemic hit, everything went into hyperspeed. Suddenly it wasn’t a nice-to-have, it was a must-have: kids were at home, teachers needed tools to keep them focused and engaged. Post-pandemic, we saw a continuation — a new level-setting of what was expected in learning, with more engaging solutions like ours being used day-to-day.

Aidan McCullen:
I wondered about this, Sean — are people blaming reduced attention spans, or maybe an uplift in the amount of information expected to be learned?

Sean D’Arcy:
It’s a bit of both. Kids are learning and spending their time differently than they did five or ten years ago. They spend a lot more time in gamified or gaming environments, so when they come to school there’s an expectation that some gaming elements will be part of learning. And curriculum needs have also changed. There’s a growing need for skill development — what we call Future-Ready Skills. We have pedagogies like Learners to Leaders, where kids create their own kahoots to play with classmates. It develops critical thinking, collaboration, communication and leadership skills. That sort of skillset development is becoming more and more front and centre.

Aidan McCullen:
Of course AI is here. I have children myself — 15 and 12 — they’re AI natives. They don’t see it as brand-new, but they’re not really using it yet, certainly not in school. Where do you see it being used now, and where could it be used?

Sean D’Arcy:
Right now it’s mainly educators using AI to create kahoots. It’s an amazing time-saver. They can take a PDF, a PowerPoint — whatever they have — upload it to Kahoot!, and voilà: instant kahoot. That might save them an hour or more. We use generative AI for this, but we also enhance any presentation, even in the workplace. If you want engagement added to a presentation, you can do that with Kahoot!. So far, AI has really been supporting productivity. But going forward, we want to use it more for personalised learning and through analytics — checking learning outcomes, identifying gaps and helping learners reach mastery through supplemental review powered by AI.

Aidan McCullen:
I read that up to 50% of the internet may soon be content written by AI. So AI is learning from content AI has created. And then in university, some students write essays with AI, and some professors mark essays with AI. Where does that leave curiosity and learning?

Sean D’Arcy:
The essay as a format is under duress — it’s tricky. A format we’re keen on promoting is discussion: how to create conversations in a class. Kahoot! plus AI is a good combination for creating thought-starters. We have a feature called Brainstorm, which lets you run quick, gamified brainstorms on any topic. You can jump into a discussion area instantly, and AI becomes a useful jumping-off point. But yes, if both sides are using AI — students creating essays and teachers marking with AI — that’s tough. It defeats the purpose.

Aidan McCullen:
Exactly. And the struggle is where learning happens.

Sean D’Arcy:
Absolutely. Future-Ready Skills, particularly critical thinking, are essential. The job market is changing, society is changing. The ability to think through what you’re doing has never been more important. Using AI to build those skills is what matters.

Aidan McCullen:
And the workplace is changing — lifelong learning, upskilling, reskilling. Many people didn’t enjoy school the first time around. Who’s doing this well?

Sean D’Arcy:
The workforce is changing completely. Gen Zs entering the workforce expect a very different approach to learning. Upskilling is ongoing. This is a generation used to learning from YouTube instantly. They won’t wait for an L&D course to be built — they want to learn now. So learning is becoming more on-demand, more micro-learning, less big courseware. Engagement is another issue. A Gallup report showed global employee engagement at only 21%. So the challenge isn’t only learning — it’s engaging employees, especially the youngest. We like to think we help companies drive engagement and ROI. For example, airlines and hospitality companies use Kahoot! to onboard staff quickly, retain them, and make training engaging and memorable.

Aidan McCullen:
One of your articles — Training After Layoffs — talks about how engagement drops after layoffs. And not just for those who leave, but those who stay.

Sean D’Arcy:
That article came from customer conversations. Layoffs are difficult for everyone — those leaving and those staying. Culture takes a hit. Some customers told us they used Kahoot! afterwards because it’s democratic, fun and engaging — a way to get energy and morale back, to reconnect people with the company’s direction. Often, organisations don’t acknowledge the emotional impact on those who remain. They expect people to just move on. But there’s a lingering effect. Tools that promote positivity, connection and engagement help people become productive again.

Aidan McCullen:
Let’s turn to practical takeaways. If someone wants to start using Kahoot! — say a schoolteacher — how do they begin?

Sean D’Arcy:
We’ve been around since 2012, and our mission is making learning awesome. So we’re committed to offering teachers a fantastic free version. Any teacher can go to kahoot.com, sign up for free, and start using Kahoot! immediately. Typical starting points include: review at the end of a chapter, icebreakers, professional development sessions, blended learning activities, or assigning a kahoot before class. Students also use kahoots to study independently. We offer many game modes so learning never becomes dull. In higher education, educators can use Lecture Mode, where Kahoot! adds interactivity to presentations — kahoot questions, discussion points, and more. With Kahoot! EDU, universities can integrate with any LMS and use features like player identifier for attendance and analytics.

Aidan McCullen:
As a lecturer, I’m shifting away from essays and towards presentations and peer-to-peer teaching. How can students use Kahoot! themselves?

Sean D’Arcy:
Students can take a picture of their notes and upload it to Kahoot!. AI will turn those notes into a study kahoot instantly. In study groups, each student can create a kahoot from their notes and share it. Suddenly the group has a whole set of study materials. Students aren’t going to spend hours building kahoots manually — but they will upload notes and let AI do the work. Kahoot! is built around social learning, so sharing in groups and learning together is a key differentiator in higher ed.

Aidan McCullen:
Any final thoughts in this age of AI and rapid change?

Sean D’Arcy:
Even with AI, our mission remains making learning awesome. People know Kahoot! is engaging, but what they may not know is that everything we build is grounded in pedagogy. Engagement is only meaningful if it drives learning outcomes. To get started, just go to kahoot.com, create an account and start making — and playing — a kahoot today.

Aidan McCullen:
Chief Solutions Officer at Kahoot!, Sean Patrick D’Arcy — thank you for joining us.

Sean D’Arcy:
Thank you so much for having me, and hopefully everybody out there can get their Kahoot!-ing going.