Kialo Edu

The free online platform for teaching critical thinking and thoughtful discussion.

Kialo Edu is a free argument-mapping tool that helps teachers to train critical thinking and thoughtful discussion. Its visual format helps students break down complex arguments into digestible units and structure them in easy-to-follow lines of reasoning. Our intuitive design also makes student collaboration and teacher feedback a breeze!

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Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2019

Established

600K

Children

22

Countries

Target group

Teachers

Updated

July 2023

At a time when fake news is rife and tensions are high, Kialo Edu works to create an educational space that supports critical thinking and open dialogue. In this way, we hope to empower future generations of citizens to be discerning in their own opinions, understanding of others' perspectives, and active participants in an evolving, pluralistic society.

About the innovation

The critical thinking and classroom debate platform: Kialo Edu

Kialo (kialo.com) is the world's largest argument mapping and debate site. Kialo Edu (kialo-edu.com) is a custom version of our public site specifically tailored for the needs of educators. Kialo Edu is a controlled, private platform that is free and easy to use.

Kialo Edu allows educators to curate spaces for students to work through complex subjects together, while giving students the space to ask questions, discuss, and evaluate new ideas. With clear visualization of arguments and powerful, easy to use navigation tools, Kialo Edu helps students master critical thinking and reasoning skills.

Kialo Edu can be integrated in learning management systems, has no advertisements, collects no personal data from users, and has been built following WCAG AA accessibility guidelines.

To find out more about how Kialo works, check out this short video.

For tips on how Kialo Edu can be used in the classroom, sample lesson plans, and much more, visit the Kialo Edu Help Center.

Media

Sample Assignment: Knowledge Sharing

This is a sample assignment that can be used to share complex material with students in an organized way that emphasizes the logical connection between different pieces of information. In it, students read through a debate prepared in advance by their instructor. This assignment can supplement primary sources (in a more advanced class) and replace secondary sources (in an introductory class). It is designed to be completed by students individually, prior to class discussion. To see the complete list of instructions and grading tips for this assignment, please visit our Help Center by following this link.

Sample Assignment: Essay Outlining

This assignment is designed to replace a traditional essay exam, paper, or other writing-intensive activity. In it, students work on their own to construct an argument with organized and concise sections. This assignment is designed for individual students and could be finished in 1-2 weeks. It is best suited for students ages 14 and above, though younger students may be comfortable completing similar assignments with lower expectations around use of sources and scope and detail of material covered.To see the complete list of instructions and grading tips for this assignment, please visit our Help Center by following this link.

Sample Assignment: Hosting Classroom Debates

This assignment uses Kialo’s clear Pro and Con structure to facilitate structured debate online. This can facilitate higher-quality student engagement in online classes and free up class time in traditional face-to-face classrooms by allowing students to engage in meaningful discussions outside class. Additional adaptations of this assignment use Kialo’s built-in tools for collaboration, revision and voting to encourage the sort of high quality debate and self-reflection crucial to developing critical reasoning skills.This assignment is designed to take two days for students to complete, and involves about one hour of work for each participating student. It is adapted from an assignment pitched at college students, but it can easily be adapted to different age groups - for example, middle school students might participate in discussions during a scheduled library period, rather than as a homework task.To see the complete list of instructions and grading tips for this assignment, please visit our Help Center by following this link.

Implementation steps

Create a Kialo Edu Account.

Create a Discussion.

Choose a ready-to-go discussion from our library of topics, or create your own from scratch. Explore different ways to customize the discussion, or proceed with default settings.

Invite students to the Discussion.

Invite students to participate immediately by sharing an Instant Access Link (available as a URL or QR code), or have students create their own accounts. You can invite them by email, import your whole class from Google Classroom, or create Managed Accounts that you oversee.

Discuss!

Now it's their turn: guide students to begin sharing their ideas and responding to each other in the spirit of respectful and reasoned discussion.

Explore Kialo Edu’s Capabilities.

Kialo has a lot of features that can help you and your students have engaging discussions. You can set your students specific tasks, have them vote on the most persuasive claims, and much, much more! Learn more about how to get the most out of Kialo Edu by checking out our blog and Help Center. Blog: https://blog.kialo-edu.com/ Help Center: https://support.kialo-edu.com/en/