Integrating Edmodo into Foreign Language Classes as an Assessment Tool

Authors : Emrah Ekmekçi

Pages : 1-11

Doi:10.17275/per.16.spi.1.1

View : 17 | Download : 8

Publication Date : 2016-01-01

Article Type : Research

Abstract :Due to the everlasting and rapid developments in educational technology, teachers are in search of exploring innovative techniques in order to promote today's students' involvement in foreign language learning process. The reason for this is that today's students are regarded as digital-natives who are difficult to motivate if modern technology they are familiar with is not utilized effectively in the classes. The absence of recent technology in classes may turn the learning process into a dull and mediocre activity. When it comes to the assessment part of this process, the situation may become worse as most of the students feel unwilling and reluctant to be assessed. Therefore, the current study is important in that it presents an innovative way of assessing students' skills they gain during language learning. For assessing students' language skills, the study introduces Edmodo, which is an educational social network providing a secure learning platform for learners and educators. It may be an effective tool with its user-friendly and practical aspects. Being a web-based online technology, Edmodo allows students and teachers to post materials, share videos and links, grades, notices, and assignments. With its practical interface, it resembles to other popular Course Management Systems (CMS). It enables teachers to work with their learners in real time, and can be used either in the class or at home. Thanks to a special code assigned for a particular group, students can interact only with their teachers and each other, which makes it secure and safe in use. In addition, parents can have their own codes to check or work together with young learners in particular. The current study is a descriptive one focusing on how to integrate Edmodo into foreign language classes as an assessment tool. The main objective of the study is to introduce the implementation of various assessment applications through Edmodo and offer some suggestions. To this end, accounts of previous experiences and some reflections of students are presented.  62 students attending English preparatory classes in a state university in Turkey participated in various assessment activities through Edmodo during 2014-2015 academic year.  Reflections of the students regarding the use of Edmodo as an assessment tool were obtained through semi-structured interviews conducted by the researcher. The results indicated that most of the students found Edmodo to be funny, motivating, user-friendly, and practical. They also stated that Edmodo reduced their test anxiety to a great extent and they would prefer to be assessed through Edmodo rather than traditional assessment techniques like pen-and-paper tests
Keywords : assessment, Edmodo, Course management system, foreign language classes