Integrating Edmodo into Foreign Language Classes as an Assessment Tool

Yıl 2016, Special Issue 2016-I, 1 - 11, 01.01.2016

Emrah Ekmekçi

https://doi.org/10.17275/per.16.spi.1.1

Cited By: 11

Öz

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

Anahtar Kelimeler

assessment, Edmodo, Course management system, foreign language classes

Kaynakça

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