www.edmodo.com
www.facebook.com
Jenny Pange, Evrikleia Dogoriti, Rozita Tsoni, Athanasios Sypsas, Aspa Lekka
School of Education,
University of Ioannina, Greece
E-mail: jpagge@cc.uoi.gr
Online Educa Berlin, 3-5 December 2014
Introduction (1)

Social Networks:
 are web-based services
 are communication tools for creative, collaborative
learning based on social interaction, discussion and
shared work
 allow individuals to create a public profile
within a structured system
 allow users to view and navigate their list of
connections
within the system
Introduction (2)


Social networks sites (SNS) can be used in
education
Social networks provide a learning context
where students
 exchange learning information,
 cooperate in learning activities and discussions


Many applications of SNS have been used
informally by both learners and educators in
higher education
University students tend to regard them as part
of their way of life
Edmodo

Edmodo
 is an educational social network
 provides a secure learning platform for learners and
educators
 offers a safe educational environment, also for mobile
devices.

According to American Association of School
Librarians (2011), Edmodo is one of the top 25 sites
that foster




innovation,
creativity,
active participation and
cooperation
in the category entitled "Social Networking and
Communication»
Facebook
Facebook has become the most popular
SNS among college students
 Students create their own profile, in which
they share a range of personal information,
educational and work history
 Users also can

 request and accept friendships with other users,
 join interest groups or networks,
 communicate with others online and offline

It is used most importantly for social
reasons, not for formal teaching purposes
Data from previous studies (1)
Edmodo
“Inquiry
through action
research:
Effects of the
Edmodo
Microblog on
student
engagement
and
performance”
•
Holland and
Muilenburg
(2011)
“Supporting
student
collaboration:
Edmodo
in the
classroom”
• Studied students’ participations in literature
discussions, using Edmodo discussion boards.
• Discussed student participation, student engagement,
complexity of discussion and the effectiveness of
Edmodo platform
Kongchan
(2013)
“How a nondigital-native
teacher makes
use of
Edmodo”.
•Explored the possibilities of a non-digital-native
teacher to use Edmodo.
•Edmodo was perceived to be a user-friendly social
learning network
Nevas (2010)
•
Examined the effects of the Edmodo microblog on
student engagement and performance.
observed that as communication increased between
students more challenging tasks were progressively
performed
Data from previous studies (2)
Edmodo
Thongmak (2013)
“Social Network
System in
Classroom:
Antecedents of
Edmodo ©
Adoption”
•Explored the use of Edmodo as a classroom collaboration tool
and the university students’ views about Edmodo.
•Edmodo could support both distance teaching and fulfil
physical classroom learning
Sanders (2013)
“An examination
of the academic
networking site
Edmodo on
student
engagement and
responsible
learning”
•Examined the effect of Edmodo on student engagement and
responsible learning.
• particular Edmodo features encouraged both student
engagement and responsible learning
Dogoriti &Pange
(2014)
“Instructional
design for a
"social"
classroom:
Edmodo and
twitter in the
foreign language
Classroom”
•Studied the impact of social media on a learning community of
university students of English for Specific Purposes (ESP).
•Βest practices were proposed using twitter and Edmodo
Data from previous studies (3)
Facebook
Selwin (2009)
“Faceworking:
exploring
students’
educationrelated use
of Facebook”
Explored students’ education-related use of fb as to:
•learning experiences
•exchange of information about teaching
•assessment
• moral support
Estus (2010)
“Using
Facebook
Within a
Geriatric
Pharmacother
apy Course”
•Students used a fb closed group to discuss their
academic work outside of the class
•Reports were positive about the experience
Visagie & de
Villiers (2010)
“Using Social
Software to
Support
Computer
ScienceEducat
ion”
•Investigated the use of fb as an academic tool across
five countries, South Africa, Australia, Canada, United
States and the UK.
•Only a small number of lecturers across the countries
decided to apply Facebook as an academic tool as part
of their teaching strategy
Data from previous studies (4)
Facebook
Kabilan et al.
(2010)
“Effects of Student
Engagement with
Social Media on
Student Learning”
•Students used FB individually or in collaboration with their instructors
as a formal learning tool
•Results showed that students build learning communities by working
collaboratively to construct knowledge
Wang, Woo, Quek,
Yang and Liu
(2012)
“Using the
Facebook group as
a learning
management
system: An
exploratory study”
•Facebook was used as a Learning Management System
•It revealed student satisfaction
•useful educational features such as threaded discussions were
reported to be missing
Dogoriti, Pange &
Anderson (2014)
“Web-based
English Language
Learning. The Use
of Social
Networking and
Learning
Management
Systems in Formal
and Informal
Settings”.
•
•
Examined students’ perceptions of online instruction using Moodle
with or without the use of fb as an adjunctive learning platform
Results suggested that the addition of fb to the course helped
build a sense of community within a learning environment while it
enhanced the learning process
Materials and Methods (1)
School of Education, University of
Ioannina
 Mixed Method (questionnaire and semistructured interviews)
 Close-ended, printed questionnaires
 Self-selected group of 41 students
 Groups of five to seven students

Materials and Methods (2)
Short presentation of Facebook
 Short presentation of Edmodo
 Formation of two test groups

 “Facebook Group”
 “Edmodo Group”

Interviews conducted two weeks after
use
 Semi-structured interviews regarding pros
and cons of each tool
Results
Demographic Characteristics
35 fully completed out of 41 (completion
rate 85.4%)
 Mean age 18.9±2.5
 88,2% Females, 11.8% Males
 79.4% of the students in their first year
of studies

Frequency of educational use of
Facebook
Everyday 17.6%
 Often 11.8%
 Sometimes 44.1%
 Rarely 5. 9%
 Never 20.6%

Facebook as motivation
for educational use

does not motivate
AGAINST

does motivate
FAVOR

Facebook 26.5%

Facebook 29.4%
Collaboration on Facebook

Less than half of the participants,
believed that Facebook promotes
collaboration.
Dissemination of educational
material through FACEBOOK
 44.1% of the participants often shared
educational material with peers through
Facebook
 41.0% of the participants never
shared educational material with peers
through Facebook
Facebook connection with labor
market
However…
58.8% of the participants felt that
Facebook would help them to connect
with labor market
Interview feedback (1)
Groups participated in the study provided
feedback through semi-structured
interviews.
 Questions concerning:






Frequency of use
Convenience of the medium
Pros and cons
Education /professional development promotion
the interview was followed by open
discussion
Interview feedback (2)
Ways of facilitating the educational use of the social
media:
Broad
information
about events
and activities
Dissemination
of educational
material
Instant and free
communication
with classmates
Direct visibility of
notices and
announcements
about the courses
•
•
•
•
•
Closed groups
Sense of security in privacy issues
Controlled networking
Educational applications
Group members participate
actively
• Limited popularity (mainly in
education)
• Many information resources (but
not always reliable)
• Open groups
• High level of “visibility”
• Promotes networking
• Group members act as followers
• High popularity
• Distractions
Information on Employment


On the question if students use Facebook for
information on employment, 70% of students
reported using the page of Employment and
Career Center, University of Ioannina, in
Facebook.
Students did not use Edmodo for information on
employment, until they are assigned to, by their
instructor
Edmondo vs Facebook
in the pre-digital world…
Thank you