Opinions Of K-12 Students About An Online Social Learning Environment, Edmodo

Abstract

ÖZ.Günümüzde eğitsel sosyal ağ ortamlarından birisi olan Edmodo, etkileşimi artırarak birlikte öğrenmeye olanak sağlamaktadır. Nitel ve nicel araştırma yöntemlerinin birlikte kullanıldığı bu çalışmada Ankara'da özel bir okulun ilköğretim bölümünden toplam 182 öğrencinin derse destek olarak Edmodo ortamını kullanımı incelenmiş, Edmodo'nun özellikleri ve derste kullanılmasına yönelik öğrenci görüşlerinin ortaya konması amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmanın veri toplama araçlarını, araştırmacılar tarafından geliştirilen Edmodo Ortamına Karşı Öğrenci Görüşleri Anketi, Edmodo Ortamını Değerlendirme Rubriği ve yapılandırılmış görüşme soruları oluşturmuştur. Elde edilen veriler üzerinde nicel analiz sonucu elde edilen bulgular, nitel içerik analizi ile ortaya çıkan bulgular ile birlikte yorumlanmıştır. Sonuçta, öğrencilerin Edmodo'nun bazı özelliklerine ilişkin olumsuz görüşleri olmasına rağmen, Edmodo'yu öğrenmelerine olumlu etkisi olan bir sistem olarak gördükleri tespit edilmiştir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Edmodo, Çevrimiçi Sosyal Ağ Siteleri, Eğitimde Sosyal Ağlar ABSTRACT. Edmodo, as of educational social networks facilitates interaction and cooperation in the class. The purpose of this study is to investigate students' opinions related to Edmodo which used a social network environment tool in an Information Technologies course. In this case study, both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. Participants of the study were 182 students from primary school of a private college in Ankara. Data collection tools were online Edmodo usage questionnaire, interviews and an evaluation rubric that was developed by the researchers. Also, structured interview questions were asked. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods were used. Results revealed that, although some negative points indicated, students generally find Edmodo as an effective tool for supporting their learning. Keywords: Edmodo, Online Social Network Sites, Social Networks in Education SUMMARY Purpose and Significance: The purpose of this study is to investigate opinions and evaluations of students on Edmodo as one of the social network environment tool in a course. In that regard, the research questions that guided the study were; i. what are the opinions of the students about the usage of Edmodo as social network environment during their course and ii. how students evaluate Edmodo as social network environment during their course? Methods: In this case study, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Edmodo, as one of the favorite Educational Social Network Site (ESNS), is used as the learning environment. Data were collected and analyzed through qualitative and quantitative methods. In that study, Edmodo was used as a supporting tool in a face to face course. The sample group consisted of 182 primary school students at a private college in Ankara, who took Information Technologies course during one semester. 55% of the students were female and 45% were male whereas their age was ranged between 9 and 12. The data collection tools of this...

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“…In addition, students' participation in online environment was facilitated. Edmodo environment was preferred in this study due to the fact that is appropriate for middle school level and similar structure to Facebook that offers perception of ease of use (Dere, Avcı Yücel, & Yalçınalp, ).…”

Öğrencilerin Ödev Performansları ve Edmodo'ya İlişkin Görüşleri

“…• Edmodo improves the communication between teachers and students (Kılıçkaya, 2012;Thongmak, 2013;Balasubramanian, Jaykumar & Fukey, 2014;Sırakaya, 2014;Torun & Dargut, 2015;Dere et al, 2016;Kara, 2016;Kazez & Bahçeci, 2016;Durak, 2017;Ekici, 2017;Özkan, 2017). Teachers can make announcements, instant notifications and alerts.…”

“…• Edmodo is enjoyable (Kongchan, 2012;Alemdağ, 2013;Balasubramanian et al, 2014;Dere et al, 2016;Kara, 2016;Polat, 2016). Both teachers and students like using this online tool (Kongchan, 2012;Dere et al, 2016).…”

“…• Edmodo is motivating (Türkmen, 2012;Alemdağ, 2013;Uzun, 2015;Dere et al, 2016;Ekmekçi, 2016;Manowong, 2016;Doğan et al, 2017;Durak, 2017;Hamutoğlu & Kıyıcı, 2017;Özkan, 2017) and it eases engagement of students cognitively (Purnawarman, Susilawati, & Sundayana, 2016;Hamutoğlu & Kıyıcı, 2017). Teachers can reward and praise their students with rosettes such as "Hard Worker", "Perfect Attendance", "Star Performer" and "Student of the Month" in Edmodo because of their positive behaviours or achievements (Edmodo, 2018).…”

“…As a matter of fact, the researcher of this study has a lot of classes to teach and workload at school. As it is stressed in several studies, checking, grading and giving feedback about assignments affect students' success and performance positively (Dufresne, Mestre, Hart & Rath, 2002;Rosário et al, 2015;Dere, Yücel & Yalçınalp, 2016;Kazez & Bahçeci, 2016;). Thus, it is almost impossible for the researcher to check and grade homework or give feedback for each student.…”