ClassDojo: A Tool not a Teacher

Recently I was asked to write a follow-up post about the digital classroom management tool ClassDojo in response to all of the comments my original post  has received over the last year.

I was hesitant to respond because I didn’t know what to say to comfort the parents who commented that they saw their children suffering in classrooms that were using ClassDojo as a tool. Then it dawned on me: ClassDojo is just that—a tool. We all know that tools can be used in many ways, both good and bad. Take, for example, a hammer. A hammer can be used to build a house, but it can also be used tear a house down. Does that make the hammer bad?

After rereading the comments from parents on my previous post, I reached out to ClassDojo to see how they handle parents’ complaints. Their answer: “We never want to be the go between for teachers and parents… We certainly listen to parent feedback on ways we can improve ClassDojo, but always recommend that they communicate their thoughts with teachers as well so that ClassDojo is always used in a way that’s right for each community!”

The sheer number of technology tools available can be confusing and overwhelming — especially when it come to educational tech. As parents, we assume teachers have been trained on or mastered these new tools being used to teach our children. This is not always the case. As parents, we can help teachers by giving them feedback about how we see these tools impacting our children. When my son first started school, I was intimidated by the teachers and the principal. It took me some time to realize that most teachers truly want to know what works and what doesn’t work for my child.

When it comes to technology, we are all moving at the speed of light. Teachers, parents, and administrators are all treading new territory here. But I believe that we all want what is best for the children.Teachers and parents make the best support systems for our children. I have always loved the saying that it takes a village to raise a child. We are that village. Parents, let your child’s teachers know if something isn’t working for your child. In return, listen to your child’s teachers concerns and needs, and work with the school to help find solutions.

Any tool that improves parent-teacher communication has the potential to have a positive impact. ClassDojo is still a young company (it launched in 2011), and they are a company that is working hard help our children succeed. They have, for example, just released ClassDojo Translate, a service which helps parents and teachers who speak different languages communicate more effectively.

As a parent, I don’t want to take a good tool out of a teacher’s hands, but I need to communicate with my child’s teacher if I feel a particular tool isn’t working for my child.

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Alesha Bishop

Alesha Bishop is a tech-savvy mom and a consultant for edtech companies. Alesha quickly recognized the value of the app market for children and families, co-creating Mom Maps--one of the first family-oriented apps--and co-founding the Moms with Apps developer group. She believes in the power of apps to create rich visual and tactile learning environments which can enhance the lives of all kids, especially those with learning differences.

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4 Comments

Manoj Lamba
10/16/2015

Alesha - Thanks for writing such a thoughtful post. We know millions of teachers, parents, and students love using ClassDojo every day. We're big believers in creating "open classrooms" - helping parents become a bigger part of the their child's education. In the cases where parents do have concerns (about anything!), we're glad that ClassDojo makes it easy for them to communicate with the teacher and find the best way to help their child learn and grow as a unit, rather than being left in the dark and not knowing what's going on at school. We keep hearing that teachers AND parents both want stronger connections, so we're building out ClassDojo to make this simple, seamless, and positive. Check out www.classdojo.com/classsstory to see what we launched a month ago to do just that, and also ClassDojo Translate (as you mention) which helps bridge language barriers. There is much to do, and we welcome feedback from all here: [email protected] Thanks again :)

Manoj Lamba
10/16/2015

Oops, by the way - I'm part of the small team here at ClassDojo. And the correct link for Class Story is here: www.classdojo.com/classstory

Corllisa
1/21/2016

Hey guysI was just asking because I haven't seen it

Nahid Sultana
10/27/2016

Very thoughtful explanation. Thanks

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