#WEEK 5/Cristina/ "Ethics & Technologies in Education."

"Greetings, my name is Cristina. For this week, we have the objective of learning how to evaluate E-Learning Tools, for their safe and viable use in the classroom."

In this way, all the members have decided on some programs destined for school use through the commonsense.org page, which provides all the information we need to know to carry out a more accurate evaluation of the tool. In this sense, we will evaluate how safe it is so that students can use it without any inconvenience in terms of functionality, accessibility, design, privacy or content criteria. In that sense, we can hope to make better decisions about what to use in the classroom and for what purposes. So, we will try to analyze the following well-known application, such as: Edmodo.

Like other applications already known as Google Classroom, it is a free-use online educational and learning platform that acts as a virtual classroom, in which teachers, students or families can interact within a private environment like this one. Likewise, it offers applications or external tools to support learning, either for the teacher or for the student.

I decided to opt for this platform, due to the fact that I started using it as a student in high school. However, it is intended for use by K-12 audiences. At first glance, I would recommend it because it is a fairly complete and easy-to-use platform, as well as its versatility. As a student, I really liked it because apart from the virtual classroom mode, it has a personal section for timetable and storage cloud for any type of file. For teachers, it allows you to connect with others beyond the classes or communities you are in, with the opportunity to collaborate and research together about new resources or other events to use.

Source obtained from https://new.edmodo.com/

However, I chose it to evaluate because it is a platform that is not provided by an institutional body, but by a private company. In this sense, the safe use of the application with children's personal data is not very guaranteed, taking into account the third-party agents that may be involved in it. At least, that is my consideration when it comes to a private company that offers these educational services. It must be borne in mind that this is an unfounded opinion, even without having concluded its evaluation with the necessary information.

To carry out this evaluation, use the “Rubric for eLearning Tool Evaluation by Lauren M. Anstey & Gavan P.L. Watson”, a rubric specifically provided with some selected criteria as guide for evaluating if an E-Learning Tool can be usable in the classroom:

CRITERIA BASED ON THE RUBRIC FOR E-LEARNING TOOL EVALUATION

FUNCTIONALITY

When talking about functionality, we try to identify if the platform is suitable for the purpose for which it was created. In this case, as it is a virtual classroom, we seek to see if it has the necessary modalities and if they work correctly and do not present problems for the user to use it. In general, it works well in the set criteria.

Each of the tools is easy to use for any type of user, thanks to its simple and precise interface. Their functions are not limited either, allowing the user to personalize their experience, especially with the amount of options that can be customized for both students and teachers. It does not take too much to master it because it offers interactive tutorials for each section. Also, in case of further doubt, there is a Technical Support in which you can search for key concepts or common questions among users. It even has the option of being able to communicate indirectly to specify particular situations. Nor have I gotten to test whether this last option is recommendable due to the waiting time or the quality of the responses. But, I think they manage to help the user understand the interface without any problem, even though it is quite intuitive.

In itself, the different tools are quite adaptable to the characteristics required by the class, offering different possibilities in the creation or management of groups. It allows integrating a large number of students in different ways, either through groups or classes. It also allows all members to interact with each other through private messages or the main blog of the class, where they can send all kinds of files with their messages. In that sense, it is quite dynamic.

ACCESIBILITY

Regarding accessibility, we can refer to the ease of being able to use all the resources of the platform, taking into account the personal characteristics of the user. In that sense, after having read the requirements that it had to fulfill, it works well.

This is obvious when checking that its interface is open enough to be able to make any adaptation to the assigned lessons or tasks, since any type of file that requires it can be uploaded. Likewise, students can participate actively, thanks to the easy accessibility to the class blog or private messages, with the option of sending all kinds of files. For this reason, I would say that it can be accessible to most students who know how to use this type of page without any problem. Perhaps, it does not meet all the expectations of the public.

However, it is still a free-to-use platform in its common functions to carry out the educational experience, without requiring more resources than the average person has (every type of device with Internet connection).

TECHNICAL

In this section, we must check if it meets all the technical requirements to function in any software or program. In this case, it is quite adaptable, since you only need to enter from any browser with an Internet connection. The platform itself works without having to download separate content. As for the integration of LMS (Learning Management System) it is not applicable to this application.

MOBILE DESIGN

In this section, we will see how manageable the interface is on a mobile device, if you have one. For our example, it presents an app that can be downloaded directly from any app store. However, it can also be accessed by any mobile browser, but it is recommended to download the app that is more accessible.

It can be installed in the most recent versions of the software, like any common application that does not require many conditions to function. Although the Internet connection is essential, as well as in the browser version. That is to say, without connection, the application would be useless, since all its modalities use it.

There is not much difference from the browser version, in fact it seems more comfortable to use, since the entire platform can be accessed as one more application. It does not omit any tools in its interface and distributes them in a simple and precise way.

PRIVACY, DATA PROTECTION AND RIGHTS

In this section, we need to maintain clear what type of personal data is collected in the platform when you access it and what happens with it once it is collected. According to recent sources, the theft of children's personal information has been a trend, seeing the need to further strengthen the policies of the pages to protect minors. However, some platforms, like this one, may have some risk.

In order to evaluate this platform, I have used the privacy information obtained by commonsense.org from this tool. On this page, you can see a more extensive evaluation of the policies and actions of the E-Learning Tool when handling the personal information of its users.

In that sense, it gives a 76% rating, implying that it may have a certain risk. In its overview, the commonsense.org page indicates that to remain a free service, Edmodo and third-party advertising partners may track and serve advertisements to users.

In relation to the information required to access the platform, it is personally identifiable information (eg, name, surname, email, name of the educational center, ...) that users must provide (both teachers and students). Although the same privacy policies of the platform indicate that they do not share identifiable information, they also specify that they may be allowing third parties to transmit cookies with their advertisements to the user and that it falls within the responsibility of families or teachers to share said information of children under 13 years of age on the page. In this aspect, it seems that there is a certain risk when collecting this type of information, even if they specify that they limit their access to third parties.

Likewise, the information appears encrypted and is not visible to the unknown, operating in private spaces created by the teacher.That way, other users within the page cannot see it, only the parents (who have direct control over the interactions of their children's accounts).Users have direct control over the information to be added to the account, maintaining their ownership, although it is unknown if they can make this information private.

In any case, they can access any type of file without problem, being able to import or export what they need.

SOCIAL PRESENCE

In this section, we will try to visualize whether interactions between users are possible and how they are exposed to the rest with their modalities. In that case, it's not bad.

It is capable of enabling communication between the entire community asynchronously and synchronously. All members can participate and interact with each other in the uploaded entries and private messages.

The tool does not offer the option to control what said members can do directly to the teachers. But, it gives the possibility of parental control to watch for it.

It is also recommended among teachers. The problem is that it is not as well known as others among families, who have not had direct experience with this type of virtual classroom platform. At least, if it is intended for Primary courses.

TEACHING PRESENCE

In this section, we become aware of how it enables the highest quality of teacher intervention in the educational experience that this platform can offer. In this sense, it works well.

As we mentioned, it can be to offer an experience that is quite adaptable to the characteristics of the school context, due to the options with which it enables communication between members or the possibility of uploading any type of file to the platform. Coming to mean that there are no difficulties for the teacher to intervene in different ways in the teaching or learning process.

It has proven to be a great tool that apart from being able to connect and intervene directly with the student, can manage and monitor their progress through the delivery of assigned tasks, as well as their activity on the platform.

COGNITIVE PRESENCE

In this last section, we will check if the platform offers tools that allow the student himself to test his skills, such as checking his progress. As such, it offers many more possibilities than other virtual classroom platforms.

Apart from the common modality of being able to let you know the tasks to be delivered and their evaluation, it offers the option of creating all kinds of interactive questionnaires (eg, true or false, multi-choice, ...) to test your knowledge. Although the design looks quite simple and limited, I don't think it is an inconvenience due to the fact that they perform their function.

Most importantly, it lets the student know the correct answers.

Thanks to the option of checking the student's progress, he / she can receive feedback on the tasks or tests that he / she is doing on the page.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I would like to say that the application in terms of what it can offer in terms of services and accessibility is very good, it even provides certain tools that can make the educational experience a higher quality one. However, the only drawback is the privacy of the information registered by the user, which is unknown if it can be used by other third parties. Apart from the identifiable information, it collects behavioral guidelines according to the advertisements in which it is accessed from the page. In this sense, I would recommend not using it without prior knowledge of these details to both families and teachers. In fact, it could be used if the accounts with real information of the students are not created, the teacher even creating them and sharing that they are added to classes by means of codes. Although if it is going to be handled by a child under 13 years old, it is better to remind parents to control their child's account.

In case you want to see my rubric, here it is:

Rubric of Edmodo.pdf

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