Introduction

After collecting results of an instructional technology survey and interview conducted on

Foundation teachers at Al Ain Women’s College, the next step was to carry out a PD in a way

that combines formative and summative assessments.

This PD would start off as a lesson, in which the tool Edmodo would be used and in which

trainers would act as the ‘teachers’ and teachers would act as the ‘students’ to get the full

experience of what a classroom supported by this program could run like. Of course, in any

successful teacher learning community (which we hoped our PD would be) it is quite necessary

to combine both formative and summative assessments, and we would conduct those in the

same format as our PD: giving teachers the formative and summative assessments the same

way they would conduct assessments when teaching content to their students.

In addition to using the tool Edmodo itself for assessments, the ‘outside’ tools we decided on

for formative assessments (embedded, as mentioned above, within the program) are:

● Poll Everywhere – we would ask attendants a question on this program, they would

answer, and then we would discuss their answers as a whole-group activity.

● Padlet – attendants would add text, links, files, or videos that would further enhance

others’ experience of this PD, including some which we might have introduced in our

own PD, and explain in a sentence or two how they would be used in their classes. This

would prove to us that they imagined how they would apply this tool in their classroom,

and that’s a major part of what we want them to get out of this PD. This tool would
serve as a continuously updated forum.

● Blogs: This digital tool would be used to gauge teachers’ level of understanding, and get

some personal feedback on how the PD went, as well as how they plan to use what they

have learned. The goal would be to form a journal-type blog, in which teachers share

their daily experiences/mishaps etc., and in which other teachers can comment to give

support, give new ideas, or share their own experiences.

Summative Assessments:

● Observation: we would gather evidence of learning by conducting small group feedback

sessions and the focus would be the struggles that teachers might face. This would be

listed, and teachers themselves would help find solutions and list those as answers.

Extra points for those who come up with more than one solution.

● Electronic portfolio: that would be graded through a rubric in a portfolio review. The

blogs from the formative assessments would be part of this summative assignment as

well, counted as either complete/incomplete.

Problem statement

A survey and interview were conducted at Al Ain Women’s college, in which 5 teachers

responded and agreed to meet for a follow-up focus group interview. Analysis of the survey

and

interview results supported our hypothesis that teachers are still struggling to find an all-

encompassing technological tool that would immediately support their teaching and in no way

hinder content learning because of technological difficulties.

The impact of this tool would have to be equally supportive of teaching as well as learning

practices, and without the fear of slowing down learning (not user-friendly, etc.) or being used

“just for show”.

Teachers communicated their fears in both the survey as well as in detail with the follow up

interview, and we went in search of a technological tool that was user-friendly and beneficial
enough that it would actually enhance student learning more than regularly used non-

technological methods. The problem to be solved was – was there a tool that would be

adaptable enough to fit all of the seasoned teachers’ high expectations?

After searching through quite a few tools, we realized that one tool was not enough, and posed

the question: what if we could find one tool that would also encompass other tools, and
therefore give all the teachers the full experience of using technology in the way that best suits

their particular teaching style, and their students’ particular learning styles.

The result was Edmodo. This tool could help teachers work with students in a way that was

relevant to them – it has a very ‘facebook’-like feel that appeals to a lot of our social-media

users, and gives teachers a way to communicate information in a variety of ways (web links,

videos, text comments, images). It also gives students the same level of options for when they

have to send back responses.

Literature Review

We chose Edmodo because we felt it was much like Facebook – and this would increase the

comfort level of students and enhance the feel of a learning community. Students (as well as

teachers) would be able to use a tool that they consider familiar to them and therefore much

more accessible to them (Kandappan Balasubramaniana, 2014 ). A few teachers in our

interview mentioned fears of introducing social media in the classroom and all the social

dangers and extra-careful planning this might entail. So to use a tool that is similar to a

familiar

social media platform as a learning tool would allow students to use this technology without

teachers facing the dangers of social media addiction, unwanted media attention, etc if they

had actually used a social media tool like Facebook or Instagram. Edmodo is considered a social

networking site that caters to education (Kandappan Balasubramaniana, 2014 ) Therefore, the

classroom would stay comfortably ‘private’ and students would still enjoy the feel of using
social media.

With this PD, we wanted to focus on a way of teaching that was student centered. Not only did

we want teachers to teach whilst enjoying their different teaching methods, but for students to

enjoy the feel of responding with their own learning styles and showing their creativity.

Edmodo’s structure stems from educational roots that naturally fit the “rhythms and cultures of

school classrooms” (Wallace, 2013). To combine the ‘social media’ feel with education entirely
fulfills the purpose of these teachers, who are looking for a tool that not only covers their

teaching goal but is appealing to the students as well.

Our focus group in the PD were Foundation teachers, essentially teaching Reading, Writing,

Listening and Speaking skills to students. The design of Edmodo does offer much aid to teachers

with all these activities because of its multifaceted tools, which support teachers in conducting

activities like writing in steps whether the students are in the classroom or at home

(Purnawarman, 2016). Therefore even when performing formative assessments on students, as

we would establish during PD, Edmodo would be a proper tool for instituting continuous

comment/reply or feedback as part of formative assessments. This means teachers could enjoy

communicating with students within the classroom and outside, which enhances learning as a

community activity rather than just a start-stop process whenever students enter the classroom

and then leave.

As it was clear from our survey results’ analysis and feedback from interviews, teachers really

felt bad that students had to be examined every week at certain points and they felt like they

were teaching for a test. Using a tool like Edmodo means that they could “employ different

formative assessment techniques and a variety of testing types during learning process”

(Ekmekçi, 2016). This way, teachers could embed a tool like Poll Everywhere or blogs into the

program, or even ask daily questions in which students would have to respond to in writing,

and this would allow teachers to measure student progress level. At the end of the course or

near the final assessments, teachers could embed a link to a quiz program or test that students
would answer and get a grade for. Summative assessments are easily covered in Edmodo.

Teachers could either link to a quiz tool or use one of the various assessment tools (quizzes) in

Edmodo itself.
The Case

Assessments

The first thing about assessing the Professional Development is to be able to see if it

accomplished the set of objectives that were outlined for the PD. Clear objectives stand as a

hallmark for the PD and it would be the base to proof the learning or improvement upon the

PD. Based on the set up of measurable objectives, my colleague Basma and I would assess the

professional development using two main approaches; the formative and the summative

assessment approach.

PD Assessment goal

Ability to work on a creative and interactive instructional tool that allows them to use a

preferred

delivery mode and provide a successful lesson. Teachers’ teaching styles as well as students’

learning styles would have to be taken into consideration.

Formative assessments

The formative assessment would be used during the PD, For example we would use poll

everywhere, padlet and blogs to formatively assess the professional development proposed.

Poll everywhere

During the PD session we would use poll everywhere, because it’s very easy to access and

everyone can see each other’s responses. The instant messaging is not time consuming and

people in general finds it easy as they do it daily. Poll everywhere can be accessed using any
device, PCs, Phones and IPads. And for a formative assessment it works greatly. Questions can

be easily set up using poll everywhere in term of multiple choice, short answers and etc. the

instant feedback and responses can be viewed instantly in the shape of graphs or regular
responses. And it is visible to everyone participating in the poll. Which is a huge advantage for

participants to be in the loop of communication. They can freely speak their minds and reflect

on what’s needed.

Poll everywhere would be used after starting the PD session, before the end of the PD and in

the middle of practicing and discovering the proposed tool (Edmodo). Participants would be

sent a poll to get their feedback from on the process of the PD implementation and on the tool

suggested (Edmodo).

A sample question from the poll would be like:

● Are you enjoying the PD session so far?

● Do you think this is something you were looking for and would cover your instructional

technology needs you mentioned previously?

● Rate your satisfaction level at this point: very satisfied – satisfied – partially satisfied –

not satisfied

Padlet

We would use padlet as a formative assessment tool because it allows participants to interact

with each other through discussion, feedback, online participation and collaboration. Using

Padlet participants can share videos, links and pictures, of their implementation or test of the

new tool Edmodo. The digital environment proposed by padlet allows participants to freely

communicate, collaborate and promoting good digital citizenship. Moreover, it makes sharing

much easier and encourages active participation through multimedia or instant feedback.
Padlet works great with almost every platform and gadget, and it’s a great way of having

virtual

learning experience. Padlet also addresses several aspects of the ISTE standards for teachers

(the International Society for Technology in Education) like;

1. Facilitate and inspire students learning and creativity

2. Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments

3. Model digital age work and learning

4. Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility

Padlet would be used in the phase of delivering the PD and even after the PD session is over, it

would be the platform where teachers (participants) can still share thoughts and ideas and

evidence of their implementation of the proposed instructional tool Edmodo. Before starting

the PD session, participants will be asked to share their expectations and what do they think

they will get out of the PD session on Padlet. And at the end of the PD session they will be

asked to share again whether their expectations were met or not. And if not what was missing?

And padlet will be used during the session, by the participants as Q and A platform. They can

ask any questions whenever they want rather than interrupting the trainer, while delivering

the

PD and their questions will be answered later before the session ends.

Blogs

We would use blogs as a formative assessment tool after the PD session to ensure quality

delivering and continuous PD program. Blogs are very easy to use and access. It’s a free

platform that could be used to share experiences and ideas. Participants can connect with each

other using this platform and other educators as well could be involved in sharing and

commenting using blogs. Writing blogs would help the participants to thing and reflect on

their

experiences and implementation on Edmodo. Blogging could be inspiring to others as they

would see their colleagues or educators’ ideas and experiences and they could benefit greatly
from it.

Blogs would be used at the end phase of the PD session. At the end of the PD session, who

deliver the PD would introduce Blogging to participants and encourage them to share their

experiences and implementation plans and reflections. So other can learn from them and share

their thoughts in return. Blogs will create a learning community, for continuous improvement

of

applying Edmodo in the classrooms. The first thing that participants would be encouraged to

blog about is their experience to go through the prosed professional development on Edmodo.

It would be useful to act upon participants’ thoughts and comments in order to work on
enhancing future delivery of professional development. Participants would be encouraged also

to write about:

What they liked from the PD?

What they didn’t like from the PD?

What worked well for them and their students?

What didn’t work well?

What is their next step after attending the PD?

Reflect on your experience of using Edmodo with your students and whether the PD fulfilled

your instructional technology needs.

Summative assessments

The summative assessment would be used after the PD, For example we would use classroom

observations and online platform to summative assess the professional development proposed.

Classroom observations

We would use classroom observations because they would extend on the professional

development and allow participants to learn from each other and colleagues. Classroom

observations are great tools to measure the PD effectiveness, through teacher implementation

and evaluation of the proposed professional development of Edmodo. Classroom observations

are considered part of the ongoing learning process for an effective professional development.

They would examine if the PD outcomes are achieved or not. It can be used to study the impact

of using Edmodo on learners. Classroom observation in this context would greatly benefit in
term of examining instructional practices and identify instructional problems. Teachers’

improvements in teaching through the use of instructional technology could be noticed easily

and directly using classroom observations.

We would use classroom observations after the PD session in two weeks’ time. Classroom

observation could be done is many ways, the person who delivered the PD could go around

participants classrooms and observe their instructional use to the tool delivered. Or

participants

can peer observe each other and post the reflection of their visits on the blog platform.

Electronic portfolios

Electronic portfolios are a powerful tool for communication. And it can be used to share

knowledge and evidence of work. It is a great tool to be used demonstrate improvement over

time. Participant can record their experience of using Edmodo in the classroom and how it

improved over time after the PD session they took. And they can share that progress with other

educators in the same field or with the world. Electronic portfolios are easy to create and

manage and they are simple and free to build.

The electronic portfolio would be used to showcase participants’ achievements and evidence of

using Edmodo in their classrooms and to share it with other participants. They can add more

sections in the E-portfolio that combines all the elements of their journey of the professional

development they undertook about Edmodo. They can keep building their website and add

more information to it as they develop in their careers. They can upload artifacts and video

shots of them using Edmodo in their class and how it might affect their learners’ skills.

Quantitative data

The quantitative data will be driven from both formative and summative assessments. The
quantified data gathered from the poll everywhere, classroom observations and the E-

portfolios would be used to generate numerical forms, which then can be converted and

processed into useful information mathematically perhaps, as long as they can be used and

understood.
Poll everywhere could present graph data on participants’ satisfaction level of the proposed

professional development session. And a numerical number of their expectations and if they

were met or not. And the class observations would present data in a table format, the data

would be based on the checklist about measuring the features from Edmodo (proposed PD)

that were used in the classroom with learners.

Establishing the above quantitative data would be very useful in evaluating the effectiveness of

the content of the PD session, and the delivery method. It would help to enhance the

generalized results (ie. It would be a support evidence to a successful PD). It could demonstrate

how much change has occurred as a result of the program. Using poll everywhere at the

beginning of the session and towards the end, would help to obtain knowledge in change in

attitude as a result of participation in the program.

Qualitative data

The qualitative data will be driven from both formative and summative assessments. It would

be gathered from classroom observations, E-portfolios, blogs and padlet. Those data would

mainly be descriptive and would be used to capture the context around the outcomes of the

program. Thus, they consider a very important dat6a to evaluate the program that has both

contextual and external factors that might impact its overall success. For example, the sample

size of participants, the institutional goals, the environment which the PD would be

implemented at and all the stakeholders involved.

From the Blogs we would get insight of observational information (reflection) of the
participants’ views in relation to their evaluation upon their implementation of the proposed

instructional technology tool Edmodo. Through blogging experts may interfere and add their

input in regards to their experiences in program implementation or the use of Edmodo.

Classroom observations and the E-portfolios would provide insight to recorded behaviors and
direct information of the ongoing implementation and use of the instructional tool proposed

(Edmodo).

Qualitative data are imperial to evaluate the content and the delivering of professional

development. The data gathered would provide depth and details through demonstrating

deeper understanding that just analyzing ranks or recording feeling and behaviors. It would

elaborate more on participants understanding of the session and what have they left with that

could last longer (ie. Effectively implement and use the proposed tool in their classroom to

enhance and improve their learners’ performance and learning skills). Moreover, qualitative

data tends to create openness, as it encourages participants to be expand more on their

responses and reflect deeply about the process. We would use qualitative data because it helps

to stimulates participants’ individual experiences. Qualitative data can be used alongside with

the quantitative data to avoid pre judgments, as it can explain why certain responses were

given, or they can back up the result to establish more confirmed evaluations of the content of

PD.

Analysis and data interpretation

Once we collect the data (qualitative and quantitative) we would present them in a form that

can show results that could be communicated to others. For example, we would organize the

raw data in tables, graphs, charts or statistical analysis. Through this we would be able to

extract the meaning from the row data and identify their relevance to our needs of the

assessments and use them as evidence to the effectiveness of the PD.

Gathering both qualitative and quantitative data of the formative and summative assessments

will determine the effectiveness of the professional development. It goes beyond the teachers

understanding the content of the PD, but more with how well they implemented it in their

classrooms and what was the results of such implementation. The assessment to any PD starts
from planning the PD and ends with following up through in the classrooms. This ongoing

authentic assessment will determine how well the PD was delivered and follow up with how

well teachers implemented it in the classrooms and how it helped their learners, with what

they needed to be successful at and learning beyond the PD. This what makes a professional

development effective and authentic; assessments would ensure such quality.

The data from both qualitative and quantitative assessments would drive out the evaluation of

content taught, it would focus on two main elements:

One: have the participants understood what was required of them and what the learning

outcomes were?

Two: whether the assessments are relevant to the learning outcomes and do participants

effectively reflect what is being asked of them. The analysis always gives us evidence to

evaluate the actual content of the course.

From the interpretation of the data we would be able to build up a report and suggests

recommendations and draw conclusions to the effectiveness PD plan. The report could be used

to show progress and demonstrate an evidence to align with the institutional goals. Most

importantly the interpretation of the data would be used to evaluate the instructional

technology needs analysis plan, and propose for future recommendations or the next step.

Assessments and teaching and learning

Assessments are generally used to measure the effectiveness of meeting the goals. If

assessments were properly done, they may reveal some very important and effective
information in relation to improving teaching and learning. They can identify where learners

are, at which level? And where they need to be? Hence, educators may determines the

instructions and the tools needed to help learners progress to the level they need to be at.

Assessment can help educators to determine what the next step is and what needs to be done

to improve some aspects in teaching and learning.

Conclusion

Our case study introduced Edmodo as the go-to tool for Foundation teachers at Al Ain

Women’s

College. This would answer teachers’ fears of using a technological tool that might not cover all

of their teaching goals. Teachers at this college use both formative assessments in daily lessons,

and summative assessments for test-prep. Since tests are done online we found it fitting that

students get used to this mode of examination by using a technological tool. The main aim of

our PD would have been to find a tool that covers all teachers and students’ needs, and we felt

that the best tool would be one that allows for the use of other programs as well (even though

it is perfectly capable of being used a stand-alone program).

Our recommendation is for teachers to ease into the use of Edmodo. Start off with simple

conversational type tasks, and slowly build up a learning library in which students can access

everything they need once they add themselves to the classroom. Eventually, we believe that

teachers will find Edmodo a suitable learning platform for all student needs, and which can

encompass all the ever-changing requirements of learning language and passing.

Ebtesam Alzahmi: Self Reflection

During this course we were caught up in day to day work and we forgot to look back at the

learning process and the learning experience we had. The nature of this course was to have

back to back assessments, once we submit one we start with the next one straightforward.

Which leaves us with basically not time at all to think about how we got through working

together. In this course I was working with my colleague Basma. We worked together in all the

assessments for EDIT 690 Assessment and Evaluation course. Collaborative research is great

and it has positive outcomes, yet it has its challenges.

Positive aspects of collaborative research

While working with Basma, I realized that we are not different at all. We actually are alike, our

thoughts and ideas were almost identical and we both have almost similar thinking and

learning

style. Which made it super easy to collaborate with her and generate ideas and feel

comfortable about contacting her at all times. Having similar personalities made it much easier

to communicate at the same level. The transparency in sharing information and good

experience and practice was a big positive point while working with Basma. It made our

products (assessments) have the feeling of unified voice. We were supporting each other and

motivating each other to work and generate more ideas and always bringing new things to our

table of ideas. It was positive how we encouraged each other to think out of the box and not be

afraid to implement our ideas creatively and take risks sometimes. When it comes to
collaborative research it is very important almost crucial to have an active learner and

participant by your side, and that was my case with Basma. We were able to divide the work

between the two of us easily based on our strength and we were working independently and

collaboratively when it’s possible. We were both technologically competent, which made it

easier for us to find out technological tools to stay connected at all times and to freely share

our folders and documents.

Challenging aspects of collaborative research

The main and perhaps the only challenge we faced in this collaborative research is time. Time

affected us in many ways. It was limited and with everything else we needed to do, it wasn’t

enough for us to conduct our work. And we were depending on other stakeholders (i.e.

participants to respond to our survey) and thus we couldn’t do much until we have the data to

work on. Also Basma’s schedule and mine were conflicting a lot, which was very challenging

for

us to meet sometimes during the day. But we managed to have several zoom meetings in the

evening and spend all evening and sometime afternoons to discuss the project and the scope of

our shared plan. Then we faced the technology glitch, where zoom stopped working in UAE

and

so video calls programs. That obstacle did not get in our ways as we used the google drive to

share the documents and we used WhatsApp and the phone calls to explain everything else.

So basically we had our ups and downs when working on collaborative research, but what

matters is how we overcame the challenges and ended up with meeting our goals and

objectives and providing an outstanding work; that reflects our understanding of the course

content.

Basma Abdullah: Self Reflection

After completing the long process of survey analysis and interviews, designing a website that

would clearly reflect our work, and completing two more assignments, it was very clear that
this project was a great experience of collaboration, hard work and support. What we did was

split the work in half, yet read through each other’s work and add/remove to it as we thought

fit. This way the project did not feel brought together from two different people, but building

up on each other’s work.

What I found difficult was analyzing how the rubric marks were put (especially when

comparing

to others’ level of work and trying to understand why certain grades were put in certain

places).
This is a learning process and it is a good way to focus our work so we can be sure to be

successful or get higher grades in future projects. But mostly it was finding the time that both

of us were free to work on the projects since we both have full teaching loads. What really

worked was creating a Whatsapp group for us, and using that as our planner and quick-

thoughts or last-minute editing tools.

The whole experience was a positive one, and it was a real-life experience since we would

actually implement the same exact steps when planning to do our own PDs at work. It was also

a learning experience of how to work well with someone, involve them in decision making,

and

come to conclusions that suit us both quite well before finalizing anything. It was a lesson in

consideration and learning how to be diplomatic and understanding, as well as appreciating all

the hard work Ebtesam was doing. Her support in this cannot be described in words, especially

with both of us having so many responsibilities that it is sometimes hard to focus. Deep

learning

has definitely taken place throughout this whole process, and this project as brought us

together in a way that emphasizes the best part of both of our personalities. I do look forward

to working with Ebtesam again, as I felt a strong connection and quick understanding with her

and went through so many happy surprises when on many occasions we realize how much

and

how often we think alike or plan the exact same thing.

References

Ekmekçi, E. (2016, January). Integrating Edmodo into Foreign Language Classes as an

Assessment Tool. Research Gate.

Kandappan Balasubramaniana, J. V. (2014 ). A study on “Student preference towards the use of

Edmodo as a learning platform to create responsible learning environment. Procedia -

Social and Behavioral Sciences , 416 – 422.

Purnawarman, P. (2016, January 21). THE USE OF EDMODO IN TEACHING WRITING IN A

BLENDED LEARNING SETTING. Indonesia.

Wallace, A. (2013). Social Learning Platforms and the Flipped Classroom. Titchmarsh,

Australia.