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Communication Tools

Hannah Carlisle

Department of Education, Azusa Pacific University

EDUC 546: Digital Communications

Professor Kristi Hernandez

February 5, 2021
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Communication Tools

Communication home to parents and students is crucial now more than ever. With some

learning happening at home these days, it is crucial to have a great system of communication

with both parents and students that is straightforward and easy to learn. The two programs that I

would want to use in my personal classroom would be Class Dojo and Seesaw.

The first program that I would want to use in my classroom would be Class Dojo. This

program is great for younger students because they are able to create and design their own

monster to be their “character”. From there, students can earn points that translate to real rewards

in the classroom. They are able to reach different levels and use their points to upgrade their

monsters looks. I would specifically use this system for communication because you are able to

allow parents to sign in and see their student’s specific progress each day. They can see how and

why they lost or gained points for the day. Using the “story feed” within the app allows anyone

connected to it to post videos, pictures, or comments (“How to Use ClassDojo for Behavior and

Communication”​,​ 2017). This is an incredible feature because everyone can feel connected to

what is happening in our classroom. Lastly, there is a private messaging system where the

teacher is able to send “text like” messages home to families (“How to Use ClassDojo for

Behavior and Communication”​,​ 2017). I would use this feature to keep parents informed about

their child as well as reminders for what is coming up in the next few weeks.

The other app that I would want to use would be Seesaw. I love how versatile it is for

student interaction and engagement, but I am finding that it is also perfect for communication

home to families. Seesaw has a feature that is similar to an Instagram feed. With this feature,

students and families can like, comment, and interact with others (Edwards, 2020). The teacher

can upload pictures of what is happening in class as well as add work to individual student’s
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portfolios. The teacher can help parents play a part in tracking students progress through this app

as well. This would be a great way to get parents involved in what is happening in the classroom.

Another plus is that it has a translation feature so that families can translate posts into their own

language so they will not miss out on any important information (Edwards, 2020). Lastly, the

ability to set up a classroom blog on Seesaw is very appealing to me. I would love to create a

blog that students can share in order to explain what they are learning, but that I can also post to

with important information or updates.

Since communication is so vital to teaching, it is important to have apps and programs

that are functional and easy to navigate. I believe that both Class Dojo and Seesaw are great

programs for communicating with my future students and their families.

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References

Edwards, L. (2020, October 27). ​What is SEESAW for schools and How does it work for teachers

and students?

https://www.techlearning.com/how-to/what-is-seesaw-for-schools-and-how-does-it-work

-for-teachers-and-students.

How to Use ClassDojo for Behavior and Communication​. TwentySomething Teacher Life.

(2017, December 29).

https://twentysomethingteacherlife.com/2017/12/27/classdojo-behavior-communication/.