ClassDojo

ClassDojo is a free, online classroom behavior management tool to help teachers keep track of both negative and positive student behavior throughout the day. Teachers in the K-12 setting are the predominant users of this tool, though parents and students are able to sign in and monitor daily behavior also.
 * Description **

Teachers assign students an avatar and decide what target behaviors they want their students to focus on. Points are doled out by the teacher for both negative and positive behavior and students get instant feedback for said behavior in real-time. ClassDojo can customize the list of negative and positive behaviors to reflect the needs of each teacher’s classrooms/students.

Teachers can also use the software to randomly select on a student to call on and synchronize the student list based on the attendance for the day.


 * History **

Sam Chaudhary and Liam Don created ClassDojo to address the biggest problem that teachers face in the classroom: behavior management 1]. Upon interviewing teachers and finding out that they almost spent more time on discipline than lessons, Chaudhary and Don launched ClassDojo in August 2011 as part of the inaugural class for Imaginek12 2]. To help expand their business, the duo entered into the Innovation Challenge at Education Nation hosted by NBC Education Nation and won the top prize: $75,000 and a year of technical support from Citi [[|3]] and NewSchools Venture Fund 4].

Since then, ClassDojo has garnered attention from several media outlets like The Today Show, Washington Street Journal , The Huffington Post , Wired , and NBC Education Nation, to name a few.  ClassDojo operated in the beta stages for the first year of business but has now gone from that small startup business to a full-fledged reality with the investment of $1.6 million from investors like Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, Ron Conway at SV Angel, Jeff Clavier at SoftTech VC, and businesses like Kapor Capital, the Start Fund, General Catalyst, Morado Ventures, Lerer Ventures, Learn Capital, and NewSchools Venture Fund, among others 5].

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To date, ClassDojo has 3.5 million teachers and students using their services globally 6]. ======


 * Impact on Teaching and Learning **

With ClassDojo, teachers can spend less time policing behavior and students are given behavior feedback instantly. This quick reinforcement can help encourages a student’s positive behavior and lead them to making better decisions all throughout the day.

A new feature that ClassDojo launched in September 2012 is the mobile app for all iOS devices, with an Android app on the way 7]. This new feature allows teachers to award points at any time in the day without being attached to a computer. The app is designed to make it easier to teachers to monitor and track behavior in real-time.


 * Practical Applications **

ClassDojo is an online software that only requires a computer or tablet with Internet access to join. Teachers have the option of using Smartbaords or projectors to display their virtual classes for students to see their progress throughout the day.

Not only is there a teacher platform, but there is also a student section as well. Teachers can give their students a code to access their avatar and points at home to track their individual behaviors. This option heightens student engagement and investment in ClassDojo. A great component of the student version is that the student can look at negative behavior points and write a short reflection that can address why they got those points and what they could do for the future to avoid those situations.

ClassDojo also analyzes the data collected everyday and compiles the information into reports that can be easily shared with parents. Parents can be emailed at the end of the week to show their child’s behavioral and skills progression. There is also an end of the year report that tracks an individual student's growth for the entire year.


 * Demonstrations:**

Introduction to ClassDojo: media type="youtube" key="jxFTMmF0a6c" height="248" width="447"

Add or Delete Behaviors: media type="youtube" key="_Mc9Wx09J6I" height="251" width="448" align="left"

How to Take Attendance: media type="youtube" key="n7hJpx4ejmA" height="251" width="448" align="left"

Emailing Behavior Reports: media type="youtube" key="Mo9HYqzVt3Y" height="251" width="448"

Create Student Logins: media type="youtube" key="-KBKLtkBDX8" height="251" width="448"

Screenshot of a ClassDojo:


 * References: **

www.classdojo.com

[1] [] [2] @http://www.imaginek12.com/index.html [3] @https://online.citibank.com/US/Welcome.c [4] [] [5 & 6] @http://gigaom.com/2012/08/15/classdojo-scores-1-6m-from-top-investors-for-gamified-classroom-management/ [7] @http://thenextweb.com/apps/2012/09/10/classdojo

News articles featuring ClassDojo:
 * The Today Show
 * Washington Street Journal
 * The Huffington Post
 * Wired
 * NBC Education Nation

Investors in ClassDojo
 * @http://ycombinator.com/
 * @http://svangel.com
 * @http://softtechvc.com
 * @http://www.kaporcapital.com
 * @http://www.generalcatalyst.com
 * @http://www.moradoventures.com
 * @http://www.lererventures.com
 * @http://www.learncapital.com
 * www.newschools.org

All images were taken from the ClassDojo Image Pack, which is available for download here.


 * External Links: **

ClassDojo Blog ClassDojo Youtube




 * About the Author:**

Christine Kotomori is a currently a Master's student in the University of Hawaii's Educational Technology Program.