ClassDojo is a system for smartphone and desktop that allows teachers and parents to quickly share information, including homework assignments and pictures and video from school. ClassDojo is used in 70 per cent of Canadian elementary schools, according to numbers obtained from the California-based company.
“ClassDojo has helped demystify what we do in class,” said Alexandra Blais, a Grade 1 teacher at École Jules-Verne in Montreal North.
Blais uses ClassDojo’s “class story” feature to open the door to her classroom. “I can take a picture of students doing a math activity. I can share a picture of the students who have earned a certificate for their good behaviour, or even film the graduation ceremony.”
It’s not just about helicoptering — it’s about teaching, Blais said: “I can also film the child reading aloud and show him the video so they can improve.”
But here are some ways that children’s best interests and particular rights are being ignored or compromised:
- Competition is encouraged
- Avatars objectify children, erase differences
- To customize avatars, parents must disclose more information
- Rewarding ‘standard’ behaviour
- Promoting ‘adultism’
- ‘Growth mindset’ constructs children as ‘becomings’ not ‘beings’
Which begs the questions, whose best interests are really being served by digital discipline in the classroom?
Have school administrators, early childhood educators and parents in Canada and beyond thought about the potential implications of a behaviour management model that may be violating children’s rights to privacy, self-expression and individuality?
Have you used ClassDojo?
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