San Francisco-based ClassDojo is directing its mojo into a new mobile app. Starting January 15, users of the current mobile apps will have the option to upgrade to one new version, with three different user roles for teachers, parents and students.
Used by more than 3 million teachers in over half of US schools, ClassDojo was previously offered through two mobile versions: the original ClassDojo app, which tracks student behavior and noncognitive skills, and ClassDojo Messenger, for communication between teachers and parents.
But why split your offering into two apps when you can roll them into one?
Back when teachers predominantly used ClassDojo on browsers, they would often wait until the end of the lesson or the day to add or subtract points for student behaviors. But now, with 60-70% of teachers using it on mobile, co-founder and CEO Sam Chaudhary sees it more frequently used throughout the day, both to allocate points and share classroom moments with parents.
“Our initial mission was to help kids build noncognitive skills,” explains Chaudhary. “The double benefit was to help solve a classroom management problem.” He hopes to move further towards this goal through the new app, which enables students and parents to see a student’s progress, points, and history of behavior for one or all courses.
Chaudhary also hopes the new app--which includes photo messages, the option to select multiple parent recipients, and see when messages are read--will make teacher-parent communication easier. Teacher use of the app on mobile throughout the day “reinforces the idea of parental engagement, and allows it to happen immediately in real time,” explained Manoj Lamba, marketing lead at ClassDojo.
Chaudhary hopes to encourage this “individual communication between parents and teachers” about student behavior “beyond just the rare parent-teacher conference.” He sees that focus on individual relationships as distinguishing the messaging aspect of ClassDojo from competitors like Remind, which also offers similar teacher-parent communication features.
So, what’s next for ClassDojo? There are many more suggestions from teachers on the to-do list, says Chaudhary, including translation into foreign languages for ELL classrooms, a seating chart viewing option, and a way for students to be able to reflect on their skills within the app.
