The effect of Edmodo social learning network on Iranian EFL learners writing skill

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to explore the effect of Edmodo social learning network on Iranian learners’ writing skill. It also attempted to find out students’ attitudes toward Edmodo. Forty participants were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. For both groups, at first a test of writing as a pre-test was run to check homogeneity and for later comparisons. Participants in the control group had a normal class of writing compositions. In the experimental group, the learners practiced using Edmodo application. The treatment for each group lasted for 10 sessions. In the final session, the teacher gave the same topic to learners of two groups and asked them to write sentences and short paragraphs. Finally, participants were assessed for their attitudes toward application of Edmodo using a Likert-type questionnaire. The collected data from pre-tests, post-tests and questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS. It was found out that application of Edmodo social learning network had significant effects on Iranian intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ writing skill. The findings also indicated that students had positive attitudes toward the application of Edmodo social network in classroom. Results can bring about pedagogical implications for Iranian English language teachers.

Keywords:

• attitude
• Edmodo
• Iranian EFL learners
• social network
• writing skill

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Social networks penetrated in every aspect of education and particularly in foreign language teaching. Since learners enjoy playing with their digital devices, why English teachers do not use this opportunity to integrate online and network application in teaching environment. Teachers can expand their roles everywhere and anytime. Edmodo is one of these applications. It provides different facilities to learners. The principal goal of this study is to explore the effect of Edmodo social network on Iranian learners’ writing skill. It also attempted to find out students’ attitudes toward Edmodo in language learning. Forty Iranian intermediate EFL students participated in this study. Twenty learners were taught using traditional method, and 20 children were taught using Edmodo. Findings showed the writing Edmodo group was more significant. The results also indicated that students had positive attitudes toward Edmodo. The results of this research are significant in introducing social network in teaching English language.

1. Introduction

Writing ability is a significant part of communication. Akkaya and Kirmiz (2010) stated that writing is the expression of feelings, thoughts, desires and plans in black and white. In the teaching and learning processes, writing has an important role through which students can be evaluated. It is assumed as the most complex among four major skills, i.e. listening, speaking, reading and writing. Jahin and Idrees (2012) believe that since every learner should have a balance among various aspects in his/her writing like purpose, content, audience, organization, vocabulary, mechanics, etc., writing is considered complex for both native and non-native students. Along the same line of thought, Salma (2015) said that since English is considered as a foreign language in EFL context, then writing skill becomes most challenging activity to the students.

With the invention of classroom instruments based on Web, a throng of new facilities on how to apply online technologies such as social networks for successful learning has gotten researchers exploring the best way to capitalize on these instruments. Many studies are run in the areas of using social networks such as Facebook and Twitter as tools of teaching and learning languages. Another coming social network particularly for teaching and learning is Edmodo. Being familiar with the popularity of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) among learners, teachers began to utilize their instruction with SNSs to primarily develop learner’s learning autonomy, attitude and motivation. Some studies focusing the application of SNSs with teaching indicated that SNSs can make better learners’ general learning performance, and strengthen their motivation for learning. SNS is considered as a platform which makes an easy way to interact with other people, share taught and ideas and collect feedback in a fluid way. According to Balasubramaniana, Jaykumar, and Fukey (2014), this element of connection is the major difference between SNSs and traditional media. During the last decades many online programs were designed to help language learners to learn language more effectively. As stated above, one of the recent available online tools for teachers is Edmodo which is the main focus in this study. Edmodo is an online social networking website and a smartphone application that is designed for both teachers and students. Edmodo gives this opportunity to teachers to communicate with their students, share materials and monitor students’ progress. The present study attempts to examine the effect of Edmodo social learning network on Iranian learners’ writing skill. It also attempted to find out students’ attitudes toward Edmodo.

In accordance with this purpose, the following questions were sought:

1. Does the application of Edmodo social learning network influence on Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ writing skill?

2. What are Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ attitudes toward application of Edmodo social network in classroom to improve their writing skill?

2. Literature review

The approach of advanced age has changed the way individuals convey in the most recent decades. Richardson and Hessey (2009) asserted that innovation has been coordinated with correspondence to challenge the way people take up with each other. Khany and Monfared (2013) believe that web applications have affected our life from various perspectives. E-learning or learning through web is a by-result of these advances that greatly affected training and thusly language learning.

Up to now, researches in second language learning have not given careful consideration to the learners as a social being (Holliday, 1994; Norton & Toohey, 2003). A noteworthy group of writing has created concerning learners exclusively, concentrating on the systems they use to learn language both inside and outside the classroom, with less consideration regarding the setting of their learning (Oxford, 1990; Oxford & Ehrman, 1995).

According to Conole and Culver (2009), web advances offer “numerous opportunities to create innovative, engaging and pedagogically effective learning opportunities”. Web with its all-inclusive elements has enhanced language learning. The English learners unmistakably support electronic hotspots for language learning; learning language through online advances can expand the engagement; participation and inspiration of English students (Palfreyman, 2006), and in addition allowing them to express their own inclinations, develop their own particular settings, and present their characters; therefore, internet with its universal features has improved language learning (Girgin, 2011).

Social webs are among the most recent cases of correspondences innovations that are extremely well known among students (Kabilan, Ahmad, & ZainolAbidin, 2010) and can possibly turn into a profitable asset to bolster their language learning (Roblyer, McDaniel, Webb, Herman, & Witty, 2010). Social group webs have various applications; they allow each customer to make an altered profile, select distinctive customers as buddies, send private messages, join get-togethers, post and also mark pictures, and leave comments on these photographs and moreover on either a get-together or an individual’s walls or even make pages for different events. There are in like manner such different outsiders or applications on the casual associations plan like Facebook, for instance, entertainments, overviews and tests. As Roblyer et al. (2010) stated one part of casual associations that makes them a potentially exceptional instrument for language learning is that they work essentially as particular gadgets. There are additionally such a variety of outsiders or applications on the informal organizations stage like Facebook, for example, amusements, surveys and tests. One component of interpersonal organizations that makes them a conceivably capable apparatus for language learning is that they work essentially as specialized devices (Roblyer et al., 2010). As Bakhtin (1981) refers language is “immersed in a social and cultural context and its central function is to serve as a medium of communication” (cited in Khany & Monfared, 2013).

One of the newly educational social networks which draws the attention of educational researchers is Edmodo. Edmodo is an open and secure learning stage outlined by Jeff O’ Hara and Nick Borg in 2008 for instructors, students, parents, schools and regions. The site gives a basic approach to instructors and students in an online class to associate and work together. Witherspoon (2011) stated that Edmodo can be viewed as Learning Management System (LMS) which can encourage educators to set up and deal with their online classes effectively. Mills and Chandra (2011) discuss that Edmodo enables learners to interact with each other closely, and contributes to improving a positive classroom community. Namely, students’ connections on Edmodo can be considered as a use of the notion of a Community of Practices (CP). Wenger and Wenger (2015) defines CPs as “groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (p. 12).

Numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of utilizing technology in educational context (e.g. Eren, 2012; Lin and Yang (2011); Montero-Fleta and Sabaterpresent 2014; Yang, 2008), with additional studies on the use of Edmodo in English classes (Thongmak (2013); Balasubramaniana et al. (2014); Janpho, Chaeturat, and Multa (2015); Kongchan (2015); Al-Said (2015); Okumura & Bronson, 2016). The results of these studies confirmed that the use of Edmodo in language learning was very important.

3. Method

3.1. Participants

All participants of the present study were Iranian intermediate EFL learners. The participants were at intermediate level of language proficiency based on their scores on proficiency test. According to Kafipour, Mahmoudi, and Khojasteh (2018), the rational for choosing the intermediate Iranian language learners was that students at this level had already gained a basic knowledge of English grammar and structural rules needed for the performance of writing activities. The researchers applied availability-sampling procedure to select the participants. Forty EFL learners were selected among 60 students studying English in 2 English language institutes located in Kermanshah, Iran. The Oxford proficiency test as a widely recognized reliable and valid test which has been pre-tested and validated was used and those with a score of one standard deviation above and below the mean were selected. Consequently, 20 EFL learners randomly were assigned to the control group; in a similar manner, 20 EFL learners were assigned to the treatment group. Accordingly, the research sample included 40 EFL learners. Hence, two classes were randomly assigned as experimental and control groups. The participants’ mean age was between 21 and 28. Persian was the first language of learners and English was the foreign language for all the participants. They were both male and female.The number of English classes taught per week was two sessions and the duration of each class was 1 h and 30 min.

3.2. Instruments

The main instruments of the present research were as follows:

3.2.1. A proficiency test

In the present research, at first a proficiency test was used to determine the proficiency levels of the students. Forty learners at the intermediate level of language proficiency were selected based on their scores. The proficiency test consisted of 60 questions and the learners whose scores were between 40 and 50 were considered as intermediate learners. The Oxford Online Placement test was used as a widely recognized reliable and valid test which has been pre-tested and validated.

3.2.2. Composition writing

The second instrument was composition writing. All learners in experimental and control groups were asked to write on a particular topic. They were given 1 h to write compositions before and after the treatment. They were pre and post-tests. The performances of learners on their pre and post-tests were compared to investigate the effectiveness of treatments for each group. Before the administration of these two types of tests, five EFL professors scrutinized the instruments of the study to ensure that there were no problems with the test and approve their validity. Moreover, the researchers applied Cronbach’s alpha coefficient to test the reliability of the instruments.

An attitude questionnaire: In order to explore the learners’ attitudes toward application of Edmodo social network in English classrooms, a questionnaire was used. It consisted of a 20-item, 5-point Likert scale, measuring 5 for “Strongly agree”, 4 for “Agree”, 3 for “Neutral”, 2 for “Disagree” and 1 for “Strongly disagree”, has been developed based on Al Said’s (2015) study. In fact, the English questionnaire of Al Said’s study was used in the present study without any changes on it. To collect accurate data, the simplicity and complexity of the questionnaire was examined. In addition to validity, the questionnaire was subjected to pilot test and the Cronbach’s alpha index of reliability was found 0.90.

Edmodo: The last instrument of the present study was Edmodo. Edmodo which is accessible at www.edmodo.com was perceived by the American Association of School Librarians in 2011 as one of the main 25 websites that encourages the characteristics of technology, inventiveness, dynamic support and joint effort (Habley, 2011) in the classification entitled “Social Networking and Communication” (Flanigan, 2011). Edmodo has more than 6.5 million clients and host online meetings called Edmodocon with a huge number of participants (Balasubramanian, Jaykumar V, & Fukey, 2014). There are a few components of Edmodo free social network as takes after: first of all teachers and students can team up in a safe, shut environment, then a message board permits safe and free correspondence that can be observed and controlled by the educator. Moreover, teachers can post homework and evaluations that are electronically submitted and consequently reviewed. Besides, teachers and students can store and share reports and records in a wide assortment of organizations in a relaxing environment. Thus, this Folder-sharing permits instructors to share all contents for specific units of study with select groups or all students. Students can immediately get their records 24/7 through their easy to reach “Library”.

3.3. Procedure

The aim of the present research was to examine the effect of Edmodo social learning network on Iranian intermediate EFL learners writing ability. The main instruments of the present research were proficiency test, composition writing, questionnaire and Edmodo. To collect the required data for answering the research questions, the following procedure was done. At first, language proficiency test was run to select 40 participants at the intermediate level of language proficiency. Then, participants were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Both control and experimental groups had the same teacher who was the researcher of the present study. In addition to this, the materials taught for two groups were the same (lessons 7, 8 and 9 of American English File 2 textbook). For both groups, at first a test of writing as a pre-test was run to check homogeneity and for later comparisons. Participants in the control group had a normal class of writing compositions in which topics were introduced by teacher and learners had writing compositions in a limited time. In the experimental group, Computer assisted language learning (CALL) approach was used in which the learners fallen under the Edmodo users. The features of Edmodo were introduced to the learners in the experimental group and they were instructed how to use them. For instance, the researcher explained in details to the experimental group members how to write sentences and paragraphs and reply to a post, how to participate in a quiz, how to submit their writing and how to communicate with the member of the group via Edmodo. In fact, Edmodo was used for providing resources, rehearsing activities, presenting support and performing evaluation along with usual writing classrooms. Hence, in the experimental group, teacher created and managed accounts and allowed the learners to receive the group code and register in the group. This helped students access and join the group. Teacher and students in the experimental group connected and collaborated on their writing compositions in a simple way. In fact, Edmodo social network was applied due to the needs of learners on how they collaborate on written productions. During the treatment, learners were asked to compose one paragraph writing on Edmodo following the writing process taught in the class. Thus, students shared content and received their teacher and classmates feedbacks on their writings each session. In fact, learners could observe their fellow classmates’ written productions and correct them. This part was called peer reviews and critiques. Students post their work to the group for peer review and feedback, then students had to write their comments about their classmate composition and post their comments. Consequently, students wrote independently and provide feedback collaboratively. Another activity which students had to do using Edmodo was to prepare and write their composition with each other. They communicate their writing via Edmodo to each other before presenting it to all class groups. In this way they share their sentences and gave feedback to each other. Another integration of Edmodo in the class was the presentation of the main topics of the lessons and important points through Edmodo. Each session after the class, the important points were uploaded and students had to read it and the following day, take part in the quizzes. Edmodo quiz builder was utilized to assess students’ writing after a unit of study. Students had direct and constant access to not only teacher’s instruction but also they were able to read other students’ paragraphs and did not commit the same mistakes. The treatment for each group lasted for 10 sessions. In the final session, the teacher gave the same topic to learners of two groups and asked them to write. This was their post-test. Then, the teacher compared the scores of the pre and post-tests of the experimental group to consider the effects of using Edmodo social network on writing improvement of EFL learners. Then, the post tests of two groups of control and experimental were compared in order to find out if there was any significant difference between two groups regarding their writing achievement. Finally, in order to explore the learners’ attitudes toward application of Edmodo social network in English classrooms, a questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was distributed to the student’s using Google drive. The questionnaire was based on Al-Said’s (2015) study. It was used as a reliable and valid test as its reliability was reported by the researcher in his study. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software.

4. Findings

In order to select the participants at the intermediate level of language proficiency, all learners were asked to take part in a proficiency test (Oxford Placement Test). The proficiency test consisted of 60 multiple choice questions and each question had one score. Forty participants, who were at the intermediate level of language proficiency, were selected based on their scores (between 40 and 50) for the present study. Then participants were divided into two groups of control and experimental randomly. Table 1 indicates the descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation, on control and experimental groups’ scores obtained from proficiency test.

Table 1. The results of the descriptive statistics on the control and experimental groups’ performances on proficiency test

	Group	N	Mean	Std. deviation	Std. error mean
Placement Test	Control	20	43.40	1.142	.255
	Experiment	20	44.05	1.050	.235

According to Table 1, the mean scores of two groups of participants were approximately the same and there was not a significant difference between them. In order to be assured about this result, an independent sample t-test was run. Table 2 shows the results of the independent sample t-test for the learners’ performances on proficiency test.

Table 2. The results of the independent sample t-test for the control and experimental groups’ performances on the proficiency test

	Levene’s test for equality of variances		t-Test for equality of means
	F	Sig.	t	df	Sig. (2-tailed)	Mean difference	Std. error difference	95% confidence interval of the difference
								Lower	Upper
Equal variances assumed	.644	.427	−1.873	38	.069	−.650	.347	−1.352	.052
Equal variances not assumed			−1.873	37.733	.069	−.650	.347	−1.353	.053

According to the results of Table 2, the difference between two groups of control and experimental on proficiency test was not significant, as Sig > 0.05.

4.1. Addressing the first research question

The first research question was: Does the application of Edmodo social learning network influence on Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ writing skill? To find a proper answer for the first research question, it was needed to compare the pre-test scores of the control and experimental groups, who experienced the normal class of writing compositions and social network of Edmodo in their English classes, respectively. Table 3 indicates the descriptive statistics of the control and experimental groups’ performances on their pre-tests.

Table 3. The results of the descriptive statistics on the control and experimental groups’ performances on their pre-tests

	Group	N	Mean	Std. deviation	Std. error mean
Pre-test	Control	20	13.70	1.455	.325
	Experiment	20	14.05	1.356	.303

According to Table 3, the mean scores of the control and experimental groups’ pre-tests were the same and there was not a difference between them. In order to be assured that there was not a significant difference between them, an independent sample t-test was conducted. Table 4 shows the results of the independent sample t-test for the control and experimental groups’ performances on their pre-tests.

Table 4. The results of the independent sample t-test for the control and experimental groups’ performances on their pre-tests

	Levene’s test for equality of variances		t-Test for equality of means
									95% confidence interval of the difference
		F	Sig.	t	df	Sig. (2-tailed)	Mean difference	Std. error difference	Lower	Upper
Pre-test	Equal variances assumed	.490	.488	−.787	38	.436	−.350	.445	−1.250	.550
	Equal variances not assumed			−.787	37.815	.436	−.350	.445	−1.250	.550

As Table 4 indicates, there was not a significant difference between two groups of participants regarding their performances on their pre-tests, as Sig > 0.05, (t (38) = −.787, p = .488).

In the next stage, the researcher compared the post-test scores of the control and experimental groups. Learners in the control group had a normal class of writing compositions and in the experimental group, the learners experienced CALL approach in which they fallen under the Edmodo users. Table 5 indicates the descriptive statistics of the post-test scores of two groups of participants.

Table 5. The results of the descriptive statistics on the control and experimental groups’ performances on their post-tests

	Group	N	Mean	Std. deviation	Std. error mean
Post-test	Control	20	16.45	1.731	.387
	Experiment	20	17.70	1.658	.371

According to Table 5, the mean scores of the experimental (17.70) and control (16.45) groups were not the same and there was a difference between them. In order to see if this difference was statistically significant or not, an independent sample t-test was conducted (Table 6).

Table 6. The results of the independent sample t-test for the control and experimental groups’ performances on their post-tests

		Levene’s test for equality of variances		t-Test for equality of means
									95% confidence interval of the difference
		F	Sig.	t	df	Sig. (2-tailed)	Mean difference	Std. error difference	Lower	Upper
Post Test	Equal variances assumed	.512	.478	−2.332	38	.025	−1.250	.536	−2.335	−.165
	Equal variances not assumed			−2.332	37.928	.025	−1.250	.536	−2.335	−.165

As Table 6 indicates, there was a significant difference between two groups of learners due to their writing achievement, as the value of significant level was smaller than 0.05, Sig < 0.05, (t (38) = −2.332, p = .478).

4.2. Addressing the second research question

The second research question was: What are Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ attitudes toward application of Edmodo social network in classroom to improve their writing skill?

In order to explore the learners’ attitudes toward application of Edmodo social network in English classrooms, a questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale asking the effectiveness of Edmodo was distributed to the student’s using Google drive at the end of the experiment. After gathering the required data, the frequency and percentage for each question was computed and then the collected data were analyzed using SPSS software. Table 7 shows the frequency and percentage of learners’ answers in experimental group for each question.

Table 7. The frequency and percentage of learners’ answers for each question

			Answer					Total
			Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly agree
Question	q1	Count	0	3	1	6	10	20
		% within Question	0.0%	15.0%	5.0%	30.0%	50.0%	100.0%
	q2	Count	2	3	0	8	7	20
		% within Question	10.0%	15.0%	0.0%	40.0%	35.0%	100.0%
	q3	Count	2	0	2	7	9	20
		% within Question	10.0%	0.0%	10.0%	35.0%	45.0%	100.0%
	q4	Count	4	1	0	4	11	20
		% within Question	20.0%	5.0%	0.0%	20.0%	55.0%	100.0%
	q5	Count	2	1	3	8	6	20
		% within Question	10.0%	5.0%	15.0%	40.0%	30.0%	100.0%
	q6	Count	3	0	0	12	5	20
		% within Question	15.0%	0.0%	0.0%	60.0%	25.0%	100.0%
	q7	Count	1	2	2	8	7	20
		% within Question	5.0%	10.0%	10.0%	40.0%	35.0%	100.0%
	q8	Count	4	1	4	5	6	20
		% within Question	20.0%	5.0%	20.0%	25.0%	30.0%	100.0%
	q9	Count	3	1	0	9	7	20
		% within Question	15.0%	5.0%	0.0%	45.0%	35.0%	100.0%
	q10	Count	0	4	0	12	4	20
		% within Question	0.0%	20.0%	0.0%	60.0%	20.0%	100.0%
	q11	Count	1	1	2	6	10	20
		% within Question	5.0%	5.0%	10.0%	30.0%	50.0%	100.0%
	q12	Count	0	2	4	1	13	20
		% within Question	0.0%	10.0%	20.0%	5.0%	65.0%	100.0%
	q13	Count	4	1	2	9	4	20
		% within Question	20.0%	5.0%	10.0%	45.0%	20.0%	100.0%
	q14	Count	2	2	0	5	11	20
		% within Question	10.0%	10.0%	0.0%	25.0%	55.0%	100.0%
	q15	Count	0	3	3	7	7	20
		% within Question	0.0%	15.0%	15.0%	35.0%	35.0%	100.0%
	q16	Count	1	2	0	3	14	20
		% within Question	5.0%	10.0%	0.0%	15.0%	70.0%	100.0%
	q17	Count	2	0	3	6	9	20
		% within Question	10.0%	0.0%	15.0%	30.0%	45.0%	100.0%
	q18	Count	2	2	1	10	5	20
		% within Question	10.0%	10.0%	5.0%	50.0%	25.0%	100.0%
	q19	Count	5	3	2	6	4	20
		% within Question	25.0%	15.0%	10.0%	30.0%	20.0%	100.0%
	q20	Count	1	2	0	2	13	18
		% within Question	5.6%	11.1%	0.0%	11.1%	72.2%	100.0%
Total		Count	39	34	29	134	162	398
		% within Question	9.8%	8.5%	7.3%	33.7%	40.7%	100.0%

According to Table 7, learners had positive attitudes toward the application of the social network as they strongly agreed or agreed on the effects of social network in each question. In order to see if the obtained frequencies were statistically significant or not, Chi-Square test was run. Table 8 illustrates the results of the test for the second research question.

Table 8. The results of the Chi-square test for the learners’ attitudes toward the application of social network in English classroom

	Value	df	Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-square	111.749^a	76	.005
Likelihood ratio	130.434	76	.000
Linear-by-Linear association	.025	1	.875
N of valid cases	398

According to Table 8, the significant level was smaller than 0.05 (Sig < 0.05) and the degree of freedom (df) was 76. In fact, the results of Chi-square Pearson, as one of the statistics factors, are significant with a df of 76. Chi-square test is one of the non-parametric tests which were used to evaluate nominal variables in the present study. This result confirms that Iranian intermediate EFL learners have positive attitudes toward application of Edmodo social network in classroom to improve their writing skill.

5. Discussion

Writing skill is an important part of the language ability and it is linked closely with other language skills. Although it has a significant role, it is observed that writing is a neglected factor in the educational programs for language teaching in Iran. Thus, the primary purpose of this study was to explore the effects of Edmodo social learning network application on Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ writing skill. It also attempted to find out students’ attitudes toward the application of Edmodo social network in classroom to improve their writing skill. The pre- and post-tests’ mean scores of the learners in experimental group were compared through implementing a paired sample t-test to determine if the difference between the means was statistically significant or not. The comparison showed that learners in their post-tests outperformed than their protests and the difference between the performances on the pre- and post-tests were statistically significant. In addition, independent sample t-test was run to determine if the difference between the post-tests’ mean scores of the control and experimental groups was statistically significant or not. The comparison showed that the experimental group’s mean score was significantly higher than that of the control group. The findings of the first research question indicated that application of Edmodo social network had positive effects on Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ writing skill. The findings also indicated that students had positive attitudes toward the application of Edmodo social network in classroom.

The findings of this study are in line with the findings of the previous studies on the effectiveness of using social educational networking in teaching English. For instance, the findings were in line with the Janpho, Chaeturat and Multa’s (2015) study. Their study was to compare the writing skill before and after applying Edmodo. Sample of this research was 25 high school learners who were selected through a cluster random sampling. This research was one group pre-test–post-test design. The results of the study indicated that learners’ writing skill enhanced after applying Edmodo. The findings are also supported by the Raths’ (2013) expressions. He asserted that Edmodo gives learners more opportunity to write in their profile that they are hands-on or visual students, and that gives instructors a better opinion of how to work with them. He added that Edmodo has been a great instrument for instructors to collaborate with each other and share lesson plans and best exercises. Additionally, learners are able to interact with information from any supported resources contained in Edmodo in which they have freedom to encounter with the information. Thus, it motivates learners to have more enthusiasm for learning the target language through Edmodo. Therefore, learning through Edmodo can enhance English writing skill and increase learners’ attitude. The findings of the present study were also in line with the Yang’s (2008) study. In his study, he expressed that as learners’ online diary, social networks such as blog can be applied to teach writing, and instructor could ask learners who apply blog to post their composition writings regularly. They can select their best composition writings per terms, each composition should contain all the processes of writing from construct to edit

The findings of the second research question indicated that Iranian intermediate EFL learners had positive attitudes toward application of Edmodo social network in classroom to improve their writing skill. Thus, the findings of the present study were in line with the Piriyasilpa’s (2010) study. He carried out a study on the effects of use of social network as part of the classroom. She investigated the learners’ attitudes about this activity and their use of language in their communication. Furthermore, the findings were also supported by the Kongchan’s (2012) study. The data from the questionnaire indicated that the learners strongly agreed that they could utilize all functions of Edmodo quickly and easily. They also strongly agreed that the website never failed. In addition, the learners strongly agreed that they liked and enjoyed applying Edmodo features such as doing quizzes, submitting their work, getting feedback from the instructor, reviewing the lessons posted by the instructor, posting their work to class, studying the work posted by their classmates and voting for the best work of their classmates.

6. Conclusion

The findings of the current study revealed that EFL learners’ writing improved significantly by using Edmodo educational network. Results indicated that although the learners in the traditional group had an acceptable improvement and they were able to write better but the improvement was more significant in the experimental group. These higher scores could be attributed to presenting Edmodo which improved EFL learners’ performance in writing considerably. EFL learners in the experimental group revealed to spell the words more accurately, write more grammatical sentences. Moreover, the results indicated that not only Edmodo was useful but also it can save the time. Then, it can be concluded that application of Edmodo had significant effect on the correct writing for the EFL learners. The main reason to success for the learners in this study appeared to be their independent to time and place and teacher availability outside of the class.

The findings offer that Edmodo can be very helpful as an educational instrument. Learners’ attitudes toward such an activity were mostly positive. Learners welcomed applying social networking site as a supplementary to the curriculum. Most learners indicated that they loved spending time on Edmodo as a beneficial instrument for enhancing their writing skill. There are many computer-based language programs but learners expect something more professional and may not view these programs as interactive experiences (Mazer, Murphy, & Simonds, 2007).

Based on the results of the study, most students in experimental group were enthusiastic about writing in English, and actively posted their sentences and paragraphs written by themselves on line to the teacher. Moreover, the students were eager to modify their mistakes. Conversely, many students in the control group avoided the discussions and were embarrassed to show their written sentences because they had some grammatical errors. According to the attitude questionnaire results, it is confirmed that the students in the experimental group had greater attitude in learning English as a foreign language after utilization of Edmodo than those in the control group. The ability of writing sentences in the experimental group is better than the control group. Hence, the treatment of using Edmodo can improve students writing skills as well as enhance their attitude in learning English. The implication of the findings is that the attitudes of students can be applied in learning English to map their educational achievement. Therefore, it is important for scholars and academicians to continue focusing on different ways in order to improve the attitudes of students toward learning a language through utilizing social educational networks.

In sum, the networks can be applied as an extension of a physical classroom to assist learners stay in touch with their instructors, while the teachers and educational institutions to update their knowledge and learning methodologies as well as enhancing collaborative working (Arroyo, 2011). The social networking can benefit the learners who are shy and do not participate in class can communicate with their teachers and fellow classmates (Miller, 2011). The results of the current study suggest that English language policymakers in Iran can concentrate on certain online instruction around students learning English language. Regarding the limitations of computer based programs, such an activity can be a good alternative to enhance language skills. This activity is also beneficial for breaking ice with learners (Eren, 2012). Although there is not much research considering the academic application of Edmodo, educators are becoming aware of the possibilities for reaching learners with learning materials through social networks (Bosch, 2009).

7. Pedagogical implications

In light of the findings of the present study, we may find some useful pedagogical implications for teachers, educators and learners. For example, it is suggested that teachers employ this particular and effective social network in their writing courses, and make their courses much more active and fruitful. As the results of the study shows, there is an interest on application of Edmodo as a social network among the EFL learners, then instructors who would like to apply Edmodo are offered to shift their classrooms based on conventional methods into current scenario. Instructors have to think of applying the Edmodo social network as a reference to conduct and make a responsible learning environment to the learners. Considering the constant growth of social networks, Edmodo become a phenomenon that captures the EFL learners of current generation because most of the learners believe that it is very user-friendly. Educators should pay more attention to an English teaching language curriculum that incorporates different types. Therefore, the application of Edmodo by educators as a social network for the learners could become a powerful instrument that extends the environment of responsible learning beyond the classroom context. It is highly recommended that English language teacher preparation programs in Iran for teaching English is equipped with social networking application to enhance developing writing skills. Consequently, the findings of this study will also have practical implications in syllabus design, testing and EFL research. Educators should pay more attention to an English teaching language curriculum that incorporates different types of social educational network to improve students writing mistakes and using Edmodo to learners should be given more priority. Furthermore, it is recommended to examine the effects of social networks, especially Edmodo, related to other language skills (listening, speaking and reading).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Halaleh Ma’azi

Halaleh Ma’azi is an MA student in the field of TEFL. Her main areas of interests are research and teaching methodology. She has more than 15 years’ experience in teaching English to Iranian students.

Kamran Janfeshan

Dr. Kamran Janfeshan is an Assistant Professor and full-time faculty member in the Department of English, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran. He obtained his MA in Applied Linguistics from Tehran University for Teacher Education, Iran in 1995. His MA supervisor was Professor Hossein Farhady. He obtained his PhD in TEFL from the University of Pune, India in 2009. His main research interests are language teaching methodology, Computer-Assisted language learning (CALL) and material developments. He teaches teaching language skills, practical teaching and test development courses at post-graduate level.