EXPLORING THE ABILITY OF WRITING SKILLS THROUGH THE EDMODO PLATFORM IN DISTANCE FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING

The spreading of social networks, beyond any doubt, has an impact on the educational community. Edmodo platform is an important representative and helper of trainers and trainees over the last decade in the digital world. The millions of platform users introduce a dimension of networking through which the participants communicate and work in a digital environment. The aim of the present study is to present the results of a quasi-experimental plan on writing skills in distance foreign language education with a combined use of the Edmodo platform and videoconferencing. More specifically, it asks whether a distance learning program-in particular the production of textbooks in adult foreign language students-could be developed through the combined use of the Edmodo platform and teleconferencing to successfully complete the written work required for the certification of attainment of a certain level of language competency as specified by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). One test and one experimental group of 15 adult students respectively with two different linguistic levels attended ten 45-minute courses via teleconferencing, with the latter being additionally assisted by the Edmodo platform. Subsequently, they were asked to produce a written text in a foreign language on a common topic according to their level. Their written assignments were individually graded in terms of vocabulary, grammatical structure and syntax as well as pragmatic proficiency. Finally, the experimental group was asked to fill out a questionnaire detailing their views on whether and how the Edmodo platform helped them to improve their skills. Due to restrictions on experimental usage, it was not possible to draw any safe conclusions, but a positive attitude of the students towards teleconference teaching and the use of the Edmodo platform could be inferred from the results. For the majority of distance students, the novelty represented by the use of this learning platform did not prevent them from cooperating and exchanging views mainly thanks to the social character of this interactive medium. It appears that a distance learning class may compensate for the lack of physical interaction between teachers and students precisely because the latter are able to engage in multi-directional communication.