ClassDojo
![]() | |
Type of site | Private |
---|---|
Founded | August 2011 |
Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
Area served | Worldwide |
Founder(s) | Sam Chaudhary Liam Don |
Products | Educational technology |
Employees | 30 (2017)[1] |
URL | classdojo |
ClassDojo is a classroom communication platform for teachers, parents and students.[2][3][4][5] The platform allows administrators and teachers to share events, pictures, announcements and other information with parents and students.[6] ClassDojo can also help students develop important skills like empathy and teamwork, through real-time teacher-to-student feedback through the web and mobile devices.[2][3][4][5] The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.[7]
ClassDojo was launched in August 2011 and was initially funded in the ImagineK12 education seed accelerator.[8][9] The platform is used in 90 percent of K-8 schools in the United States and 180 countries globally.[6][10]
History
In August 2011, Sam Chaudhary and Liam Don moved to Palo Alto, California, from the United Kingdom to launch ClassDojo after the startup was accepted in the first cohort of ImagineK12, a Y-combinator program and funding for education startups.[7] In September 2011 the company released a beta version of the platform.[11] Within a year of launching, the platform had been used by 3.5 million teachers and students, in more than 30 countries.[4][5] In August 2012, ClassDojo announced it had raised $1.6 million of main seed capital from Paul Graham, SV Angel, SoftTech VC, Mitch Kapor, Lerer Ventures, and General Catalyst Partners.[3][4][12]
In February 2013, ClassDojo released its first app for the Android operating system.[13] That same year, the company raised $8.5 million in a series A round of funding,[14] and began offering the platform in native languages other than English.[15] In 2014, ClassDojo added a messaging function to its platform, allowing teachers to communicate with parents as a group or directly.[16][17] ClassDojo added Class Story, a digital content stream created by class teachers and accessible by parents in August 2015.[18] In late 2015, the company raised $21 million in a series B round of funding led by General Catalyst Partners.[19]
In January 2016, ClassDojo partnered with Stanford University's Project for Education Research That Scales (PERTS) lab, to release a five-part series of educational videos discussing growth mindset.[20] In September 2016, it was reported that the series had been viewed by one of every four kids in American classrooms.[21] That same year, the platform added School Story, the update enables school administration and teachers to share school-related content to all parents connected to the school,[22] and Student Stories, a tool for students to manage their unique portfolios, interact with classmates and share their experiences with their parents.[23] In October 2016, ClassDojo released a video series about empathy that it created in partnership with the Making Caring Common Project at Harvard Graduate School of Education.[21][10] In May 2017, the company, in partnership with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, released a mindfulness curriculum.[24][25]
Features and tools
The platform allows students, teachers and parents to connect, support and develop student skills.[4][26] To use the classroom communication program, teachers register to obtain a free account, and then create "classes" with their students.[27][26] Students use the program initially with an access code; after creating an account, the students can customize avatars, see classes and see individual progress.[26] Parents can also access ClassDojo when they are invited by the teachers, and can visualize the progress of the child and the information shared by the teachers.[5] Teachers can reward students with positive feedback in real time when they show good exertion in a task or activity in class.[26] Teachers are also able to communicate directly with parents through the platform.[17]
The program is customizable, and the teachers can change the skills for which the students obtain feedback to adapt to the needs of the class or of the school.[26] ClassDojo is available as a web application that can be used in any device with a web browser, and also with native applications for iPhone (iOS) and Android.[3] The company plans to keep the main platform free for teachers. The founders say that it is because they want teachers, students and parents in all types of schools to use ClassDojo to encourage learning, skill development, and character-building.[3][27]
Recognition
In 2011, ClassDojo received the Today Show's Education Innovation Award.[28][29] The founders of the company were included on the Forbes "30 Under 30: Education" list in 2012.[28] In 2013, Forbes recognized ClassDojo as one of the "100 Most Promising Companies of the United States".[30] That same year, Fast Company included the company on it's "10 Most Innovative Education Companies in the World" list.[31] ClassDojo was awarded TechCrunch's Crunchie award for Best Education Startup and its founders were included on Inc.'s "30 Under 30" list in 2015.[32][33] In 2016, Fast Company recognized the ClassDojo app as one of "The 35 Most Innovative Apps of the Year".[34] In 2017, Inc. named ClassDojo one of the "25 Most Disruptive Companies" of the year.[35]
References
- ^ Chaykowski, Kathleen (May 22, 2017). "How ClassDojo Built One of the Most Popular Classroom Apps by Listening to Teachers". Forbes. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ a b Colao, J. J. (August 15, 2012). "Can Software Build Character? Applying The 'Marshmallow Test' To The Classroom". Forbes. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e "Crunchbase: ClassDojo". Crunchbase. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Empson, Rip (August 15, 2012). "ClassDojo Lands $1.6M From Paul Graham, Ron Conway To Help Teachers Control Their Classrooms". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ a b c d Sawers, Paul (August 15, 2012). "ClassDojo taps $1.6m in seed funding, as its student behaviour-improvement platform rolls out of beta". TheNextWeb. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ a b Jackson, Abby (July 8, 2016). "A 'Very Non-Silicon Valley' Startup is Going Viral Among Teachers and Parents". Business Insider. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ a b Salter, Philip (April 23, 2012). "Insights from a young Silicon Valley startup". City A.M. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ DeAmicis, Carmel (March 12, 2014). "The edtech startup that's shucking the playbook by acting like a consumer company". PandoDaily. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ Solon, Olivia (March 21, 2012). "Startup of the week: ClassDojo". Wired UK. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b O'Connell, Ainsley (December 1, 2016). "ClassDojo is Teaching Kids Empathy in 90% of K-8 Schools Nationwide". Fast Company. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ James, Andrew (August 15, 2012). "ClassDojo Raises $1.6M, Announces Upcoming iPhone and iPad Apps". PandoDaily. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ Grant, Rebecca (August 15, 2012). "Funding Daily: watch out for spies and ninjas". VentureBeat. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ "ClassDojo Release Android App". Avatar Generation. February 28, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ Kokalitcheva, Kia (March 3, 2014). "ClassDojo Raises $8.5M to Put Digital Gold Stars On Your Kid's Digital Folder". VentureBeat. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ Czikk, Joseph (September 23, 2013). "ClassDojo, The "World's Fastest Growing Education Startup", Launches in Canada". Betakit. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ "ClassDojo Announces New Messaging Feature". EdSurge News. March 27, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ a b Bharti, Prasanna (September 10, 2014). "Simple, Positive Communication With Parents Made Easy With ClassDojo Messenger". EdTech Review. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ Wan, Tony (August 5, 2015). "ClassDojo's Summer Updates Include 'Instagram for the Classroom'". EdSurge News. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ Kolodny, Lora (April 15, 2016). "ClassDojo Raises $21 Million For App to Make Parent-Teacher Meetings Obsolete". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ Wan, Tony (January 19, 2016). "ClassDojo's Critters Want to Teach You About Growth Mindsets". EdSurge News. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ a b Anderson, Jenny (September 27, 2016). "Meet Mojo, The Monster Stanford and Harvard Are Using to Teach Your Kids "Growth Mindset" and Empathy". Quartz. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ "ClassDojo Moves Beyond Classrooms to Whole School Sharing". eSchool News. April 18, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ Bolkan, Joshua (July 20, 2016). "ClassDojo Launches Parental Engagement Tool". The Journal. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ Toppos, Greg (May 8, 2017). "Breathe Deeply: Mindfulness Coming to a School Near You". USA Today. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ Dobo, Nichole (May 10, 2017). "Be Mindful: How a Tech Tool Can Help". The Hechinger Report. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Pierce, Jessi; Seibel, Phil (September 14, 2012). "Tech Savvy: In the classroom". Brainerd Dispatch. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ a b Rubin, Shawn (April 2, 2013). "OPINION: Bridging the Disconnect Between Teachers and the Edtech Industry". EdSurge. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ a b Casserly, Meghan (December 17, 2012). "30 Under 30: The Millennials Overhauling Education And Leaving No Child (Or Teacher) Behind". Forbes. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ Barseghian, Tina (September 27, 2011). "Class Dojo Wins Innovation Challenge at Education Nation". KQED. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ "America's Most Promising Companies". Forbes. May 2013. Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ "The World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Education". Fast Company. 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ Fenn, Donna (2015). "Remember These Names: The 2015 30 Under 30 List Is Here". Inc. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ Williams, Felicia (February 5, 2015). "ClassDojo: 2015 Best Education Startup Winner". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ^ Brownlee, John (September 28, 2016). "The 35 Most Innovative Apps of the Year". Fast Company. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ "ClassDojo". Inc. Retrieved August 4, 2017.