Communication Tool Evaluation Task: Twiddla

Twiddla

www.twiddla.com

Rubric for Assessing Communication Tools

Kristen Cosgrove and Geoff Cyr

#umfedu568

	Does not Meet	Meets	Exceeds
Technology Details
Compatibility		Service or Application is browser/operating system agnostic (e.g., can be used in multiple Internet browsers, and/or on desktop and mobile devices).
Cost		Service is available at little-to-no cost for teachers and schools, AND/OR offers free trials of services to classrooms and schools with available educational discounts for purchase.  Additional features can be purchased outside of in-app purchase system for mobile devices.
Marketing		Service does not contain any advertisements or marketing.
User Safety and Privacy
COPPA Compliance		Service is COPPA-compliant and proof is prominently displayed on the developers’ website AND/OR Developer is a signatory to the Student Privacy Pledge
Controlled Content Sharing		Teacher is able to control level that students’ content is shared at (e.g., classroom-level, other people by invitation, open to public, etc.)
Content Monitoring		Teacher can monitor, filter, and approve student content to platform and comments from others
Appropriate Content		Built-in controls prevent users from stumbling--intentionally or unintentionally--on inappropriate content
User-Friendliness - Students
Use of Multimedia		Students can create, upload, and share content from multiple sources of media (text, images, audio, video, hyperlinks, etc.)
Navigation		Navigation is simple and obvious enough for all users understand
Saving and Revision History		Service saves users’ work automatically, while also maintaining a log or history of changes made by users over time
User-Friendliness - Teachers
Classroom- Level Accounts		Service creates a master account for teachers that connects to and allows teachers to monitor student accounts
Setup		Service can be set up by teachers with minimal assistance needed
Account Creation		Student accounts are created by the teacher or school, or can easily be setup by students using a class code, AND/OR students can create accounts using a common third-party service, like a student Google account
Accessibility
Design and Layout		Service uses large text or multimedia elements that allow for younger students and students who struggle with reading to navigate the page, app, or service
Accessibility Features		Service integrates accessibility features designed to help users with physical or developmental disabilities to use the product.

	Does not Meet	Meets	Exceeds	Comments
Technology Details
Compatibility				It is not clear if this tool is compatible with smart phones or ipads
Cost				It said free in the FAQ section but looking closer to use many of the tools features effectively you need to pay a monthly fee.
Marketing				There was no advertising for other sites
User Safety and Privacy
COPPA Compliance				COPPA Compliant
Controlled Content Sharing				A password is needed to join “meeting”
Content Monitoring
Appropriate Content
User-Friendliness – Students
Use of Multimedia				·           It allows people to upload, many types of multimedia including pictures, video, documents and widgets.  It also allows for video and voice chatting “you can interact with the web (or any uploaded picture, document or widget) AND mark it up at the same time.”
Navigation				I found the site a bit confusing to figure out how to use and learn about privacy policies
Saving and Revision History				Though you can take snap shots of the work the group/meeting is doing Twiddla,  the work cannot be saved long term on the site.
User-Friendliness - Teachers
Classroom- Level Accounts				No specific user account is created to sign into the tool
Setup				You invite people to the “meetings” via email
Account Creation				The only type of “account creation” I saw was for signing if you plan on using the features you have to pay for.
Accessibility
Design and Layout				The design layout is a bit visually overwhelming for some.  Though you can adjust the font size.
Accessibility Features				The site did not describe any compatible accessibility features

Additional Notes:

This communications tools purpose seems mainly for having collaborative meetings online when working on a project with people who are not close by.

 Features that it has:

• ·         Can be used to comment on and mark up documents or picture etc. by multiple different people at once

 How it could be used in the classroom:

I think this tool could be ideal for students who are working on group projects to be able to work more on the project after school even if transportation was an issue.  It could also allow student who was home sick to continue to participate in group work if the felt up to it.   I think it could also be used to allow group peer edits or critiques of each other’s work doing the rough draft phase of the writing process. (notes might have to be saved through taking screen shots.