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AUHSD to transition activity from eKadence to Reddit
The district's 21 schools have been using eKadence for several years, with teachers and clubs having shifted to eKadence for important assignments and announcements throughout the past couple. The transition was announced following numerous complaints from students and staff.
"eKadence has served us well for these past few years," said Superintendent Barron Cooked, "but it's time for the district to embrace the sixth C: Comment karma."
Under the new system, all students and teachers will shift their eKadence activities to Reddit, converting all classes into individual Subreddits. College and Career Readiness (CCR) and AVID will be run under r/ApplyingToCollege, AP Chemistry under r/TodayILearned, and so on. Teachers will serve as moderators of these Subreddits, issuing bans for late work or negativity in discussion post threads.
Based on the previous assignment dropboxes on eKadence, classwork and homework will be uploaded to threads where students, or OP, will post their response to an assignment. Teachers will evaluate students' responses using upvotes or downvotes, which will determine their grade.
"We believe this structure teaches accountability," said Cooked. "Upvotes and downvotes invite authentic assessment of student work, as well as direct feedback."
To set these clear expectations, teachers will outline their class policies — previously stated in curriculum letters — in the Subreddit rules section.
"I'm hoping my 'No Reposts!' rule finally clears up plagiarism," said English teacher Donald Dodges. "If we frame copying someone else's essay as annoyingly reposting a top comment, maybe students will finally understand why it's an issue."
One of eKadence's most frequently used features amongst Oxford students in particular is "Grade Forecast," which allows students to input hypothetical grades for assignments and exams to project their grade in the class. Reddit will offer an interactive version of this service through r/chanceme: a Subreddit where students will describe their previous performance in a class and receive predictions from peers.
"Unlike the old Grade Forecast, r/chanceme will allow for a more holistic review," said Oxford principal Resin Hueston. "Students can receive thoughtful feedback from peers who feel uniquely qualified to evaluate everyone else's academic performance."
Students generally look forward to this aspect of the transition.
"Who needs computers to calculate grades when fellow sweats can thoughtfully explain why my 89% on the last exam is an unrecoverable tragedy?" said junior Whatdu Gett.
All AUHSD schools will transition class activities from eKadence to Reddit by the end of the month.
"We're excited to see students flourish as Redditors," said Cooked. "Reddit is truly the pinnacle of educational technology, and we look forward to the communities of both solidarity and academic rigor it will foster in our sites."