http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-KBwriCO-Q&feature=fvst
^^A video on edmodo.
Edmodo looks very promising and pretty simple to use. As a teacher, I like the feature of using polls and posting assignment due dates. As a student, I like the feature of having all my assignment listed on a calendar already there for me. Also, getting parents to sign up for edmodo could be very beneficial. Parents can see exactly what is going on in the classroom and help their kid stay on track. However, I think for edmodo to truly reach its potential, it needs to be used school wide in all classes and even after school activities. As a student, I wouldn't want to have to sign up for some website, spend time learning how it works, and only ever use it for one course. If a student uses it for multiple classes and is truly able to use the calendar feature with assignments from all classes (and even sporting events for athletes) then it could be a really handy tool. As a teacher, Edmodo could be helpful for seeing what our students have due in other classes. Also, seeing what other classes are doing, we could create assignments that incorporate in different disciplines and assure that they don't conflict with other class assignments or even major sporting events. By helping create a more balanced schedule for our students, we assure we're going to get the highest quality work from them with the least amount of excuses. Though, in the end, is it realistic to think that a whole school would jump on the edmodo bandwagon?
Joseph, I like your thoughts about using it school wide. In essence, that’s how I currently use Edmodo. I was introduced to Edmodo at FETC (Florida Educational Technology Conference) in January of last year. Presenters used Edmodo to begin a conversation with participants before their presentations and continued this conversation afterwards. Participants posted questions/comments and it worked very much like a blog. You could follow several different session topics after the conference was over and extend the experience and continue to build knowledge.
ReplyDeleteNot long after I returned, my company, an educational research and development non-profit, began using Edmodo for similar situations when staff conducted presentations. Soon its use was expanded to small groups within our company for such groups as book studies, staff meetings, and sharing resources (9 groups total).
For example, the book studies were a combination of phone conferences and Edmodo. Questions were posted on Edmodo for participants to react to and share their thoughts. Additional information (e.g., research papers), that help to develop this professional learning community (PLC), could also be shared here. We have built quite a large library of resources for each group. We also have used the poll feature and it works great. I even have the Edmodo app on my smart phone.
When thinking about how this could be used in classrooms/schools, I think similar uses to what I currently am using could be applicable. Teachers could use Edmodo to develop and support PLCs in their schools and address many topics. Edmodo could be used to facilitate cross-curricular teaching, book studies, and sharing resources. Administrators could use this as a way to communicate with their teachers and address many issues (e.g., safety, staff meetings, and daily issues) and teachers concerns.
Teachers could transfer similar uses to their classroom. I think this would be a great way to connect with parents, especially the calendar feature. If you post assignments, parents could always check here and be in the know about their child’s assignments. Since you have to be invited to join a group and the administrator of the group has control, this is a safe environment for students. It’s also has a nice little feature to reward students with badges that you can create and award.
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ReplyDeleteI've been very impressed with Edmodo so far. I agree with Joseph that it could be most effective if it were implemented school-wide, but I don't think it would be unreasonable to ask students to create an account for a single class. When I was in high school, I had a few classes that required the use of a certain technology that I didn't use elsewhere. While I saw the value in the cross-curricular sites I used more, it wasn't too much trouble to get familiar with how to use these different resources. That being said, I don't think it's impossible to get a whole school on board with Edmodo. I remember my high school used Moodle across all classes, and granted, some utilized it more than others.
ReplyDeleteH. Lacks, it's interesting to hear the perspective from someone who has already been using Edmodo. It's nice to be able to use one website to connect with other teachers, provide resources to students, organize meetings, and create polls and quizzes.
The variety and interconnection of Edmodo is really helpful. When creating a quiz, you can send its due date to the calendar, and the results directly to the Gradebook. The "library" function is also a neat way to post and group online and uploaded resources. I know that, as a teacher, I'd appreciate this level of organization. Also, with this variety of uses, Edmodo can be utilized as much or as little as a teacher sees fit for his or her specific classroom needs.
One improvement could be a "student view" of a certain group. Once I've created and posted a quiz, I can no longer preview it as a student would see it. I'm also unsure as to whether the material I've posted in my library would be accessible by students in a group. I may be able to play around with it a bit to figure it out, but it would be nice if I could have a "view as..." option to see exactly what is visible and what students can and cannot do within a group.
To circumvent the "student view" issue, maybe you could create a dummy account as a student to see what they are viewing.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to think that it could be used district-wide to connect specific content area teachers (e.g., science) or grade-level teachers, thus creating a larger PLC.
Oooh! A dummy account! I like it.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree Joseph in his views that this website would only be useful if all of your students are on board, and therefore the whole school. As I have already posted, this could be a purely personal website for you to use as a teacher. Its organization could be very useful, at least for me, and the students don't need to see this. It has a page for grade books, which you could use without needing your students' participation. I think this website has many different uses besides keeping your students up to date on assignments and schedules.
ReplyDeleteI never said it would only be useful if implemented with all classes. It just seemed that to get the most out of Edmodo, then school wide use was ideal. Also, the grade book section is nice, but I believe a lot of school districts require you to use the program they provide for grading. I do agree that the site could be beneficial in other ways such as organization.
DeleteYes, school districts may well require teachers to input all grades into a single program. Local schools in Blacksburg at the middle school level, e.g, are using a program that places grades on a Parent Portal, which parents sign up for.
DeleteTeachers have told me directly that there is no way they could spend time entering grades in two separate systems. Now, perhaps there is a way to finess that problem. Perhaps grades could be entered in a custom Excel spreadsheet to start with, and then get imported into a mandatory district program, and also get imported into Edmodo. Perhaps.....but I have my doubts.
I just read a tweet on Twitter from the KY Dept. of Education that endorsed Edmodo as a great tool for integrating the KY Core Academic Standards and Technology. They also reminded districts to claim their free sub domains. So, it is possible to get entire districts to use Edmodo.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea to promote the school wide use of edmodo. Like you said, if more classes use edmodo, students will get more used to edmodo, and they will be more likely to post their ideas on edmodo, thus students’ and teachers’ connection are strengthened.
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