I'll admit I had my doubts. I'm not a huge fan of social networks to begin with, and when I saw a layout nearly identical to facebook, I assumed it to be another rehash of the same old thing. After about 20 minutes of playing around though my opinion had been almost completely changed. I really hope Edmodo catches on, because I think it's a tool that get stronger as more teacher in a school use it. I think it does the job of a blackboard or scholar type site, except it is free, ad-free, includes additional features, and much more intuitive and interconnected and user friendly.
Assignments can be created from one main page and sent to groups (classes) rather than having to sift through several different page sites. The same can be done with the grade-book, calender, notes, and quizzes. In a scenario where an entire school body is using the site, a student would have the ability to log on, see all test and assignment due dates, simultaneously on one calendar, check his or her grades, download notes, and interact with other students and teachers. Scholar for example, does these things in some capacity, but its lacks the same intuitive site design and freedom. Scholar also feels like a one-way street from teacher to student, but Emodo seems to offer an easy means for students to communicate back to teachers. There is even an option to sort posts by students.
There are also things that can be done on Edmodo that can't be done on a Scholar like site. School wide polls could be created by administrators or student goverments to give students a voice. School administration, athletic teams, and extracurricular clubs could also benefit from the calendar and announcement features. Additionally students in group projects can easily could create a group to make schedules and stay organized, privately and separately from the main class groups.
But it is not just the ideal scenario of a school-wide setting that I see Edmodo being useful though. It can be used on the level of a department, for a single class, or as Dirac pointed out, by an individual teacher as an organizational tool or means of communicating with other teachers. I personally see myself using Edmodo, infact, I've already claimed a profile name, "/merrillphysics," something I have yet to do on facebook. Edmodo has the potential to be big if other educators are willing to give it a chance.
One additional thought, how would discipline work in an online community like edmodo? Can students be subject to school based punishment for action such as an inappropriate post on Edmodo?
ReplyDeleteSchool-based punishments are highly probable for inappropriate posts on Edmodo, if it is a school-based Edmodo site, or if a computer at school is used, or if a school-provided laptop is used to post the offending content, even while the student is at home.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at recent discussion of tweeting the f word by a HS student in Indiana:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/should-indiana-senior-have-been-expelled-for-f-bomb-tweet/
http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/High-School-Senior-Expelled-For-Tweeting-Profanity---144022966.html
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThanks Karst. I was thinking this would be a big problem if Edmodo got big. It is admittedly a grey area, but I think it's necessary to give administration that authority. It would be a shame if a resource like this became unusable in a school setting because of "internet vandilism."
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you are open to change and amending your opinions (this is hard for most people, even educators). I agree that Edmodo has an edge over Scholar, but not everyone has realized the full potential of Scholar either. If I had to pick between Blackboard, Scholar, and Edmodo, Edmodo has my vote!
ReplyDelete"Scholar also feels like a one-way street from teacher to student, but Emodo seems to offer an easy means for students to communicate back to teachers." AND for students to connect to each other.
ReplyDeleteThanks for putting that into words, i had the same feeling.