Jeff O’Hara is the Co-Owner and t…
Jeff O’Hara is the Co-Owner and the Co-Founder of Edmodo which is an answer to the problem of many school districts locking down sites that can be visited. It is a social networking platform that allows teachers to create classes and assign homework, have students submit homework, send out alerts and reminders about exam dates and facilitate conversation. It creates a paperless environment, too, as it allows teachers to grade online and students are able to view their grades.
Jeff O’Hara, along with Nic Borg, came up with this idea when they were both working within their school districts as systems/network administrators. O’Hara was able to see the need (and frustration) for a platform that could be accessed within the “vacuum” of school based internet where not only students but staff are denied access to certain sites. I like what O’Hara has done here with his venture: identified a need and then created an application that fits that niche.
I have used Edmodo in the classroom in both my English course and music courses. It is an extremely easy to use application to post information, create class lists, grade and communicate with students. My students enjoyed the experience, too!
As part of our school district, I was able to participate in some great professional development called LAN: Learning at Night. This was an evening from 5PM – 7PM where staff across the district were invited to come and participate in some tech oriented professional development along with the lure of food. We had the chance to Skype in Jeff as one of the session’s keynote speakers to chat a little bit about Edmodo. You can check it out here: http://literacy44.ca/lan/2009/03/20/edmodo-with-jeff-ohara/
By the way, while I was using Edmodo, I had some questions. I emailed them and Jeff was very prompt with a reply. Great having a real person answer questions in real time!
You can also follow Jeff on twitter: @zemote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr_DkIfOWag
Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Jim 2:41 pm on September 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Michelle!
Great report on Jeff and edmodo! You know, reading this post of yours, especially the last few paragraphs, made me think of something that I hadn’t thought about before. That is, really big schools districts with the money to invest in learning technologies might actually be at a disadvantage when compared to smaller boards. Smaller boards, ones that have not invested in any, or very little, learning technologies so far, are quite free to experiment with newer sites like edmodo or even free learning management systems like moodle. Bigger boards, with more money to spend, might be committed to certain learning technologies, which may no longer be as good as some of the newer online platforms like edmodo.
BTW – how does edmodo make money?
themusicwoman 11:14 am on September 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Dear Jim,
Good point about being able to be free to experiment. I have had experience with moodle as well but find edmodo actually easier to navigate. I don’t think our district has come out with any “guides” to sites like these.
And another good question about edmodo making money. Hmmm . . . maybe I’ll just tweet Jeff! Will have to get back to you unless someone else knows.
mcquaid 3:02 pm on October 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
That’s very true, Jim… there’s even a difference in levels of users at schools and other sites, too. I know, for myself, as the school’s “site technical contact”, I’m an enhanced user on the network… ie, I can access the Start menu & desktop, download programs, etc. This gives me a great advantage over even other teachers in my school.
Kristopher 7:11 pm on September 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jim and Michelle!
Michelle, thanks for sharing on edmodo. I had not come across this tool and am impressed by its capacities. This is a spectacular tool that I would use as a teacher in my classroom.
Jim, this is exactly a challenge that my workplace is facing. We are a fairly large organization so that typical response it to create a solution instead of looking to see what solutions are readily available; this leads us to proprietary software that works for a specific function, but doesn’t really work for a changing and developing work environment. When workings with a smaller organization, we were able to test and learn about the tools that we could get to work for us; there was an outside perspective in those products so as they continued to develop, so this our uses.
Cheers,
Kristopher
themusicwoman 11:15 am on September 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for the reply, Kristopher. And I’m totally with you about the frustration with programs that are good for the whole but not always a good fit with the specifics. And you were actually asked what you thought??? Wow. lol. Cheers.
mcquaid 3:05 pm on October 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi, Michelle,
I’ve tinkered with edmodo before, and thought it had a lot of potential. You’re right in that part of the genius / reason for success here is seeing a problem / niche and being able to resolve / occupy it. It’s like they created a Facebook-like platform that’s focused on education. Nearly genius, and very appropriate for many of today’s learners (and tech-savvy educators).