As I mentioned in my previous books one of my colleagues has decided to with his team go digital classroom. I decided that I would look into what they are planning and look into whether or not BYOB is part of their plans. So through Twitter I was told that they are going to adopt Edmodo. This is a platform that my colleague who teaches the Middle Ages Gifted Cluster Class (MACC) has raved about all year.
Today she tweeted “luv Edmodo for: st engagement, book club connections, PLN, ongoing parent communication”. I haven’t taken the time to learn even what it is and what it can be used for, so I decided that tonight’s task was to spend some time looking at Edmodo.
I started out by looking for video tutorials related to Edmodo and I found a quite lengthy one on the website called www.teachertrainingvideos.com. Here’s the link to that Edmodo introductory video:
http://youtu.be/DZHB6FfRjnQ
Some key things I’ve learned about Edmodo are that it allows you to create a Facebook style interface in which you can create groups for each of your classes and your students can sign up and be members of the designated groups. You will be given a group code to enable students to sign up. You can create assignments and have students turn them in. It also allows students to post items on the groups wall. You can create quizzes and those quizzes will be marked and students can be given feedback instantaneously, which is a feature that I appreciate. Apparently you can also give parents a parent code.
Here are some other tutorial videos that I watched on YouTube:
http://youtu.be/x0f9Syv8yCI
http://youtu.be/BILtGaDe3qA
Part 1: Getting started with Edmodo
Part 2:Assignments
Part 3:Using the Calendar
http://youtu.be/UoVfi10qqvM
I learned how to assess an assignment and provide feedback to individual students. I learned how to manage a class group and find the parent codes for each individual students. I learned how you can embed video directly into the wall of your class groups. And those few there were only a small portion of the available tutorials of varying lengths that have been created and put up on YouTube regarding
This video introduces sort of comparison between Edmodo and another application called Moodle which I have never heard of, I have no idea what it is. Maybe that’s the next thing to look at.
The MACC class which have been using this Edmodo platform is essentially a one to one class with a BYOD policy. It is a unique program in that it is a district program that pulls kids from all over the district not merely from our catchment area so a lot of the parents actually drive the kids in from a relatively great distance to purchase paid in this program and those students are asked to bring in there on the laptops I believe I don’t know that they’re given the option to use other kinds of devices. In this class the teacher reports that the students love using Edmodo. They love being able to message each other and get involved in debates. She likes that one of the features is that she can keep track of who hands and assignments on time and to track work habits marks. She’s a fan and I think she’s starting to convert the others!
Hi Merrin,
I LOVE the fact that you were interested in Edmodo and immediately set about learning everything you could about it. I’ve been using it since last September with my grade 6 class and it’s completely changed the way I teach. If you are interested in learning to use it with your students, I recommend creating an account and watching the excellent presentations on the site. I spent several hours last summer “geeking out” on the Edmodo site but it was time well spent. Here are the features I love:
1) you can create quizzes, set when you want them assigned and when they are due, and Edmodo will store them and MARK them for you!!! (I have had a few glitches with this so I only use Edmodo quizzes for things kids think I’m marking. 🙂 The gradebook is also a bit problematic – as a classroom teacher, it wouldn’t let me separate math marks from LA marks etc so it wasn’t really helpful).
2) students can interact with each other in a safe environment that you can monitor. They know I’m watching so they’ll often reprimand each other for spelling mistakes or for what they perceive to be inappropriate behaviour
3) calendar feature is awesome – there are no longer any excuses for students who “forgot” to do an assignment
4) Edmodo communities – stuck for an idea? Spend some time browsing the various subject communities. Every time I’m on, I come away with another amazing resource.
5) your personal “library” – this is where I store video clips, links, art ideas…
6) you can track who is online and what they are viewing. I posted a cool foreshadowing video back in September, and kids are still logging in to watch it.
It’s 2 weeks into summer, and my students are still busy chatting away on Edmodo. I haven’t had the heart to officially “close” my online classroom.
I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface of what Edmodo can do, but it’s another reminder to me that you are never done learning new things. I’m sure it won’t be long before something even more amazing comes our way!
Thanks for the extra Edmodo ideas! One thing that seems really cool about it is that there is a community of educators using it, so we can get great ideas. I can’t wait to get started.