More Great Features of Edmodo!

I have been experimenting with my Edmodo site and am even more excited about this tool.  I have to try it in my class!  The possibilities are exciting- it could be the format of a collaborative long-distance project or just a way for students to connect and share ideas about your unit of study.  Reviewing for a test?  Students could post their questions they have and other students could "tutor" them with answers.  Researching a topic?  Students could share exciting sources.  Writing papers?  Students could ask their peers to help edit a difficult passage.  I am sure that you can think of other ideas.  Here is a blogger's list of social networking sites for education and some of their uses: Box of Tricks.  At the top of his list:  Edmodo!
I have been adding things to my Edmodo page.  I created a group, and was having trouble adding students to it.  As it turns out, when the group is created, you are given a code.  Students, once they set up their account in Edmodo, just use the code to join the group.  Simple: the teacher does not have to enter each student into a group; they put themselves into the proper one. 
There is also a calendar page on your site.  When you enter an event into the calendar, it gives a text box with the groups that should be notified.  A message then goes to all groups or just selected groups that there will be a test.  How easy is that?

I have not tried the gradebook page, but assignments can be graded and posted on the site so that students can follow their own grades for the unit.  This is an easy way for students to keep up with turning in all their assignments.
The last page is a library page.   Here, documents, videos and links can be loaded for individual group use or for all groups to use.  I have added in a county crossword puzzle and last summer's VBA quiz, just to see how it works.  When the student clicks on a document it can be downloaded for online use or for printing.
This is a tool with the possibility of housing an entire collaborative project between any 2 classes or teachers.  Individual groups can be created, and information can flow freely between the teacher and groups or just a single group can communicate with another group.  Likewise, group members can have private exchanges between members.

I cannot wait to have the opportunity to use this in my classes.  With careful planning and class introduction, this could be great!

A Social Network Site for Students- Edmodo

On a listserve, I found this alternative to Facebook, www.edmodo.com.  It looks very much like Facebook, yet it has the safety features we would like to have at school.  It was easy to set up an account, and the accounts are sorted by school.  If you had several teachers at your school using this tool, they would be grouped together.  You could create a different group for each class, and enter each student into the groups.  I think that this would be a great tool to use in a collaborative project, and would like to work it into the one I create.

Here is a picture of the page I created.  It was really easy to do, although I did not create any groups yet.

I copied this from their homepage, for a bit more information about edmodo.

• Edmodo is the leading social learning network for K12 education.

• Our social learning network

• Edmodo is a social learning network for teachers, students, schools and districts.
• Edmodo provides free classroom communication for teachers, students and administrators on a secure social network.
• Edmodo provides teachers and students with a secure and easy way to post classroom materials, share links and videos, and access homework, grades and school notices.
• Edmodo stores and shares all forms of digital content – blogs, links, pictures, video, documents, presentations, and more.
• Edmodo is accessible online or using any mobile device, including Android and iPhones.
• Edmodo has special institutional features for schools and districts that can be accessed for free by administrators.

• Our company

• Started in 2008, Edmodo was created by two school district web professionals who teamed up with education experts to address the demands of teachers and students seeking a secure social network for classroom use. Edmodo is a privately held company based in Mountain View, California

Here is an introductory video about the site.

There is also a blog about Edmodo, with a calendar of upcoming webinars that let teachers know how to use the site better, http://blog.edmodo.com/.


I am really excited about this one!