Edmodo

Thumbs way, way, up!

Edmodo

"What is Edmodo?

At Edmodo, we have two goals:

1. Create social media tools that help teachers engage students and allow students to reach their potential.
2. Make sure every school in the world has access to them.

Edmodo is a free and secure social learning network for teachers, students and schools. Edmodo provides classrooms a safe and easy way to connect and collaborate, offering a real-time platform to exchange ideas, share content, and access homework, grades and school notices.

Accessible online and from any mobile device via free smart phone applications, Edmodo has grown from a teacher tool into a district-wide resource as word of the free online service spreads through schools around the world."


I loved this tool!  It was easy to use, had a start up video that explained what it was suppose to do, and it had good support.  This is a tool that teachers would use to manage their classrooms online.  As I started using it I realized that it is a tool similar to Moodle or Blackboard.  As such I was skeptical to even proceed forward in looking at this resource because our school division uses Moodle and I wouldn't want to confuse or present too many tools in one division that do the same job.

Having said that, I think that Edmodo has some features that Moodle just does not offer.  Edmodo is easy to use and doesn't have a ton of features, just the basic ones making it easy to use.  The best feature by far is the parent communication code.  Each student account has a parent code that goes with it that a parent can then use to log in and check up on their child.  If they have multiple children they will be able to monitor all of their children's classes with the codes provided for each one. Moodle doesn't have this feature and Blackboard only let you be an 'observer' for one child.

On Edmodo you can post and grade assignments, include polls, e-mail students and teachers privately, and provide links and upload documents to support the class.  The parents, students, and teachers can choose to have their alerts sent to them through their e-mail or through text messages.  

The other cool feature of Edmodo is that it is an open source so you can connect to other communities throughout the world.  As I was scrolling through the communities I signed up to follow the Computer Technology and Creative Arts communities.

Benefits:

• Free
• The teacher can set up multiple classes easily
• The teacher can set up multiple groups easily
• Parents can check in to see how their student is progressing
• Parents, teachers, and students can choose how they want to be notified: e-mail or text
• Teachers and students can easily blog
• No advertising on the site
• Easy to post, grade, and submit assignments.
• There is opportunity to join other educational communities.

Drawbacks:

• May be similar to what your division is already using and as a result teachers and students may not want to use another learning management system.
• Is not fully functional for a full distance learning program as everything is presented in blog form.  It is meant to more support a blended or face to face teaching program.

Other Reviews of Edmodo:
http://www.appappeal.com/app/edmodo/

http://edjudo.com/edmodo-review-social-networking-for-teachers-and-students.html