Edmodo—The Educational Social Network!
RSSChristopher Bell
If you follow this column, you know that I get a lot of ideas from friends. This month Edmodo was suggested. A social learning network, Edmodo falls into the virtual learning environment (VLE) category of websites. At the most basic level, it is a project management tool that allows for greater collaboration between teachers and students. However, it has way more going for it than the current industry leaders. After signing up and exploring this site, here is the three-word description—it has everything! There are a lot of VLEs that claim to be free. From an application standpoint, they are. But you generally need a webserver to host them, someone to manage them, and a plethora of other people to assist you in setting the environments up. Edmodo really is free! Begin by signing up for your own free account and setting up your picture and details. You'll immediately notice that it has the feel of a very common social-networking site. Create your avatar and input your personal information and off you go. This brings me to the library. You can create folders, load documents, PDFs, images and web links into the library to use later or to attach to notes for viewers. A very cool surprise occurred when I added a link. After pasting the link into the given space, the text box for the description of the website is automatically is populated with the title and image as provided by the website owner, which can be a real time-saver for busy educators. What good would this be if we couldn't connect students and teachers? It does, and beautifully! Direct students and teachers to the website and provide them with the access code. This is created as soon as a teacher creates a group. As they sign up, you can connect with them by selecting the send option and typing their names. Autofill is a nice feature here. Viola! You're connected and can share thoughts, ideas, documents, and information through a single source. I hope you will give this a try. I barely scratched the surface of this tool, and I'm sure you'll find even more options. (Like the updates on assignments! And did I mention it is secured and safe?) As part of a test, I'm going to send you my code for My Teacher Friends. Once you sign up for a free account, this will allow you to connect with me and others in the group. My Teacher Friends Group Code is 5ynu22—let me know what you think. Please feel free to post your ideas and thoughts about Edmodo! estoy encantada de conocer una nueva forma de trabajo para llevar a cabo mi trabajo tutorial con mis estudiantes, ya conocia el moddle, ahora el edmodo me pacer increible gracias si estoy de acuerdo * = Required information
The main feature is the Edmodo 'bubble'—which is very much like a Facebook home page—where you can put a Note, create an Assignment, set up a quick poll or update your own Edmodo. You can add a file, and link to a website or document that you placed in your very own online Edmodo library. Finally, you can send this information to the targeted individual or group. This is followed by threaded discussion around updates. It allows for comments, replies, or tags to replies to help categorize your discussions.
Reader Comments (3)
Posted by rosalba ruiz on January 20, 2012 11:40:43AM
Posted by rosalba on January 20, 2012 11:42:30AM
Posted by Rosalba on January 20, 2012 11:48:26AM
