Edmodo

Edmodo is a classroom tool that looks a lot like facebook. It allows me to communicate with the whole class or with individual students. The site is only open to the students assigned to your class (students sign up via a code) and new this year, parents can also participate in the site via their own code. **Edmodo for Student Feedback** Originally, I was looking for a way to give individual feedback to students in a timely fashion. I had started by using the messages feature in Blackboard since students do not need an email address to receive and send messages. The time it took for each click to drill down to the right course, the right message, to open the attached file and then to send a reply was really slowing me down. **Edmodo has increased my efficiency in getting specific feedback to students by a factor of 10!** When my students come into class, they can log into Edmodo (or view from home) to see where they need to go next to revise their current assignment or see if they are ready to move on. They are not waiting for me to touch base with everyone personally to "tell" them what to do. This frees me up to move around the room and offer support and advice as needed. See a couple of examples below:
 * A Few Starting Comments on Edmodo**  Screencast of Student Perspective



**Edmodo for Assignments** The ease of use of Edmodo encouraged me to use it with the students more often. I began using it to make announcements to the class and to assign work. In our class, we often have multiple projects and assigments students are juggling, Edmodo helped me to make sure everyone had access to what they needed when they needed it.



Students can view their assignment listing in their 'stream' easily by using post filters. Students can also use the **calendar/planner** function to see what is due when, and to get to their assignments to turn in work. We have found this especially helpful when students choose to revise past assignments - where was that link again? The calendar that easier to manage. Hence, **more kids are doing revisions.** Additionally, students (and teachers) can filter what shows on the calendar by group or class - this is a recent addition that has made it MUCH easier to show students their 'schedule'.: **Edmodo for Class Management**  Edmodo has a number of ways to track student progress - teachers can easily see what students have completed, how many times they have posted and there are opportunities to earn 'badges' to reward students for contributing to a positive classroom culture - my students have to 'interview' to earn their badges through a short speech which supports why the badge should be rewarded. **Other Ways We Use Edmodo** Since Edmodo was a daily tool used in my classroom, other uses have quickly evolved of the tool - most of which I see as very positive. Any tech tool, especially one with an option for student interaction will only be used if you give students a reason to go there. Since students use this as a way to turn in work and receive feedback, they logged in regularly and began to repond in new ways - to ask questions, to solve class issues, to share resources and more.













Other edmodo info and resources:

[] [] [] Online tutorial - []

A critique of edmodo and a different option - []

Keep up with edmodo's innovations and its users: []