This week's blog is on Edmodo. It is a great tool for communication and collaboration. Many of you probably use it already, so the purpose of this post is to provide a more exhaustive look at the application. I also want to give a shout out to Carla Cappella for first introducing this to me.
Registration
Signing up as a teacher is very simple. On the splash page of Edmodo, simply click "I'm a Teacher" under "Sign Up Now." Fill out the information, accept the terms of use, and sign up.
For a student account, the user must fill in first and last name as well as a preferred username and password and a group code. I'll explain the group code in a moment. I would highly suggest that you create both a teacher account and a student account so that you can through the lens of your students.
Creating Classes
On the left hand side of your teacher page, find the heading "Groups" and click the plus sign to the right. Click create and then enter in all of the information that is required. You will then have to distribute the code to your students. It is highly advised that you "close" your class once all other students have joined so that no one unwanted joins. I've never had that problem, but I figured I would pass that along. Anyhow, make sure each class has a different name. For example: I have 12 different groups and just labeled them by class title, grade, and marking period.
Now, with a group code, students can sign up to join that group.
Basic Uses
The basic uses for Edmodo can be found on the top of your main page. You can post a note (a la Facebook), issue an alert (basically a high priority note), create and issue an assignment, create and issue a quiz, and create and issue a poll.
I think the Note and Alert are fairly self explanatory, so I'll focus on the assignment, quiz, and poll aspects of Edmodo. Another side note, you can attach files, links, and even schedule notes.
Assignments are a really cool feature with Edmodo because it establishes due dates, gives the students a place to turn in assignments, and allows you to give feedback and a grade on an assignment. Very simply, choose the assignment tab and give your assignment a name and due date. Once you receive assignments from students you can assign them a grade and give them feedback. Students can also resubmit assignments if need be.
Quizzes, just like assignments, can be assigned a grade. Edmodo's create a quiz function is very simple to use. You can create multiple choice, true or false, short answer, fill-in-the-blank, or even matching questions. You can even assign a time limit. Polls are great diagnostic tools and are exactly what you would expect them to be. Simply, create a poll, offer choices, and post it to your class and watch the responses.
Another great feature of Edmodo is the "backpack" (if you are a student) or "library" (if you are a teacher). Basically, the backpack/library is a place to store files (a la cloud). If a student uploads a file to his/her backpack, it is not visible by the teacher and vice-versa. Honestly, my favorite thing is that you can (as a teacher or student) connect with your Google Drive. This is awesome because it adds another dimension to Edmodo. For a quick example, let's say that students are studying geometry in nature. A student may be walking home from school and sees a honeycomb on the ground and recognizes its hexagonal attributes. He could snap a picture and upload directly to his Google Drive and then post it to Edmodo.
There are many other features of Edmodo that I will not cover for the sake of time. But, feel free to explore them and let me know if you find anything else that is useful. The importance of social media in our students' lives should be exploited for our academic purposes. Edmodo brings a sense of familiarity with it for our students' sake.
Quizzes, just like assignments, can be assigned a grade. Edmodo's create a quiz function is very simple to use. You can create multiple choice, true or false, short answer, fill-in-the-blank, or even matching questions. You can even assign a time limit. Polls are great diagnostic tools and are exactly what you would expect them to be. Simply, create a poll, offer choices, and post it to your class and watch the responses.
Another great feature of Edmodo is the "backpack" (if you are a student) or "library" (if you are a teacher). Basically, the backpack/library is a place to store files (a la cloud). If a student uploads a file to his/her backpack, it is not visible by the teacher and vice-versa. Honestly, my favorite thing is that you can (as a teacher or student) connect with your Google Drive. This is awesome because it adds another dimension to Edmodo. For a quick example, let's say that students are studying geometry in nature. A student may be walking home from school and sees a honeycomb on the ground and recognizes its hexagonal attributes. He could snap a picture and upload directly to his Google Drive and then post it to Edmodo.There are many other features of Edmodo that I will not cover for the sake of time. But, feel free to explore them and let me know if you find anything else that is useful. The importance of social media in our students' lives should be exploited for our academic purposes. Edmodo brings a sense of familiarity with it for our students' sake.
@jahocking #haven2point0
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