Lisa+Schoen+-+Edmodo


 * What:** Edmodo

**Web address(s):** [], and a great start tutorial at []

**Student’s Name:** Lisa Schoen

**Grade Level(s):** Elementary might be a stretch, but certainly grades 6 & up

**Content area(s):** All content

**Abstract:** After signing up for Edmodo by entering your name and email, it gives you different options for various communities you can follow, separated by content area (including languages, specials, and special education). That done, you are taken to a homepage that greatly resembles Facebook, so it will be a familiar layout to most of my students. You are able to create groups (classrooms) and have a group code for inviting only your students to join. The communities you asked to follow are set up on the left of the window, along with your groups one you start putting them together.

In the center of the screen, posts, alerts, assignments, quizzes, and polls can be created, all really easily. There are places to see the different folders you can create for the group, the different members, and even divide up the group members into smaller groups to keep classes on the same topic separate.

In the upper left of the window is a calendar for adding and keeping track of events, a "Progress" bar where you can access and create different badges. These can be used as quick positive feedback, almost like putting a sticker on a kid's paper to show they did well. Creating a badge was as easy as uploading a picture and giving it a title. There is a Library where you can add in files to be used anywhere, and a button to take you to different apps. Mine came with SchoolTube for videos, and Photo Editor, a really simple and easy to use app for editing pictures.

**Personal Experience:** My district really likes the idea of a digital classroom, and we have been using Moodle for many years, but I always found it to be a huge pain. It never felt fluid to me - not intuitive. I've been looking for something else to try, and I had heard Edmodo mentioned by our a member of our tech department. As I started hunting around for this assignment, I spotted the name again and decided this would be the perfect opportunity to jump on and test it out. I found it really easy to interact with, and with the layout being similar to Facebook it felt comfortable. I immediately created a group for our school's Student Government. We struggled with communication this year in the group, and I think this would be a great way for the kids to keep in touch with each other - especially being in different grade levels - and keep up on different events.

I think I would like to use Edmodo to test first with the different clubs I do. It will be a good way to communicate with the group, as well as post and link to fun things for them. I can see it as mainly being a great communication tool, as a way for teachers to connect with their students. I can see that it may need to be closely monitored by the teacher, just to make sure there was no bullying or non-school related material being posted. Overall, I can see this as being a great way for teachers to connect with students on a level they are already familiar with. I really see the calendar as a great way for my groups to keep track of meetings and events, or for my classes to keep track of due-dates.