Overview Edmodo was founded in 2008 by Nic Borg and Jeff O’Hara, both Chicago-area School Technology Administrators. The LMS was created as a tool to “bridge the gap” between students’ home lives and school lives. Edmodo is now based in San Mateo, California, and is considered the number one K-12 social learning network in the world, with over 33 million users in over 80, 000 schools. The goals of Edmodo include creating connections, impacting outcomes, and empowering learners.
Features Edmodo has many features consistent with online learning and social media. These features are both teacher and student friendly. There are many features that can be accessed through Edmodo. These features are listed below as found on the Edmomo site.
Groups: Groups are private networks set up by teachers for collaborative projects. To join these private groups, students must be invited by the teacher and are required to enter a six-digit access code. Once in the group, students can only communicate through group messages, but only directly with the teacher. Only teachers and classmates can search and find students on the network. Communication Stream: Group posts appear in members' streams, and can be filtered by the user based on the features being utilized by the group. The communication stream allows members to view and manage all communication and actions within the group in one place. Assignments: Teachers can create assignments and distribute them to the students through this feature. Teachers can include due dates, descriptions, prompts, and even attachments from the web. Students can turn in completed assignments directly to their teacher. Teachers can track student progress, as well as grade and comment on assignments, allowing students to receive immediate feedback. Quizzes: There are many options to the quizzes feature. Teachers can create quizzes or upload quizzes they have previously created. Teachers can choose from multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, matching, and short answer. Teachers can even place a time-limit on the quizzes. All quizzes, except for short-answer, can be automatically scored, and grades posted in the teacher's Edmodo grade book. Planner: The planner feature allows teachers to manage both personal and group-based tasks. Teachers can create events to remind students of assignment due dates, projects, and school events/activities. Teacher Libraries/Student Backpacks: Teacher libraries and student backpacks are essentially the same feature. Both allow the user to save digital materials they have collected. Both teachers and students can create folders to organize their digital content. Profile Pages: Profile pages allow both students and teachers to track themselves as professionals or learners. The profile page contains an "About Me" section and areas to track progress. Only members of the group can view profile pages. Profile pages are not searchable or viewable by users outside of the group. Badges: Teachers and students can both earn badges for achievements. Students earn badges as a reward for hard work, participation, perfect scores, and other achievements. Teachers earn badges for their use of Edmodo--creating a class group, making professional connections, participating in trainings, and sharing content. Publisher Communities: Publisher communities allow content and app partners to engage directly with teachers. Teachers who are actively using the content and apps in their classroom can use their publisher communities to determine what is and what isn't working in their classroom. Teachers also have access to (and can contribute to) a public library to discover and share new content to grow their apps user base.
Advantages
Access to groups is by invitation only. No one can join a group unless they have a specific invitation code, which is provided by the teacher.
No one can search for students on the site.
Teachers have the ability to assign and grade activities/projects.
Teachers and students can communicate directly.
Edmodo is quick to setup and easy to use.
Edmodo is available as an app for iPhones, iPads, iPods, and androids.
Helps keep students organized with features such as digital folders, assignment calendar, and text alerts.
Parents can stay connected by viewing their child's work and grades, and can also message the teacher.
Students who are absent can continue to keep up with classwork they missed.
It's FREE!
Disadvantages
Students cannot interact directly. This could be an issue for some types of assignments.
Some students may have difficulty with maintaining the discipline necessary for keeping up with assignments on this type of platform.
There is no audio capability.
It is difficult for students to upload assignments using an iOS tool. It can be done, but there are multiple steps.
Edmodo is a web-based tool, so students must have Internet access in order to use it. All students may not have Internet access at home.
Bethany Sloan
University of Montevallo
Overview
Edmodo was founded in 2008 by Nic Borg and Jeff O’Hara, both Chicago-area School Technology Administrators. The LMS was created as a tool to “bridge the gap” between students’ home lives and school lives. Edmodo is now based in San Mateo, California, and is considered the number one K-12 social learning network in the world, with over 33 million users in over 80, 000 schools. The goals of Edmodo include creating connections, impacting outcomes, and empowering learners.
Features
Edmodo has many features consistent with online learning and social media. These features are both teacher and student friendly. There are many features that can be accessed through Edmodo. These features are listed below as found on the Edmomo site.
Groups: Groups are private networks set up by teachers for collaborative projects. To join these private groups, students must be invited by the teacher and are required to enter a six-digit access code. Once in the group, students can only communicate through group messages, but only directly with the teacher. Only teachers and classmates can search and find students on the network.
Communication Stream: Group posts appear in members' streams, and can be filtered by the user based on the features being utilized by the group. The communication stream allows members to view and manage all communication and actions within the group in one place.
Assignments: Teachers can create assignments and distribute them to the students through this feature. Teachers can include due dates, descriptions, prompts, and even attachments from the web. Students can turn in completed assignments directly to their teacher. Teachers can track student progress, as well as grade and comment on assignments, allowing students to receive immediate feedback.
Quizzes: There are many options to the quizzes feature. Teachers can create quizzes or upload quizzes they have previously created. Teachers can choose from multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, matching, and short answer. Teachers can even place a time-limit on the quizzes. All quizzes, except for short-answer, can be automatically scored, and grades posted in the teacher's Edmodo grade book.
Planner: The planner feature allows teachers to manage both personal and group-based tasks. Teachers can create events to remind students of assignment due dates, projects, and school events/activities.
Teacher Libraries/Student Backpacks: Teacher libraries and student backpacks are essentially the same feature. Both allow the user to save digital materials they have collected. Both teachers and students can create folders to organize their digital content.
Profile Pages: Profile pages allow both students and teachers to track themselves as professionals or learners. The profile page contains an "About Me" section and areas to track progress. Only members of the group can view profile pages. Profile pages are not searchable or viewable by users outside of the group.
Badges: Teachers and students can both earn badges for achievements. Students earn badges as a reward for hard work, participation, perfect scores, and other achievements. Teachers earn badges for their use of Edmodo--creating a class group, making professional connections, participating in trainings, and sharing content.
Publisher Communities: Publisher communities allow content and app partners to engage directly with teachers. Teachers who are actively using the content and apps in their classroom can use their publisher communities to determine what is and what isn't working in their classroom. Teachers also have access to (and can contribute to) a public library to discover and share new content to grow their apps user base.
Advantages
Disadvantages
References
Davies, R. (2013). Teaching techie teens: Pros and cons of edmodo. Retrieved from:
http://rebecca-davies.net/2013/05/22/pros-and-cons-of-edmodo/
Edmodo (n.d.). About edmodo. Retrieved from: https://www.edmodo.com/about.
Edmodo Developers (n.d.). Platform overview. Retrieved from: https://developers.edmodo.com/resources/overview/
Kelsick, J. (2013). Edmodo: New technologies and 21st century skills. Retrieved from:
http://newtech.coe.uh.edu/tool-name.cfm?toolid=181&toolname=Edmodo
Lee, K. (n.d.). Edmodo in the classroom: benefits. Retrieved from: https://edmodo-in-the-classroom.wikispaces.com/Benefits
rjacksoblog (2013). Advantages and disadvantages of edmodo and joomla. Retrieved from:
https://rjacksoblog.wordpress.com/2013/10/14/advanges-and-disadvantages-of-edmodo-and-joomla/
Scheffer, J. L. (2013). Make it happen: innovation & technology in the classroom: My experience with edmodo. Retrieved from:
https://jennscheffer.wordpress.com/2013/07/12/my-experience-with-edmodo/