Exploring Edmodo

Last week, my studies led to an exploration of Google Plus.  Google Plus is a great new social media tool that's still maturing, but after listening to other educators and their experiences with social media in school, I'm left thinking there might be better options currently.  This week we'll continue to review social media in the classroom as we explore Edmodo. 

What is Edmodo?

According to Edmodo own site, their goal is to "provide teachers and students a secure place to connect and collaborate, share content and educational applications, and access homework, grades, class discussions and notifications."  As of this writing, the site boasts connecting more than 6 million teachers and students across the world.  The site got its start in 2008 when its founders, Nic Borg and Jeff O'Hara having worked in educational IT departments, decided to fill a need they saw for a safe, secure social media environment for schools to use. 

How does it work?

On the surface Edmodo looks like Facebook for the classroom.  The interface mimics the layout that has become the standard view for most social media sites with a profile picture and name, a status feed that shows latest postings, and a toolbar across the top of the page that includes navigation options and content controls.  Teachers are able to sign up for access to the site for free but there are also options for district adoptions.  Finally, Edmodo also provides access to the site through smartphone apps for both iPhone and Android devices like many other social media sites. 

Attention... 21st Century learning Ahead

Edmodo pulls out all the stops to create an environment that fosters communication between students and teachers.  This is accomplished by engaging students, connecting various stakeholders, and through content management.  Students are engaged through use of a familiar social media system that mimics those they already frequently use in their personal lives.  This combined with the way the site uses features such as polls, online quizzes, badge awards, status updates and smartphone access ensures students will be interested in what their classmates are doing so it stands to reason they will also want to join in.  Communication also exists between teacher and student in the way the tools aid submission of homework and grading.  In other words, Edmodo gets an A+ in the area of communication which we all know by now is a huge part of 21st Century learning.

Collaboration is another area where Edmodo earns high marks.  The site makes it easy for teachers to join communities.  These communities allow teachers to connect with one another to share resources.  Edmodo also allows for professional development to be delivered through its system and features resources of its own in the realm of collaboration through webinars and its help center.

Don't think Edmodo forgot content.  The Edmodo help center offers suggestions on how the service can be used in all the core subject areas: math, science, social studies and language arts.  One creative suggestion for using Edmodo on their site offers the suggestion of the teacher role-playing as Thomas Jefferson who seeks the aid of students in rewriting the Declaration of Independence in modern terms.  Content ideas like these are a sure hit with students and this should also accomplish the rest of the four Cs... Critical Thinking and Creativity!

Working within this system will also allow students the opportunity to learn information, media and technology skills while at the same time providing a safety net since this is a closed environment controlled by the teacher and students.  There is still risk here and the teacher will need to remain vigilant because as much as administrators will admire you for incorporating 21st Century skills in the classroom, students will need to be taught how to behave properly online.  Further, you will need to check with district policies governing the use of outside resources.

Conclusion

Edmodo has won numerous awards and has garnered much attention from those in education.  Edmodo certainly has the tools to be useful in the classroom and it recently opened its API to 3rd parties so we can expect more content from the site in the future.  This move will likely allow the site to become even better in motivating students to make use of the site assuming educators use it.  This does open some potential questions regarding its future security but since the service is grounded in the understanding that security is a primary concern among educators its likely this won't be a problem.  If you're looking to involve social media in the classroom then Edmodo is certainly worth a look.