Facebook isn't always the answer when it comes to communicating with students. It's their thing, and we are invading it. It may sound funny but would you want your teacher to be your friend on facebook- probably not. Edmodo offers an alternative for communication in a network. In fact Edmodo even behaves similar to facebook so there’s not as much as a learning curve when it comes to using the new tool.
Edmodo.com is a private online social platform for teachers and students to share ideas, files, events and assignments. Built on a micro blogging model, the site allows teachers the ability to handle a good deal of class activity online. Teachers can send out assignments, receive completed assignments and assign grades using the online platform. In addition, they can maintain a class calendar, store and share files, have a public (RSS) stream, and conduct polls. Teachers can also use the site to send text (SMS) alerts to students. Users have a home page where they can see a summary of recent activity for their class. The home page allows the teacher to make new assignments, assign an event to the calendar, send out an alert, write a note to an individual or a group of students, and share links or files with students. When a link or file is shared, a message can be added that explains the contents. A number of filters can be applied to the summary view, including notes, alerts, events, assignments, links and files. Teachers can also assign grades to assignments, and students can easily view a summary of their grades on all assignments.
Here are some more great advantages.
• Its mobile Students can sign up to have alerts, notifications, links, or events sent directly to their cellphones. Also, Edmodo has a great interactive mobile site for iPhones and Droids.
• It’s private since you need an access code to sign up for the class, if you do not have one of those codes, you cannot participate in the class. This high standard of privacy has given me (and my administrators) great piece of mind and allowed for more leeway with allowing more social networking for classes.
• Support Edmodo offers free support!
The Edmodo Blog
Edmodo Tute
Edmodo Learn It In Five
