Web Tool
Edmodo
How is Edmodo useful for you?
Edmodo opens a whole new world of
possibilities for everyone but especially teachers. First and foremost,
it's a Learning Management System, which is just a fancy way of saying that you
can conduct class activities online. Edmodo gives me the ability to
create a secure online classroom for each of my sections, make/grade/return
assignments, create discussion forums and literary circles, teach and monitor
online etiquette and usage, and a zillion other things.
For my classroom, I use Edmodo to
facilitate a virtual classroom. It is literally the backbone of the
class. Students complete and turn in assignments through the site.
I can grade them much more quickly and provide better feedback using the
online tools through the site. They can view videos, prezis, webquests,
etc--a plethora of interactive activities--right from the site.
Students interact with each other and
have the ability to interact with students from other classes (in the same
school), and other classes/students from different schools (which we will be
doing this year). It gives them the opportunity to compare thoughts and
ideas with students from other regions of the country or the world if the teacher
chooses to connect with others.
Professionally, I use Edmodo for
research on the best and most productive web/app tools out there. I can
interact with other teachers and gain ideas about how they operate their
classrooms and teach certain lessons, and I can provide ideas to help when they
are stuck. By joining different professional communities, You can expand
your Professional Learning Network infinitely.
Edmodo also offers apps through the site
that are facilitated by professional education companies so students can access
online tools right in Edmodo (my vocabulary, study sync, no red ink, etc.)
How is Edmodo useful for your student?
Students benefit from Edmodo because it
is a a web-based program that is accessible from any device the student can
access. It also has a free app where students can receive notifications
about grades, assignments, etc. and can check their class feed for important
information.
They can interact with students in their
same class, other local classes, or classes across the nation right from the
site. The teacher has to set up groups for this to be possible, but it
opens up a much broader learning group for them.
Also, because Edmodo is online, it gives
the student more access to online tools and
interactive activities because it can be accessed through the site in a
protected manner.
The class feed and messaging tools make
it easy for students to message teachers with assignment questions or
additional information without having to use a personal email, and Edmodo is
designed so that students can create a login without owning or providing an
email of any kind.
How is Edmodo useful for parents?
Edmodo makes the classroom more
transparent for parents. By using their individual access code, a parent
can check his student's class assignments, graded work, teacher feedback, due
dates, etc. from any device that can access the internet. It is much
easier for a parent to stay on top of classwork and grades because they can
look at it from the app while sitting in the Target parking lot if he so chose.
How do you incorporate your course work with Edmodo?
I use the class library and news feed
in our group to make course work assignments to students. It allows me to
attach a video, presentation, document, or whatever additional information the
student would need to complete the assignment and assign a due date for when
the assignment needs to be returned.
The assignment shows up in the group
feed where students can access the information and see what they need to complete.
Once it is finished up, the assignment has a turn in button where the
student would submit his completed work to me. Edmodo date/time stamps
the work as it is turned in, so I know exactly when the assignment came into my
drop box.
As I get the assignments graded,
students get a notification that they have a new grade and can check their
progress report from any device to keep track of their most current averages.
What is my favorite parts about Edmodo and why?
I like pretty much every aspect of
Edmodo, but if I had to choose, I think I like how everything is integrated
into one spot. It's not like other sites where students can only view
assignment or can only turn in assignments. In Edmodo, they can do
everything in one spot and even access activities and work from other sites
through the apps Edmodo offers.
Do you think other teachers can increase learning in their
classroom with Edmodo and how?
Absolutely. You don't
have to run a tech class or be a tech-savvy teacher to be able to use Edmodo.
First, it is EXTREMELY easy to navigate and use, so teachers would have
no problem learning how to use the site. Beyond that, it has so many uses
that teachers could use just a few options or all of them and the teacher and
students would benefit.
If a teacher used only the
PLN options in Edmodo, he would learn so much about how other teachers relate
the same information, tech tools that would make his life easier, upcoming
professional development, and new curriculum/tools on the horizon. Also of this
could be incorporated into the classroom and benefit the students.
He could use some of the
class group functions or all of them, and it would really open up the
supplement materials available for students to use. Because it creates a
protected group, no one except those approved would be able to access the
group, and he would control what content is posted on the feed. This also
teaches students to be more tech-savvy in a way that would benefit them in the
future (creating presentations, responding professionally, etc.) as opposed to
how to tweet from the bathroom.
Teachers could create a
group for each section with the sole intent of using it as a collection point
for the online activities and materials they want to use in class. A
teacher could post videos and activities to the feed and use a projector or
smart board for the class to be able to view it with no intention of students
actually turning in work online. Think of it as a more specialized
Pinterest board where you might actually be able to find what you're looking
for :).
Edmodo is really such a
versatile site that I don't see how someone who accesses it even sporadically
could not learn something new to use in the classroom.
Google
Docs
What are Google
Docs, Sheets, and Slides?
Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are productivity apps that let
you create different kinds of online documents, work on them in real time with
other people, and store them in your Google Drive online — all for free. You
can access the documents, spreadsheets, and presentations you create from any
computer, anywhere in the world.
Google Docs
Google Docs is an online word processor that lets you create and
format text documents and collaborate with other people in real time. Here's
what you can do with Google Docs:
·
Upload a Word document and convert it to a Google document
·
Add flair and formatting to your documents by adjusting margins,
spacing, fonts, and colors — all that fun stuff
·
Invite other people to collaborate on a document with you,
giving them edit, comment or view access
·
Collaborate online in real time and chat with other
collaborators — right from inside the document
·
View your document's revision history and roll back to any
previous version
·
Download a Google document to your desktop as a Word, OpenOffice,
RTF, PDF, HTML or zip file
·
Translate a document to a different language
·
Email your documents to other people as attachments
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