Enhancing communication with Edmodo
This week, I’ve been playing with Edmodo. If you’re not familiar with the site, it defines itself as ‘a private communication platform for teachers and students’. I’ve also heard it being labelled as ‘Twitter for Schools’. However, Twitter is a public system (with the ability to make individual messages private) whereas Edmodo is 100% private (unless you choose to make particular posts and events public).
I’ve been registered for a while, but I hadn’t really taken the time to explore the potential of the site until now. I know that many teachers and classes are already using Edmodo successfully (including José Picardo and fellow Kent teacher Jason Dilling), so it’s good to get things started with my own class of Year 5 children (aged 9/10).
Earlier in the week, I helped six children to register with the site. I wanted to make sure that the sign-up process didn’t present any hurdles for a small group before rolling it out to the entire class. This worked surprisingly well, and those six children then became my ‘expert helpers’ when the rest of the class were registering themselves a few days later.
Now that everyone in the class is registered, they are incredibly keen to use the site. As I type this, there are children posting messages, uploading files, replying to each other’s comments and sharing useful sites. They’ve also discovered some other features that I wasn’t aware of!
Although we’ve only been registered for 24 hours(!), I wanted to post my reasons for using Edmodo, as well as my experiences so far at this early stage…
Why am I using Edmodo?
- Posting homework online – Our children receive paper copies of homework once a week. Of course, like all teachers, I occasionally receive excuses from children who have said that they have lost their homework, or that their brother / sister / dog destroyed it somehow. By posting the homework online, children cannot lose it and once they’ve uploaded it, they can forget about it until it’s time to review the work in class. The children can also ask questions about their homework, which I can respond to quickly and easily.
Allowing pupils to return homework online – Edmodo also allows pupils to ‘Turn In’ their homework, by uploading it to the site. This is an incredibly useful feature as it keeps a checklist of those who have / haven’t submitted their work yet. I’ve recently found that it’s possible for me to grade the children’s work and add comments via the site, so the children can also receive a response online.- Posting spellings / other useful info – We have weekly spelling tests, so I’m also going to be putting those spellings online too. The children could then copy and paste these into sites like Spelling City to help them to learn the words.
- Sharing useful websites – I’m also hoping to share relevant websites with Edmodo, which link with the topics that we are learning in class. The children can then use these at home to support their work, or simply to explore if they’re interested. Occasionally, we play online games in class (as a treat!), so I may share links to some of those sites, so that the children can play at home too.
- Sending reminders about dates / class events – Our school website has an online diary, but this has information for all children and classes at school. By using Edmodo, I can show information that is only relevant to my pupils.
Increasing parental awareness – A few parents have expressed a lack of awareness of their child’s homework, as the paper copies of homework sometimes don’t even make it home! Although everything on Edmodo is private (and therefore only accessible by the children), I can make the homework / spelling posts on Edmodo public (simply by ticking one box), so that the parents can see what their child is expected to achieve and when it is due. I can also post events and other information for them to see. In fact, last night I posted a message about next week’s ‘Open Afternoon’, and a few minutes later a child had posted a question from their parent asking me a question about it, which I was able to respond to quickly.
What are the potential problems?
- Children not remembering to check the site – Our use of the site will only be successful if the children actually remember to visit, to read the information that is posted, and to interact with it! There are lots of pupils using it at the moment, but I’m sure that the novelty will wear off in time. I need to ensure that Edmodo becomes embedded in our class work too, so that the class get regular reminders that it is there, and become increasingly comfortable / confident in using the different features. Indeed, I could set tasks in class and ask them to post their work to me online via Edmodo, rather than having to search through the school’s file server to find wherever they have saved it! We could also use the grading / comments options as a shared assessment tool during lesson plenaries.
- Forgotten passwords – Our pupils now have three different usernames / passwords to remember… one for Superclubs Plus, another for Tutpup and now a third one for Edmodo. I have encouraged them to set similar usernames / passwords and even given them discrete cards on which to record these details (with strict instructions to keep these safe and secret!). The creator of Edmodo has also just responded very quickly to my help request and pointed out where I can reset passwords for my pupils, if required.
Increased workload – I seem to spend a huge proportion of my free time in front of a computer screen anyway (either working on school planning, adding to my websites, or exploring new sites online). I can see Edmodo being another site that I check regularly, potentially take up lots of time. I need to ensure that I limit the time that I spent on the site, so that it doesn’t become another timesink. Indeed, my headteacher has already sent me an email telling me “NOT to check for homework etc when you are at home doing “home” things!”- Types of homework given – Sometimes, our paper homework might be a photocopied worksheet from a photocopiable book or from a website. I don’t think that distributing these worksheets over the Internet is allowed, so I need to be a little more creative with the homework that is given, relying less upon pre-printed materials.
- Differentiation – We often give out different homework to different groups of children, depending on their ability. This will need to be addressed carefully with Edmodo, and I need to make sure that I make it clear which groups are to complete which activities.
- Lack of internet access – Of course, not all families have Internet access at home. There are only a few children in my class who aren’t online at home, so I will continue to offer paper copies of homework (etc.) and make sure that those families continue to receive the paperwork and information that they always have. Edmodo simply offers a single place for parents to go when they need that information, rather than receiving newsletters and paper slips at irregular intervals.
- Copyright – I haven’t shown them how to do so, but some of the children have discovered how to post images and multimedia files. It’s therefore important that I remind them about the importance of respecting copyright. We have spoken about this on a number of occasions, but regular reminders might be useful!
Are there any alternatives?
- Superclubs Plus – We could have used our Superclubs Plus accounts to share homework. However, Superclubs isn’t really designed for this, and it’s not possible to upload documents for sharing. It’s also a private network for children, so parents would not be able to access the relevant information for them.
- Email – We could use an email system (or Google Apps) to share this information. However, our children don’t have their own email accounts (apart from the ones within their Superclubs accounts).
- Posting on the school website – Adding relevant information to our school website is relatively quick and easy. However, it could soon get cluttered with homework / events / information which may not be particularly relevant to others. Edmodo keeps information for each class separate, allowing the children to focus on what is useful to them.
- A VLE – We don’t have a VLE yet, so Edmodo is a great way of taking our first steps in that direction.
I’m really excited about our use of Edmodo, and we’ve only been using it for a very short period of time. I’m sure I’ll blog about it again when things are more established. However, right now, I’m wishing that I’d been using it since the start of the academic year in September!
Are you using Edmodo yet? I would love to hear thoughts and experiences from others.
Mr. Warner, I justed wanted to say thank you for posting about your positive experience with Edmodo. We are trying to make it a world class communication system that teachers can safely use with their students and are working hard to make it better every day.
-Jeff
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Bill Brantley Reply:
April 27th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Well, my experience hasn’t been as positive. I signed up for the system and then wanted to test out the notifications so that I know how they work before I sign students up.
When nothing happened, I sent a tweet to Edmodo about my issue. I received back a direct reply admonishing me not to tweet support issues to the main Edmodo channel. Fair enough but the email had a rather condescending tone. A second direct reply informed me that the system was not set up for notifying yourself.
I direct messaged back about why that might be a good feature to implement. I also sent a second tweet about wanting more information on Edmodo so that I can talk about it at an upcoming presentation. It’s been four days now and still no response.
I like the concept of Edmodo and a tool like this is clearly needed. But, if this is an example of the kind of support Edmodo is going to provide, I would rather use something else. I can see from the other comments that Edmodo seems responsive to user input and I am wondering why they are not in this case.
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Mark Warner Reply:
April 27th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I’m sorry to hear about the issues that you’ve had. In my experience, the Edmodo team have always been incredibly responsive, always replying within a few hours to any questions I’ve had.
I hope that your issues are resolved. Thanks for your comment.
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Jeff O'Hara Reply:
April 27th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Bill, I am very sorry if my messages came off as condescending. I absolutely did not mean to and that is not how I ever want to come across when dealing with support issues reguarding edmodo. In my defense my messages I sent to you via twitter were limited to 140 characters and explaining things in 140 characters is hard to do, so i was trying to give you factual information about how the notification system works. I would love to contact you personally and give you my sincere apologies.
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Thanks for such a great post! We are continually working on Edmodo in response to the fantastic feedback that we have received from the teaching community. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help enhance the use of Edmodo in your classroom, or those of your readers. Thanks again.
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I just recently found Edmodo as well, and love it! I also wish I had found it much sooner! My kids (6th graders)love it as well. As you listed many of your reasons for using it, I found myself nodding my head. Several assignments recently that I would have printed and copied for the kids, I made more interactive by attaching them as PowerPoints or Word docs that they had to download, save, manipulate, and then resubmit. I especially LOVE the ability to grade online and respond online. No stacks of meaningless papers that end up in the trashcan with my freshly inked comments! Love that! Thanks for your always interesting blog posts!
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Great post! I have been using edmodo with 6th and 7th graders for the past month or so. Your lists are accurate concerning the positives and potential problems to be dealt with. I have just started working with the “homework” portion of the site but think it holds great potential.
The feature I like best about this site is the hands on approach of Mr. O’Hara. His response to concerns and questions is amazing to me. I have tried many other sites but this is the only one with the support level so high!
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Hi Mark
Thanks for an informative post. I’ve registered with Edmodo but not got around to using it yet. However, after reading your post I think I’ll give it a go next term. I do put some of our tasks on our class blog but of course that has limitations.
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Thanks for your write-up. I’m also a passive user of Edmodo but was waiting for someone else to show how it could be used. Thanks for blogging about your experience.
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Have been using Edmodo for a couple of weeks with my chn in Yr 5 and 6. they seem to love the idea – especially using it to do work and hand it in
As a teacher – i would love the possibility to somehow have all the work for a particular child in a portfolio kind of way – i.e. if i select a child can all the work they have handed in be shown + all the work they haven’t handed in ?
this would be perfect for parents evenings and assist in writing reports!
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Mark Warner Reply:
April 28th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Thanks for your comment Tom… the portfolio idea is a great one. I’ll suggest it to the developers, if you don’t mind!
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TomSale Reply:
April 28th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
please do – would love to be able to test/trail it !!
will ask the chn what they would like to be added – seeing as its them whom use it
will add my findings tomorrow!
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Selena Horrell Reply:
March 6th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
Hi there, I agree with the portfolio option – fabulous idea! Also…the possibility to hand in digital media (audio and/or video) would be great.
Hi everybody!
Great help in my planning for next school year. Can an Edmodo site be set up for each class separately? I have six high school English classes and need one site for each class to keep it all straight. Is is possible, and how could I do it? (I have started my first site already but have not begun to use it.)
Thanks for a response,
Kathy
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Mark Warner Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 7:52 am
It looks like this is possible. When you’re signed in, look for the ‘Join or Create’ options near to your original class list (on the left). From there you should be able to create new classes.
I think the best way to learn is to try it out. I am registered as a teacher, and I also have a pupil account for my class… that way you can try things from both perspectives.
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Thanks for such a detailed report, as someone who is running Blackboard for tens of thousands, I must say that as an LMS, Edmodo hit all the pedagogical high notes for me – and some that I train and model to teachers. If we get past the ‘tech’ – Edmodo is a great way for teacher to learn about online course facilitation – which will be a mandatory skill in the next few years. Edmodo promotes best practice and engagement IMO.
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I have used Edmodo with my high school juniors for the better part of the past school year. I team-teach a 2-period block course that encapsulates American literature, public speaking and U.S. History. The course partners with the local area historical museum, and students use various technologies to design extensive projects for the museum. Our students are constantly needing to communicate with one another beyond the time they spend in class, and we’ve found that Edmodo meets this need.
As far as support, I’ve contacted Edmodo more than just a few times, and I have always received a prompt, courteous reply. The folks at Edmodo have actively sought out suggestions and incorporated some of them in recent updates, and whenever my teaching partner and I made specific requests, they’ve done everything they could to accomodate us. I highly recommend Edmodo. It will certainly be an integral part of any class I teach.
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I feel like I must be missing something here. I signed up for Edmodo today. I was able to send a note. Then, I tried to create a group, after I filled out the first screen, naming the group, I was back on my page. The group I tried to set up wasn’t listed. I tried refreshing, I tried recreating the group. I checked my email in case there was a code sent there.
Edmodo sounds really great, but I have to say that it is not a very intuitive site. I will email questions to support to try to learn how it’s done!
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Abby Reply:
August 3rd, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Betsy,
I had the same problem with creating groups but discovered that when my group name was more individual (eg. Not US History but rather US History D Block) the group became viable and appeared in the column for groups. Try this if you are still stuck.
I would like to see a posting about the student sign up process.
Abby
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Thanks so much for this. Edmodo is one of the websites suggested by my school and it seemed intriguing but I really wanted to know more about how it works. (Really, Edmodo might want to consider putting some more information about the what and how on their main site. I know quite a few teachers who came to the site and gave up because they couldn’t figure it out.) Your descriptions absolutely helped me to figure out if and how I could use this.
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I, too, would like to find out more about the student sign up end.
I also want to put in my thanks for your post on using Edmodo as I heard about it and signed up but then felt quite lost as to what to do next (other than pick a different picture….).
So will reread your post and do some more exploring with the hopes I can make this work for some classes at the MS level this year.
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I learned about Edmodo this summer and started the year with it. I have set up groups for each of my classes (6th grade science, Biology, Chemistry and Physics). Since I am also a class sponsor, Student Council sponsor and one act play director I have set up groups for each of them as well. It has proven a great way to communicate with all of my students. We are in a very small school and most of the students are involved in multiple activities. Between absences for extracurricular activities and the occasional illness it has been difficult for students to get caught up after an absence. So far this has helped my students keep up with assignments. They love being able to do work online and not having to keep up with papers.
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I used Edmodo with my classes in Years 7, 8 and 9 last year, rather than get to grips with Moodle. Pupils were very positive in the main – though I am amazed at how many computers develop problems when a deadline is due. Then I felt guilty so didn’t go that route with my new classes – hoping to force myself to learn how to use our school VLE. I haven’t done so and the training we’ve had so far hasn’t shown me how to do for myself what is possible in Edmodo. Think I will be introducing my classes to good old ED very soon.
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This is an excellent post. I’ve been using Edmodo with my students for a few months now and would concur with everything you said
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A super posting and one with which I wholly concur. We have loved using Edmodo since April last year. I use it mainly to give instructions to classes whenever I have had to go away (conferences, outings, etc.) I have even communicated with classes using m.edmodo.com (the mobile site) to see how they were doing. We also subscribe to ClassMarker and let that issue usernames. We then use that username for Rafi.ki and Rafi.ki Kidogo and will be using it for Edmodo, too, in future. Hence, pupils have less to remember.
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