Web 2.0 Tools for Communication

1.Name of the Tool

edmodo

2.URL of the Tool

http://www.edmodo.com/

3.Primary category for this tool.

Edmodo is primarily a communication tool, but can be used as a collaborative, networking and feedback tool as well.

4.Please describe this tool in your own words.

Edmodo is intended as a tool for teachers and their students to communicate with one another. The teacher opens an account on the free edmodo site and issue invitations to their students or other teachers to create their own account and to participate at the class site. The teacher can give assignments, send 'alerts' (short messages containing updates, information, etc), or upload documents to a class 'library'. In addition, the tool supplies a function for conducting simple polls, a calendar function for lesson or semester planning, a gradebook function, and mobile networking options.
Students can submit assignments online and the teacher can grade assignments and homework, post the grades in a gradebook, and communicate grades to the students. Teacher reviews of the gradebook function say that it has enabled them to conduct virtually paperless classes.
Students can also post to the site and discuss class projects, assignments, etc. Thus, the site also provides a networking/brainstorming function for the students.

5.What do you need to know before using this tool? (What skills do you need to have?)

Essentially nothing! This site is incredibly user-friendly. A teacher with only basic computer and internet skills could set up an account and a site for their class in less than 5 minutes.

6.What do you need to have before using this tool? (Resources)

Access to a computer with internet connection for both teacher and students.

7.How do you use this tool?

1. The teacher opens a free account at the edmodo site.
Click on the 'I'm a Teacher' button on the edmodo homepage and fill in the information requested (name, email address, user name and password.

2. The teacher clicks on the 'create' link and chooses a name for the class site. From here the educator can also send invitations to students or other teachers. Invited teachers can also send alerts, give, assignments, use the gradebook and calendar functions and conduct polls.

3. The creation of the account generates a code that the teacher can supply to their students and to other teachers which allow them to create an account themselves and to access the class site that the teacher creates. The students create an personal account on the edmodo site created by the teacher and access the class website by using the teacher-supplied account code.

Students can personalize their accounts by addition of avatars or photos. In addition, students can contribute to the class site via posts.

8.Please create an example with this tool and either embed in your blog or submit the URL.

If you would like to explore this website, I have opened a teacher account and created a class site (You're so Far Away...). You may log on as a student using the code 'jvg4ff'. Alternately, if you send me an email I will invite you as a teacher and you can edit the site yourself. Below is a screenshot of the class website homepage.

9.Please describe a scenario of how you might use this tool in a teaching environment.

This tool seems most suited for a class that meets frequently and has many assignments to complete. It is a great tool for both educator and students to organize and access information and assignments. In general, the site is directed toward middle and high school education.
However, for medical or graduate education, the site would provide a place to post lecture notes, a network for students, and a way for students to readily communicate with their teachers. It would likely be most useful for classes in the first year of medical/graduate education in which the didactic content of the course is very high. For example, all medical students and most biomedical graduate students take Biochemistry in their first year. This course always contains a huge amount of information that needs to be memorized. The edmodo site could supply a library of lecture notes and supplemental material that would be freely accessible to students. In addition, students could post
questions to one another or the professor.

10.What are the pros and cons of this pool in a teaching environment?

The pros of this web tool are:
1. Its extraodinary ease of use. Even relative beginners can create a class site within minutes.
2. The page layout is similar to websites that are likely familiar to students such as Facebook.
3. The site is private. Its use can be restricted to a single class of learners.
4. File sharing is very easy.
5. An accessible library of files and reference materials is created for the learners and educators.
6. Teacher reviews say that the technical support at the site is excellent.
7. The mobile features (iPhone and Droid aps) increase accessibility and connectivity. Student questions and discussion can be received anytime and anyplace.
8. Students can share ideas and conduct online discussion with other students in the class.
9. The teacher can communicate with individual students privately, or with the class as a whole.

Cons of this web tool are:
1. Students must have access to a computer with internet to participate in the class fully.
2. The mobile features (iPhone and Droid aps) increase accessibility and connectivity. Is it really necessary to be available to students and discussion 24 hours a day?
3. The tool seems relatively simple compared to a tool like Moodle. For example, it does not allow for an extensive a discussion format. It is often described in reviews as 'mini-blogging'.