Via RSSEdmodo: Twitter DESIGNED for the classroom
Without a doubt, Twitter has taken the education community by storm. However, there really aren’t all that many people who are using it in the classroom. Let’s face it, it just isn’t designed to be used in a teacher/student environment.
Edmodo is.
Jeffrey O’Hara is the network administrator/webmaster for Community Unit School District 200 in Wheaton, Illinois. I remember meeting him at a TechCocktail event and spending a few hours talking with him about what worked and what didn’t when it came to Web 2.0 in education. He shared with me a crazy idea for taking the Twitter concept spinning it around so it would suit a school’s needs.
Fast forward to a few days ago and his nutty idea has become a reality, and I couldn’t be more happy for him. And to be honest, for teachers as well. It’s really a great tool to add to your web 2.0 arsenal, and one that you can use immediately with your students.While I do compare it to Twitter, the comparison really does Edmodo a disservice because it does so much more. At it’s heart, people can create short messages (140 characters or less) and blast them out. But here’s where it starts to deviate from Twitter already. Those messages don’t get blasted out to the world, they get sent out to individuals, groups of people, or multiple groups. You have much more control over who sees specific messages, instead of just sending them to everybody and anybody. If people choose to respond to your post, their replies are threaded with the original, making it easy to follow conversations.
Of course, if you were to send out an assignment, you might want to send a handout or resource along with it. With Edmodo, you can. You are able to attach files, embed links, or even turn a basic post into an assignment or event complete with date metadata. Very easy to send out an assignment along with attachment out to a specific class of your students. Or you could send your contact information and office hours to ALL of your classes. Or send a video to your after school club for them to enjoy. You get the idea. Lots of control here.
Need more? You got it. There’s even public pages available, complete with RSS feeds! So if you have something that you DO want to share with the entire world, it will support that as well. Students can save specific messages in their ‘locker’ to refer back to later. Assignments and events hang around and will appear conveniently in the sidebar when their associated dates are coming up.
If you see the value of microblogging and have ever thought to yourself, “This’d be perfect for class EXCEPT….” then you’ll definitely want to check out Edmodo. It’s not only a great way to introduce microblogging to students in a safe environment, but it’s also a great communication tool. Gets my seal of approval!
September 7th, 2008 at 10:38 am
I think the reason Twitter works is because of its simplicity. I am not sure that Edmodo is as simple to use. I did set up an account and looked around a bit, but I haven’t the faintest idea of why I would use this in my classroom. I have fifth grade students with a 2:1 computer ratio. Most of my students do not have internet access at home. I use my blog and my voice to give directions to my students. What does Edmodo offer me that I can’t already do? I would love some application ideas.
September 8th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Wm-
While I see how it may not be beneficial for your 2:1 5th grade classroom, I think this would be great for 1:1 at any grade level. I also think that this would be better served in a secondary setting. I think this tool has its place in education and really could explode in that place.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:02 am
I’m going to use this is combination with a blog for my Year 7 maths class.
I like the idea that students can send messages and I can reply to them - easier than email.
If something goes wrong during the day, I can send a message out and attach the homework assignment.
Of course, students need internet access from home for some of this.
I know how valuable Twitter has been for me, so I’m willing to give it a go and see if it can be useful.
February 2nd, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Thanks for the info. I will check it out and see if I can incorporate to my class.
February 3rd, 2009 at 3:24 pm
I am just learning about Twitter through a graduate class and was having a hard time trying to relate it to my classroom. This might be my answer since it is more customizable!
February 4th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I’ve been learning about Twitter this week and I don’t have a clue on how to use it in my classroom. It’s fun, but I still don’t see the educational benefits. I will check out Edmodo and maybe use that in my classroom instead.
February 6th, 2009 at 2:24 am
I’ve just learned about twitter through my grad class and I would like to incorporate it into my classroom.
February 6th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
I’m very knew to Twitter but hear is what I think it could be used for maybe?
I think you can use them both as a way to send out reminders to students and parents in the evening or over the weekend? If a student or parent asks a question where the answer would benefit everyone you could send out the information.
You could invite teachers and administrators to your classroom if something really neat is happening at that moment in your classroom.
You could even use it to send out safety messages to the school. Snake on the play ground, bathroom over flowing, school is closed ect…
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I don’t like the idea of Twitter because its public nature. I can see Edmodo being an excellent tool for my high history classes. I would be able to send assignments to all of my student so they could have access to the assignments. I could update any information I needed to. Last year there were quite a few time where a homework assignment that used technology had a glitch and I had to wait for the next day to address it. With Edmodo I could just shoot out a message addressing any problems. I also like the fact that you can attach documents.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
I used Edmodo for the first time this school year and really liked it. The kids felt comfortable using it and I especially liked the privacy that we had. We also used it as a place where they could work on a project together and post documents for their partners to work on at home.
July 10th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
This sounds like a good alternative to twitter for the class.