This summer I had the opportunity to attend the Google Geo Teacher’s Institute at the Googleplex (Google’s headquarters) in Mountain View California.  It was an amazing experience!  While I was there, a fellow teacher invited me to visit the headquarters of edmodo.com.  At the time I had never heard of edmodo, but it was only a short walk, and I’m always up for an adventure!

About 10 minutes after Crystal Hutter, the COO of edmodo.com began demonstrating what edmodo could do, I started to get really excited.

You mean edmodo allows teachers to create a secure social network for their students?  And it’s SIMPLE??  OMG!  I think I’m in love!!

Have something to share? Publish your ideas, files, and homework from the “Post bubble.”

 

Top 10 reasons why I love edmodo.com and you will too!

1.      Free. Visit http://edmodo.com and create a FREE teacher account.

2.      Secure. Students are only able to post and read comments from other students that the teacher has placed in their group.  Teachers can read, edit, and delete any post.

3.      Comfortable. Edmodo looks like facebook, so it’s a familiar platform for most students and many teachers.  Users who are new to social networking will quickly become familiar with edmodo’s simple interface.

4.      Collaborative. Within edmodo you easily put your class into small groups, and you can create a limitless number of groups (think: literature circles and collaborative projects across the curriculum!)

5.      Flexible. Four different types of posts allow students and teachers to post simple messages, assignments, polls, and alerts.

6.      Notifications. Users can adjust their settings so that they receive email or even text messages when a fellow group member posts.

7.      Storage (Library). This is huge so be sure you’re sitting down:  Edmodo users have limitless online storage…for free.  Users can upload files and links directly into their own library or share their files and links by attaching them to a message.  (Super simple!!) Every file or link shared with a group automatically goes into the user’s library.

8.      Embedding. Anything with embed code can be posted and viewed within edmodo.  Think: http://slidesix.com, http://docs.google.com, http://animoto.com, http://edu.glogster.com, and http://prezi.com.

9.      Community.  Ever wondered what teachers across the hall, across the state, or across the globe are doing in their classrooms?  Join one of edmodo’s content area focused communities and find out!

10.  Simple. Edmodo’s simple and intuitive interface allows even the least tech-savvy among us to:

  • Facilitate online discussion
  • Post and accept assignments online
  • Set project due dates (which then automatically post on a student’s calendar!)
  • Share links and files
  • View, grade, and give constructive feedback on assignments

 

The icing on the cake!

As if the ten reasons above are not enough…there’s an app for that!  Edmodo’s mobile app can be downloaded from iTunes or accessed at http://www.edmodo.com/m/ so your students can connect to the classroom from their phone, ipod or other mobile device.

Ready to get started?

Visit http://www.edmodo.com/ to create an account and get started building a secure social network for the students in your class.  Feeling a bit unsure? Click here to access our handy “Getting started with edmodo” cheatsheet. Already rolling?  Be sure to post in the comments section below to let us know why YOU love edmodo too!

For another perspective on the power of Edmodo in your classroom, check out the video below.
Teacher Marcia Simmons, on Edmodo

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