Sliced Bread

I blogged about edmodo, an educational microblogging app, a few months ago and thought we’d assess it as a learning tool during 4th term. Our class have been using edmodo for about 10 weeks now and my senior Modern History students are warming to it as they discover its increasing usefulness. 

The hand out/in area is especially beneficial as student work can be reviewed prior to final submission and the ability to either ask and respond to individual questions or private group questions is great. In this way we can either see what the whole class are thinking or contributing or we can send specific messages to selected recipients.

The fact it is also password protected when you invite participants means it is just your group who access the relevant information so student security is not an issue.

The students believe edmodo will be of considerable benefit to them as they prepare for the 2009 HSC, so we have classified edmodo as “keeper app with merit”, not a “chuck it outer”.

The only drawback so far is DET NSW have classified edmodo as “evil”, so access is blocked at school. The students all use it at home, or in their breaks using mlearning, so this is luckily not an issue. (except in DET blocking it at school and the message this conveys about some attitudes towards useful 21st century learning applications)

Jeff O’Hara and Nic Borg might just be onto something with edmodo. A microblogging service with specific learning applications for education. I signed up recently and like what I’m seeing. The ability to create private passcode protected groups for handouts/ins, assignments, events and calanders.

Open Education interviewed, Jeff and Nic, the brains behind edmodo.

This is not just a tool for the teachers, it’s a tool for students to ask questions either within the classroom timeline or pose to the teacher directly.  Teachers can use Edmodo to have their students submit their assignments.  There is also a calendar that teachers can use to post events and assignment due dates.  Edmodo is designed with privacy in mind but it also gives the teacher the ability to make anything public at his or her discretion.  Another thing, Edmodo is not a finished product, we still have ideas to bring additional classroom features to the platform in the future.

As “the 4 hour workweek man” Tim Ferris so correctly states, use microblogging sites however it suits your needs for there are ‘no rules’ and I erroneously thought my learners would subscribe to Tim’s mantra.

When school resumes, I’ll see what the students think of it. Most voted a comprehensive thumbs down for twitter, so I’ll see if edmodo floats their boat or to them is it just another learning Titantic, shaken not stirred, but heading for ice.

 What do you think, does edmodo have more learning potential than twitter?