Akisi Lewatu
According to DiscoveryEducation.com web 2.0 is about revolutionary new ways of creating, collaborating, editing and sharing user-generated content online. It is also about ease of use. There’s no need to download, and teachers and students can master many of these tools in minutes. Technology has never been easier or more accessible to all.
Edumodo or Edmodo is one of the many web 2.0 tools. As it is, Edmodo describes itself as “Secure social learning network for teachers and students.”
Upon evaluating this tool, I have come to find that, its description is evident in the provision of two buttons that you can choose from before you sign in or sign up: “I’m a Student” and “I’m a Teacher”.
Evaluation of the Teacher mode
Signing in to Edmodo you will be greeted with the Homepage where signing up is free.
However to be in this teaching and learning web you have to sign up either as a teacher or a student.
The sign up window for a teacher looks ordinary with all the usual fields to fill just like any site upon registering as shown below.
After signing up, you will enter your Edmodo home page. It is somewhat similar to Facebook – with some modifications here and there adjusting it well for educational purposes.
Still under the teachers outlook the update area is “attuned” as a tool to send Notes, Alerts, Assignments, and Polls to member students or other teachers.
If you were a teacher, you will appreciate the ability to easily send assignments. Just write down the title, description, due date and you are ready to step in. You can add files, links, or pass on some materials from the library. You should choose the recipients before clicking the “Send” button. They could be other teachers in your set of connections, or students from your study group. This is shown below.
Teachers are also privileged to be able to create groups. Aside from “Grade” (e.g.: Preschool, 7th, 10th, Secondary Education) and “Subject Area” (e.g.: English, Mathematics, Computing), the groups can also be based on the classes that you conduct online, the difference of interest or concern among students, levels of understanding of a topic, etc.
Your unique status will be updated to the group. It is important that you pay attention to the access code of the group. It is your duty then to inform your students about the code, because they won’t be able to join the group without it.
At the lower part of the home screen, you will find a few basic things that you should complete to make your account “fully functional”.
The evaluation of the student side
If you are a student, the registration process is a little bit different. Other than your basic personal information, you’ll also need the group code that you are about to join. This is the code that your teacher will get when they create the group.
After logging in, you’ll find a list of groups that you’ve joined. If you want to join other groups, have the access code ready and click the “Join” button.
There are links to “Calendar“, “Grades” and “Library” on the top of the page. Library is the place where you can find all the files and links sent to you or any of your groups. This is applicable as well in the Teacher mode as well.
You could also add files to your library. This is a good place to store all of the materials related to your study.
Another interesting place to visit is the “Settings“. This is the place to complete your personal information, and change your picture. You are also able to choose one of the available images as your picture or you can even upload your own desirable photo of your choice.
You could also set any kind of notification that you would like to receive and the kind of event that you want to be notified on. The choices are email and text message. Unfortunately, not everyone can choose text messages as their option as it is only available for users with many major phone providers.
The Social Side
Above all of its features, the strongest point of Edmodo is its social side. Just like Facebook, Edmodo makes it really easy to search and add friends – whether they are teachers or students. If you are a teacher and you have defined your school, you might even find other teachers from the same institution.
Edmodo also finds a way to keep users’ privacy. The group mode limits everything that happens in a group between the members. And since it is not possible to join any group without the access code, teachers here then, can keep “unnecessary parties” out of the group.
Upon evaluating this web tool I have made many interesting discoveries. They all have been mentioned in the discussion subtopics. I have come to support also the theme “Secure Social Learning Network for Teachers and Students”. This is a definitely important and very useful online learning for both groups: Teachers and Students. It is really helpful and very convenient for all moreover it really is educational.
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