Edmodo-Another Option

The various social networking tools I reviewed previously are all options open to the general populous of the internet; any and all may have an account and interact with the world. There are certain sites that are slightly more exclusive.

Facebook used to be one of these options. Once preferable to MySpace for its exclusive inclusion of those with active college email accounts, and then to high school students on a separate network, now Facebook too is open to all. These sites have both been noted for getting people fired. Putting up pictures of the account holder doing unsavory acts, and these photos being viewed by an employer, has caused actual ramifications in the real world. Even something as seemingly innocent as a teacher pictured drinking a beer has caused serious repercussions. When Facebook was exclusive, this was not as much of an issue. Now, every word and photograph must be carefully censored before posting.

Another issue these sites, especially MySpace, have been notorious for is online predators. Children now are not only warned of strangers in the street or park, but also of strangers in chat rooms and on social networking sites. If children are going to have sites and interact with one another, they need a safe place to do so. Unfortunately, it is difficult to create such a place. Most schools do not give email addresses that can be verified as school accounts, and there are always those who would try to find ways to hack into such places. Edmodo is a possible alternative to less secure and less g-rated sites.

Edmodo is a site for teachers and students to collaborate in a variety of ways. Files can be uploaded and sent, messages can be written and replied to, links can be shared, and homework can even be assigned and submitted. Teachers create a site for each of their classes, and they get a special code that must be entered for a student to create a login. If a person does not have the special code, they cannot log onto the site. An email address is not required to create an account as a student. The teacher can review the list of members at any time to kick out those that may not belong in the class.

This site is an amazing resource. Parents could also create accounts, or certain parts of the site can be made public for parents to see. Announcements could be shared in this way, while student work remained confidential. The possibilities here are boundless--or limited only by the amount of computer access each student has. As more and more families have the internet in their home, students are more likely to be able to complete assignments via computer. Unfortunately, several of mine still do not have home access, and our computer time at school is limited. We have a lab, but are scheduled for only an hour a week. In our classroom, we have three student computers, but one is not currently networked. Of the other two, one has fairly severe issues--I believe it needs to see a doctor. My ESL student monopolizes much of the time on the other computer because many of the tools I have available for her are computer based. My students are understanding and work hard to share the resources, but expecting assignments to be turned in by a certain time is still an issue we struggle with. Hopefully, this will ease with time. Even if I choose not to use Edmodo with my student, and use a wikispaces account instead, I realize its amazing potential and respect those who integrate this tool into their classrooms.