EEND 676 Module 3 Discussion

Hello class,

When choosing a collaborative web tool to review last week, the biggest criteria it had to meet was could I actually use it in the classroom.  One of the tools I reviewed cleared that criteria, so I was happy to get the chance to look further into the tool with our discussion this week.  The tool I decided to deliver lessons in the classroom is called Edmodo.  

The web tool describes itself as a "safe and easy way to get your students connected so they can safely collaborate, get and stay organized, access assignments and grades, post videos, and stimulate creative thinking."  Wow, sounds like a pretty powerful tool, that definitely had 21st century learning in mind during development.  I quickly set up a free profile, and made a “biology class” page for my students.  I decided to try a few things that I currently use google communities for like posting videos, assignments, and starting a discussion.  Unfortunately, I can only assess the website from the teacher’s perspective as I have not run this site with students yet.  This week, I am going to run the website live with my Anatomy class, so I will have more to report afterwards.  

There are a lot of possibilities with Edmodo in the classroom.  The first idea, like I mentioned above, I am going to use in class next week in Anatomy.  I decided to "flip the classroom" in a way with my next unit, the respiratory system.  Instead of delivering typical notes, I divided that content up into 8 equal groups.  I will assign groups of 4 a section of the content and will ask them to make a 1 minute-3 minute WeVideo on their section of the notes.  Students have a list of requirements but it will be up to them to make it fun and exciting to watch.  So where does Edmodo fit in?  Students will be required to post it to our Edmodo class site by that Friday for a "premiere party" where students will be able to teach each other through their videos.  The site will not only help me present the material, but will also act as a place to revisit before the test to review all the videos that students made.

The second idea that I came up with is to set up a separate Edmodo site for each unit, or a folder within our classes site for an open community for study and review.  For instance, for the upcoming ecology unit in biology, I could create and open up an Edmodo Ecology Study Group page for students to use throughout the entire unit.  Students could ask me and their peers questions about material they don't understand, help each other with projects, brainstorm ideas, or just check in for due dates.  The week before the test I think I will post the study guide to the site for students to use and work collaboratively together to complete. The night before the exam, we could hold a "study party" on the site where students could ask questions to be answered by me or their fellow students to prepare them for the test the next day. 

The third idea that I could use Edmodo for is for watching documentaries outside of the classroom.  In our next unit in biology, Ecology, there are a lot of great documentaries.  So many, I don't have time in class to show a few I would really like the students to see!  I am going to create a separate Edmodo page for each film and give the students an opportunity for extra credit to watch a specific film, review it following a template provided, and reply to two students reviews following a second template.  Honestly, I got this idea from my online classes at SFU.  I believe it will allow me to expose the students to a lot of good information and films, as well as start group discussions about the film and concepts we discuss in class.  Haven't tried this yet, but am excited about the possibility.  

The benefits of Edmodo as a collaborative web tool are vast.  You could really use it as a tool to deliver lots of different projects and curriculum that would be hard to do otherwise outside the four walls of the classroom.  I haven't used it yet in class with real students, so I know the troubleshooting will really begin the first time I assign something using the tool.  If I had to speculate, I am sure many of the problems will be tech based issues.  When using a very similar tool in Google Communities, I often have 15-20 kids over the course of the day that have an issue logging in, or joining the community I created.  Sometimes asking the student to log off and try again works, other times I never understand why it didn't work for one student but did for the rest of the class.  Another issue I see happening is that the website will be foreign to most kids.  With Google Community, all of the students are familiar with google and how google applications work.  Since we use Chrome books to deliver 1:1 instruction, using google tools works well because the software is familiar to the machine and the student.  After trying out Edmodo next week, I will be able to truly compare the tool to google community and make a choice for future lessons.  

Thank you,

Jim Nielsen


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