Website Wednesdays: Edmodo

Today is the first of many Website Wednesdays, in which I will introduce and discuss fantastic websites I use in my 5th grade classroom! The website in which I want to talk about is Edmodo (www.edmodo.com). I'm a huge fan of Edmodo and have been using it with my students for the past two years. They have earned multiple awards, including the Award of Excellence in 2011 from Tech and Learning. However, I will admit that I have not probably utilized it to its fullest capabilities. My goal is to continue to explore this website and improve my students' learning with it.

In case you don't already know, Edmodo is an online learning platform which allows you to build classes and provide students (and parents) with individual logins. According to Edmodo's website,

 "Edmodo provides a safe and easy way for your class to connect and collaborate, share content, and access homework, grades and school notices. Our goal is to help educators harness the power of social media to customize the classroom for each and every learner."

Seriously - by reading that, what's not to love? :-)

When you create an account with Edmodo, you have the ability to create as many classes as you want. So for example, I can (and in the past have) create different classes for Social Studies, Math, Science, Writing and so on. Or if you teach multiple groups, you can create classes and have only a select group of kids join. Seriously, the possibilities seem endless. Oh....and have I mentioned the best part yet???? IT'S FREE!!!!!

A teacher view.

My students and I both enjoy using this site. This year, I created just two classes.  One for me to assign work, quizzes and polls and another class that we called "Talking" for the students to use to have their own discussions.  Edmodo allows me to monitor their posts so I can be certain nothing inappropriate is going on.  And because of its "Facebook" like look, students get really into it.  They create profiles and upload avatars. And I don't have to worry about someone who doesn't belong being able to see my students.


Let's review some 10 of Edmodo's capabilities.  They have much more than 10, but we'll start there. 

# 5 - Built in quiz creator!

1.  Able to create multiple classes for students with access codes.  This way, only the people you want to be in the class can join with the code.
2.  You can allow parents to login to the classes you create for students or you can even create one for just parents and communicate with them.
3.  You can assign and collect assignments and provide due dates which show up on the built in calendar.
4.  You can create polls!

# 6.  An example of my library.

5.  You can create quizzes and tests that the students take right on Edmodo.
6.  You can build a library of documents and websites and share them with students.
7.  You can award "badges" to your students.  (I haven't done this yet but the ideas seem endless.)
8.  You can join communities with other educators.  I enjoy visiting these and sharing ideas with other educators. Plus, I have found many great websites from this awesome community!
9.   Edmodo hosts webinars all the time to help educators maximize this site.
10.  They have a great app, so you can access this site even on the go.  This helps a lot because my students use this website as a means to communicate with me.  I have the ability to quickly respond back if needed.

Again, Edmodo can do so much more....these are just the basics.  If you haven't checked them out, I highly encourage you to do so.  And, in my opinion it's not just for upper grades.  I envision primary grades using this as a way to communicate with parents. Perhaps even more!

If you use Edmodo, what are some ways you utilize it?  Share down below in the comments section.