MET:Edmodo

This page was originally authored by S. Candelaria and A. Wernicke.

Edmodo (stylized Edmodo) is a social-learning network that helps students, parents, administrators, and teachers collaborate about resources, assessment and content on a secure and safe learning management platform.

Edmodo Inc.
Type	Private
Foundation Date	September 2008
Location	San Mateo, California
Founders	Nicolas Borg, Jeff O’Hara
Slogan	Safe Social Networking for Schools
Website	edmodo.com
Type of site	Social Learning Network
Registration	Required
Users	13,000,000+
Available in	English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Greek, French
Current Status	Active

History

September 2008 – co-founder and current CEO Nic Borg and Jeff O’Hara launched Edmodo

November 2009 – Edmodo moves from Chicago to Silicon Valley

August 2010 – Edmodo goes mobile: Katy ISD in Texas rolls out 1500 mobile devices powered

by Edmodo

December 2010 – 1 Millionth User milestone

January 2011 – Started Edmodo Communities: Phoenix school, Salem, MA launches

Global Flat Stanley Project

August 2011 – Edmodo Grows as Professional Development Platform: Teachers from 50 states

and 51 countries join first global user event

Current – releasing an API (Application Programming Interface) platform to allow 40 different

independent developers and publishers to create apps compatible with Edmodo

Design

Edmodo was designed visually to mirror Facebook, but unlike Facebook, Edmodo creates a secure place for teachers, students, parents and administrators to connect, collaborate and share content. This is accomplished by creating groups for schools and classes that students can only join with a teacher provided group code. In addition, parents are given codes that only reveals information about their child. Teachers can create sub-groups to differentiate and individualize learning. To support their social learning platform, Edmodo has also provided a help center to guide users, webinars for professional development, and a blog to recognize teacher achievement outside of the platform.

Features for Teachers

• Library – a virtual library that can be accessed anywhere by teachers and shared with anyone with an Edmodo account. The library has unlimited space and allows teachers to store, organize and manage posts, documents (including Google Docs), photo, video, document and web links using folders. The upload file size limit is 100MB and can be added directly from the computer. The content can be searched and filtered by type for fast retrieval.
• Planner/Calendar – a calendar displaying the due dates of assignments, quizzes, or events in students’ accounts with a Week and Month View. The Week View shows all events in the current week as well as those that are “Coming Soon” (events for the next month) and “Someday” tasks (tasks without a due date). The Month View shows all events in the current month. The planner can be organized by group and can be exported or printed.
• Create and Edit Assignments – assignments can be created or imported as a file/link to a group and then linked to the library. The assignment is given a title, description, and due date which will then be automatically placed in calendar and a reminder is sent to students as post immediately or on a scheduled date after. Teachers can view digitally submitted assignments and grade them numerically, make comments, or assign a reaction (outstanding, rockstar, admirable, you can do it!, good guess, better luck next time, spelling mistakes, incomplete, needs improvement) on the spot. Teachers can make remarks or edits on student work using annotations and then have students resubmit the assignments. The whole process can also be recorded by Edmodo.
• Create and Edit Quizzes – quizzes in multiple choice, true/false, short answer or fill in the blank can be created with a title, time limit, description and weighting for individual questions. The quiz has the option to show students their immediate quiz results and to randomize questions for each student. The quizzes can be sent to students in a post immediately or a scheduled date later and quizzes can be shared between teachers. Quizzes are graded immediately and can be entered into the gradebook; except for short answer questions which can be assignment a partial mark.
• Gradebook/Progress – assignments/quizzes created by teachers is automatically entered into the gradebook and once graded, marks are automatically entered into the gradebook as well. Additional tasks can be added to the gradebook for grades or badges. Tasks are equally weighted but the gradebook can be exported as an excel spread sheet for more complicated weighting calculations.
• Write and Moderate Posts – Teachers can write posts and alerts that show up in the Notification side bar. Teachers can approve all student posts and replies before it goes live to the group communication stream.
• Create/Manage Badges – Teachers can recognize individual achievement by awarding pre-made (great writing, Edmodo rockstar, Good leadership, Gamestar, Homework Helper, Star performer, etc.) or custom designed badges. These badges can also be revoked and deleted at a later time.
• Use Insights and Reactions – Compiles reactions from students and teachers on individual assignments to provide immediate qualitative insights on the assessment and concepts. Although reactions for a post are optional, students are required to give reactions before submitting an assignment and teachers must give a reaction before they can view a student’s reaction. It also shows the four most recent assignments, the reactions and the average grade for students as well as a list of tasks/content that was most active and most popular in the groups in one week.
• Create a poll - Teachers can type a question and have the answers of students analyzed.
• Use Discover – Teachers can share, add resources to their library and search for up-to-date resources which are organized by topic or by suggestions based on the teacher’s currently teaching or recently taught subjects. The resources listed on the top are the most viewed and added-to-library. Discovery also allows teachers to know who else is teaching the subject, the current trending resource and related topics.
• Invite Teachers – teachers who are currently not using Edmodo can be invited to join with an email address.
• View Recent Activity – teachers can see real time activities of members in the group which includes:

• Logins
• App installations
• Posts
• Added resources
• New connections
• Reactions

Features for Students

• Students can turn in assignments digitally and give teachers feedback either by writing a post or giving a reaction.
• Students can view their grades, progress and achievement (badges) in a course as well as view the deadline for quizzes, exams and assignments.
• Students can view content and resources shared by the teacher in organized folders.
• Students can interact with their peers in real time and view real time information on themselves or peers such as who has logged in, turned in an assignment, completed a quiz, earned a badge, launched an app.
• Students can use Backpack to store files, links and google docs into a virtual flash drive or library. Items in the backpack can be attached to posts or assignments.
• Students can be notified by email or text message when a teacher has posted to their Edmodo group.

Features for Parents

Parents have access to a dashboard that allows them to observe important events and activity in their child’s account. The dashboard is automatically updated as their child uses Edmodo and receives information about the child’s grades, planner, latest posts and notifications. Parents will need a code specific for their child and will not be able to send messages.

Features for Administrators

Administrators can be associated to one subdomain that allows them to have and share district features with teachers in the same school. Each school is given a school code that will connect instructional technology leaders, professional development coordinators, curriculum specialists, technology administrators and teachers together using a URL. This also ensures that teachers have access to school and district level communities as well as enable teachers to post and share resources with other teachers and administration. Administrators can manage teachers and students by updating privileges, viewing grades, removing members, viewing message streams, deleting schools, customizing notifications, analyze the activity levels between schools, etc.

Benefits/Goals

Engages Students: There are many benefits of using Edmodo to enhance student engagement and therefore, learning. By providing a platform for students to access class materials through technology, Edmodo connects students with other students and with the greatest body of knowledge: the Internet. . In the twenty-first century, students are fully immersed in social media. Using Edmodo gives students the feeling of using a social-networking site without having to mix their personal lives with their school lives. Edmodo is a social-networking site that is used in a more purposeful and educational way. Scott claims that “Edmodo is a tool that marries the benefits of social networking with a safe, controlled environment that educators can allow students to freely operate in. Essentially, it is like Facebook for education” (2012, p.56).

Education Enhancement: Some of the functions of Edmodo can be used to enhance an already established face-to-face classroom such as by providing online quizzes, notes, polls, questions, and interactivities. In today's classrooms, there is often limited time to cover topics fully. When Edmodo is used as a learning platform, additional resources can be used to enhance learning. Online resources and websites for practicing material are at the fingertips of the user.

In an interview with Nic Borg , the co-founder of Edmodo, Nic states the main goal of Edmodo:

“We live in a connected world where students and teachers depend on technology and online resources in their day-to-day lives. When Jeff and I launched Edmodo, our goal was to develop a space that allowed teachers, students and schools to connect in a more engaging way while keeping students safe and protected”.

Borg states that one of the main goals of Edmodo is to create “social media tools that help teachers engage student and to make sure every school in the world has access to them”.

Here are some of the benefits, according to Borg in his interview with Rivero:

• Mobile Access - In addition to the free downloadable apps for iPhone and android, Edmodo is accessible from any browser-compatible device, creating an anytime-anywhere learning environment.

• Easier classroom management – Edmodo provides several tools that make managing the classroom easier including creating groups, posting homework assignments, and a built-in gradebook, calendar and library. No more grading stacks of paper and writing comments out. All of this can be done online.

• Peer connection and professional development – Edmodo communities provide a way for teachers to connect with like-minded educators to exchange ideas, get advice and share resources.

District benefits include:

• Districtwide communication: Edmodo subdomains provide a way for districts and/or schools to communicate more effectively between teachers, students, parents and administrators, as well as manage the use of Edmodo within the district.

• Dashboard analytics: Administrators can track usage at the user, school or district level for an at-a-glance view of adoption and effectiveness.

• User management: District administrators can add and delete users and manage accounts remotely.

• Cost savings: Edmodo enables all interaction to take place online.

Collaboration: Studies show that the level of engagement through the social interaction with peers in distance education can be enhanced with social networking sites . Distance learners often encounter problems with course management systems and turn to each other for help. Social networking sites and Web 2.0 have the potential to allow students to communicate in more meaningful ways because they allow continuous posting of videos, resources, and images. Collaboration is a key motivator for students and social networking sites provide the venue for this collaboration. Even for face-to-face classrooms, Edmodo can provide the additional support outside of the classroom for opportunities to asynchronously communicate.

Time Efficiency: Teachers claim that Edmodo is very fast and it takes less than a minute to post onto the site . This is important as teachers value time very much. Teachers can also easily create and update course materials on their Edmodo site without fancy programmers or designers . The content in their libraries is saved and they can use it for multiple groups and classes from year to year.

Formative Assessment: The polls are excellent ways to assess formatively like an exit slip . Students can write quizzes and see their results immediately (except for short answer questions). Students have access to their gradebook and can see their academic progress.

Professional Development: Teachers can join groups to follow an educational community. This teacher-teacher interaction is a supportive community of learners that allows teachers to grow and discover resources for their own subject areas .

Challenges/Criticisms

Privacy: Edmodo, like other social media sites, has faced some criticism. First of all, Edmodo is a social networking site and with this there have been criticisms with using social networking in school. Zaidieh states a few of these in a paper on using social networking in Education: primarily that users are continuing to display too much personal information online. While there is no personal page on Edmodo like there is on Facebook, there are still concerns with users posting personal information through direct messages or on group wall posts.

Liability and ownership: Current information systems responsible for managing student information such as grades and records are held by school districts or regional governments. In the case of Edmodo, connecting this information for a third party introduces new questions regarding liability and ownership of this information. Typically, companies are not held accountable in the same manner for their handling of this information and may require additional legislation.

Health: Zaidieh also claims that the mental health of users of social networking sites is at risk due to the time spent sitting in front of a computer screen. When children spend too much time in front of a TV or computer screen, they are at risk of many health problems such as obesity and delayed development .

Communication: A concern of using Edmodo is that if it is used in isolation from face-to-face instruction, students are at risk of missing out on explanations and clarifications of material. Learners may have difficulty expressing their questions and concerns in a written format when they may be more comfortable and used to asking questions in face-to-face formats. Physical clues like tone, inflection, and body language can be missing from online communication. Some students are apprehensive about interacting with administration and teachers on social networking sites. This could prevent significant use or a delay in use of Edmodo in the classroom . Some teachers claim direct posts between students to be distracting, often detracting from the learning experience.

Lack of Resources or Time: Another concern about using Edmodo or a social networking site in class is the rapid adoption of it and the potentially different pedagogy integration. Teachers need to be aware of the challenges and opportunities to using Edmodo before using it just for the sake of using it. As with any technology, using Edmodo consistently in a class requires reliant computer lab time or access to mobile devices. Students need adequate time to learn the technology and login requirements. Some teachers/schools are not afforded the time and resources to using this technology and therefore there is a digital divide among schools and areas.

Summative Assessment: A challenge to using Edmodo is the ability to provide a high quality assessment tools. Even though there are great formative assessment functions, such as the polls, the ability to provide a summative quiz or test is difficult. It is not entirely secure for students to use Edmodo while accessing the Internet at the same time as teachers have difficulty monitoring student Internet activity . However, online tests and quizzes could be used in a more informal context. Also, for short answer or fill in the blank questions, Edmodo lacks a flexible answer key and permits only answers typed correctly in a particular order. Teachers must go back and check these answer, essentially remarking what the answer key can't. The gradebook on Edmodo is simple and not very flexible, so grading practices using Edmodo are difficult unless the gradebook is transferred to another program.

Connections to Learning and Educational Theory

Community of Practice – By allowing teachers to create specific groups, Edmodo establishes an exclusive community with shared goals and common classroom practices in order to negotiate meaning. From the moment the students sign into Edmodo, they can establish a unique identity for the group by create a profile indicating their learning style, career goal, favourite goal and upload a profile picture. Similarly, teachers can create a unique identity for themselves by writing about themselves, joining other communities and publishers, indicating their favourite resources, and connecting with other teachers. Teachers can use this as a primary resource sharing site with other teachers. As the course progresses, the community focuses on the development of an individual’s identity while they interact and construct meaning in the community of the group. The social aspect of the platform allows students to make direct posts (messages) to any other member in the group. This opens up dialogue outside of the classroom and encourages discussion about assignments and content between student and teachers should questions arise at home. The student gets a greater sense of their identity as their activity and progress is recorded in Edmodo and as they receive badges or replies to their posts with reactions. This makes the student feel that they are becoming a part of something larger as they rate each other informally and take part in improving their classroom learning experience. Unfortunately, Edmodo does not have the ability to grow and reproduce new members as members are required to have a specific group code in order to join the community. This security limits the interaction with the society and makes the experience/community a temporary one.

Knowledge Building - Edmodo allows students to construct and produce knowledge by allowing the classroom community to work together to discuss, test, and improve learning outside of class time through its social platform. It is analogous to how scientific and academic communities develop new theories and ideas. This "knowledge building" community encourages a "second order environment" which requires learners to refer to each other for clarification, definition and understanding of knowledge by posting comments. The challenges of such an environment are to ensure that learners are framing questions correctly and making responses that advance the development of knowledge. Many learners also have difficulty diagnosing their own learning needs and identifying the steps they need to take to make up for their lack of understanding. Edmodo addresses some of these design challenges by allowing teachers to support and enhance "knowledge building" as teacher has access to all of the activity of the students and has the ability to edit posts. This gives student a safe learning environment without the influence of formative assessment in order to foster the affordances that support and sustain knowledge-building activities - collaboration, communication and exploration.

Constructivist Learning Environment – Edmodo currently has more static knowledge modeling tools that enable conversation/collaboration and relevant and interactive information resources such as media rich artifacts (i.e. animations, images, diagrams, graphs, videos, links, etc.), but it has the potential to become more dynamic as individuals can start creating apps to model and represent different concepts. This is educationally significant because it allows learners to learn in communities and teams to solve difficult problems, which is how learning occurs most naturally according to Scardamalia, Bereiter and Lamon (1994) . Furthermore, by mirroring Facebook, students feel like they are using an authentic social platform to do so without 'infantilizing' the experience, a criticism of Papert (1980) in the integration of technology in the traditional school system. If learning is based on the belief that learners revolves around learners' conversation then Edmodo support learners who share knowledge, values and goals. Learners need to explore, articulate what they know and have learned, speculate, manipulate the environment in order to construct and test their theories and models, and reflect on what they did, what they have learned from the activities. As the site opens up their platform to support apps, Edmodo provides a place that allows virtual experiments and authentic simulation. Here students can plan and conduct experiments and further data to support their claims. Using Edmodo as a social networking site for Education, affords students opportunities to connect knowledge in the real-world in a context that will be relevant in their future years via the Internet.

Differentiated Instruction – Edmodo allows teachers to create subgroups within the larger group to help individualize the learning experience. This means groups can be created according to learning style, understanding, and interests to better serve the students. In addition, teachers can hold private conversations with each member to help guide students without the judgement of the class. Teachers can post resources to provide materials at all learning levels. For instance, lower level math resources can be posted as well as challenge resources for higher level thinking. The Web supports student-content interaction and provides many opportunities for immersion in micro-environments such as virtual labs, online computer-assisted learning tutorials, videos, podcasts, and more . "The development of interactive content that responds to student behaviour and attributes (often referred to as a student model) allows for customization of content in unprecedented ways to support the individual needs of each unique learner" (Anderson,2008, p.58). Students can create their own learning paths through hypertext links which is congruent with constructivist instructional design.

E-learning – Edmodo supports the four major attributes of an e-learning environment: Learner-Centered, Knowledge-Centered, Community-Centered and Assessment-Centered. In addition, it also allows for the multi-faceted interactions

Learner-Centered - Edmodo gives students a chance to use the social platform to reach past the traditional classroom and further share their culture in an online setting. Edmodo situates learning within the assumptions and practices within the group/class created and helps extend a wider understanding of cultural issues and preconceptions surrounding the subject areas as student communicate through their posts. Students are able to share their profiles and import other visual icebreakers like pixton, Picasso head, etc which may be neglected in a traditional classroom setting. This in turn would make students feel more comfortable sharing their understandings/knowledge that they bring to the community of a learning environment.

"Community-Centered" - Edmodo creates individual groups/community of learning that allow students to make connections with ideas, facts, their peers and teacher asynchronously through posts and emails. The success of this community would depend on the establishment of a good learner-centered environment so that individual learner feels comfortable sharing in the online community. Unfortunately, the security of the platform does not allow for collaboration with outside professionals and other internet communities specific in each field which limits the authenticity of the experience.

"Knowledge-Centered" - Edmodo allows student to become both expert and learner in the community as they become resources for each other's learning process. Students can bring in links, videos and other resources in their posts in order to access the widely available source of knowledge on the internet easily. Students can also access the resources that the teachers utilize in the library and discovery section of Edmodo to help reduce the biases and misinformation that exist on the internet.

"Assessment-Centered" - Edmodo allows for both informal and formal assessment. Informal assessments are created through conducting polls, rating/ giving posts reactions, and awarding students with badges. Edmodo allows students to self-evaluate and peer-evaluate each other's work if a strong community is established where students feel comfortable posting, replying, rating and commenting work. Formal assessments are created through online quizzes, assignments and grades by the teacher. Like many online platform, higher level assessment like short answer is more difficult to assess and give timely feedback online but Edmodo easily allows for the lower level recall assessments through multiple choice and true/false questions. These quizzes will also automatically be imported into the grade book; as a result, Edmodo has improved the ease and quantity of assessment available to the class.

"Interactions" - Edmodo allows for all forms of interaction available on online learning such as: student-student, student-content, student-teacher teacher-content,teacher-teacher and content-content. As previously mentioned, students can interact with other students through posts, emails and reactions. Students can interact with content through the library, backpack and discovery. Students can interact with teacher through posts, emails, polls, reactions, badges, gradebook, and calendar. Teacher can interact with content through Discovery and library. Teacher can interact with other teachers by connecting with them and content can interact with content through Discovery.

New/Future Trends

• Activity Stream Project – teachers can see what students are doing in real time.
• Mobile device compatibility – iOS and Android apps are created and available in the Apple App Store and Google Play to give teachers and students the same function as the original website on their mobile devices. This includes
  • uploading and downloading files, screenshots, photos or videos from the mobile device from Edmodo to the device and vice versa
  • reading and replying to posts
  • viewing notification and profile
  • joining new groups and accessing existing groups
  • viewing and grading for teachers or turning in assignments and viewing grades for students on the mobile device
• Topics – help teachers instantly connect with other teachers who are teaching the same content and automatically reveals relevant resources/content in the classroom.
• Insights – discovers and displays trends in the classroom.
• Edmodo App store – teachers can use Edmodo as the home base for all of the digital tools used in the classroom and allows Edmodo developers to make and publish app within Edmodo using Web API. Since Edmodo is free to all users, the company may be able to make a profit from selling the apps.

See Also

Learning Management System

Constructivism