Edmodo

  

Edmodo has an app that can bring the classroom right inside the comfort of the students home, or whereever they may be.  Edmodo can be used with various types of smart phones and the App itself is free.  Edmodo is a great learning tool and an even better App.  It enhances communication between students and their teachers, making out of class assignments much easier.  Edmodo mobile App has tons of different features that are shockingly similar to those on the normal website.  Its functions include sending messages, events, sending notes, sending a post to the entire class, and you can every submit assignments to meet a deadline.  Teachers can give students alert messages, give out grades via Edmodo, and even start up a discussion if people are not in class.  Edmodo also creates an encourages the use of group work, by having a link that allows group chats and discussions.  The absolute best thing about Apps in general is the notifications.  I am the type of person that lives by her calendar and I always need to know what is going on.  Edmodo alerts you when something new is posted or a deadline is approaching, or if something is late, its like having your syllabus on you at all times. 

These past couple of weeks we learned a lot about video messaging as well as conferencing and how effective both can be.  I downloaded Edmodo on my iPhone and iPad and in through the App you can send and recieve video messages, although you cannot live stream a video between yourself and another person.  This is a great feature though because you can record a video or take a picture and then store it in your “backpack” and share it with whoever you wish to see it.  Sharer makes very valid points in his article about video conferencing; however not being a fan of the camera I would much rather video message.  Although it is less professional and efficient I think it is more ideal for the classroom setting.  In the professional world every point that Sharer makes is completely valid, but as far as an educational App, I think Edmodo contains everything it needs to.  Sharer briefly mentions all of the tips to enhance you video conference.  They all make sense but its great that most of them can be avoided via video message.   For example, “Practice, practice, practice”  If a student needed to relay a video to their classmate on Edmodo no practice would be necessary, if you mess up or don’t like it you do not have to send it.  You can simply delete it and rerecord, and that’s the great differentiation between the two.  For what Edmodo users are looking for this great App feature is more than enough.  Similar to blackboard it also can tie into Cowens issue of trust.  Apps and websites with an instructor operating behind them are always more efficient and accurate with right information.  Educational sites and Apps can definitely be trusted, and should be utilized in every way,  if they could not be trusted  then they would not be used to enhance education.